H

ouse of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie said on Friday that the Densus 88 counterterrorism unit had been successful in preventing terror acts and therefore should not be dissolved but better supervised to make it “human rights friendly”.

“Today is much safer compared to the past when terror attacks occurred. Foreigners were afraid to come to Indonesia and this greatly hurt the tourism industry. Densus is not yet perfect in carrying out its operations, but dissolving it is not the right thing to do,” Marzuki told reporters at his office on Friday.

The Democratic Party politician argued that the police could set up a new squad but there was no guarantee it would not violate human rights in its operations.

“Terrorism is a transnational crime like narcotics and corruption. It’s a serious threat to our nation. Densus 88 has effectively countered terrorist attacks against the country, thus we still need it. It just needs to improve its procedures to be more human rights friendly,” he went on.

The country’s counterterrorism squad was formed on June 30, 2003, following the Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people, including foreigners. Since its establishment, the squad has been partly funded and trained by the US as well as Australian governments.

The squad, however, has been a continuous target of criticism due to the way it has gone about arresting, torturing or killing individuals believed to be terrorists.

On Thursday, Muslim groups, including Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, called on the National Police to dissolve the squad, accusing it of breaching the basic rights of terrorist suspects.

The groups said they had video footage depicting men in Densus 88 uniforms intimidating and torturing a suspected terrorist, which, according to Muhammadiyah leader Din Syamsuddin, was an insult to Islam.

Deputy chairman of the House Commission III overseeing law and human rights, Tjatur Sapto Edy, told The Jakarta Post that his commission was discussing a plan to establish a working committee to supervise the squad, although it had yet to reach a decision.

“We are still working on how to maintain Densus 88 and ensure that it improves its operations in order to prevent future human rights violations in operations, but no matter what, we still need the squad,” he said.

— JP/ Margareth S. Aritonang