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Lawmakers to learn about counterterrorism legislation in UK, US
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Under investigation – Personnel of the National Police’s counterterrorism squad Densus 88 search the boarding house of suspected terrorist Kafid Fathoni, 23, in Kampung Keputren, Kartasura, Sukoharjo, Central Java, in December last year. (JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi)
M
embers of the House of Representatives assigned to revise the 2003 Terrorism Law are set to travel to the UK and the US to collect ideas for improving the law.
The deputy chairman of the House’s working committee in charge of the deliberation of the bill, Supiadin Aries Saputra, explained that members of the committee would learn about the UK’s counterterrorism strategy, known as CONTEST.
In the US, the committee members are planned to visit the UN headquarters in New York to discuss the world body’s counterterrorism parameters. Supiadin said that as a UN member, Indonesia had to comply with the UN convention against terrorism.
“We will travel to both countries, because we really need to gain input to comprehensively revise the existing law,” Supiadin, a politician from the NasDem Party, told The Jakarta Post.
“The UK’s CONTEST will be our reference in composing strategies to counter terrorism, while from the UN, we will take cues on accommodating the rights of victims.”
According to Supiadin, the working committee is still preparing the trips, which are expected to take place in March and/or April this year. Once approved by the House’s leadership, 15 members of the working committee and another 15 members from the previous special committee will spend around one week in each country.
Deliberations on the revision of the Terrorism Law, which started in the middle of last year, have not yet touched substantial issues. Lawmakers and relevant government officials have only reached an agreement on the definition of de-radicalization and vital objects of the state that are prone to terrorism.
The overseas travel is cited as an attempt to speed up the law revision process as well as to improve the quality of the law. (ebf)
