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Human rights body wants supervision for antiterror squad
Antiterror squad Densus 88 members raid a house belonging to suspected terrorists linked to the Islamic State (IS) movement in Jakarta in March 2015
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Antiterror squad Densus 88 members raid a house belonging to suspected terrorists linked to the Islamic State (IS) movement in Jakarta in March 2015. (Antara/Alinuddin) (IS) movement in Jakarta in March 2015. (Antara/Alinuddin)
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span class="inline inline-center">Antiterror squad Densus 88 members raid a house belonging to suspected terrorists linked to the Islamic State (IS) movement in Jakarta in March 2015. (Antara/Alinuddin)
Indonesia's human rights body has demanded lawmakers include the supervision of antiterror squad Densus 88 in the ongoing revision of the Terrorism Law.
National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) commissioner Muhammad Nurkhoiron said most of Densus 88's operations in eradicating terrorism were not conducted with transparency and were clouded by inaccuracies.
The commission had never been provided with accurate data on the number of alleged terrorist suspects that had been wrongly accused, or data on the suspects' whereabouts after Densus 88 made arrests, Nurkhoiron said.
Although Komnas HAM had asked Densus 88 for transparent information, the antiterror squad had never offered details of its operations, leaving families facing uncertainty.
"Many of the victims' families have asked for certainty about whether their husbands have been declared terrorist convicts or not," Nurkhoiron said as quoted by kompas.com on Monday.
He said law enforcers also had yet to take necessary measures to address the recovery of suspects who had been wrongly arrested, as well as their families, showing that police institutions had not yet maximized their capacity regarding counterterrorism.
However, in relation to the revision of the law on terrorism, Nurkhoiron said the underlying problems were not only the insufficient law or the narrow scope of authorities, but the police's institutional understanding of the law.
"All law enforcement agencies can be utilized effectively, as long as they know their tasks, authority and scope of responsibility," Nurkhoiron said. (afr/dan)(+)
