TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Rights groups urge Jokowi to rethink Perpres on greater military role in fight on terror
Critics say that signing the draft Perpres would be premature without auditing the effectiveness of joint police-military operations, involving the public and providing more specific details on provisions on the military's counterterrorism role.
Change Size
Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel gear up to scour the mountainous areas of Watutau in Lore Peore, Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, for members of the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) terror group, in this file photo taken on March 23, 2016. (ANTARA FOTO/Fiqman Sunandar)
R
ights groups are urging President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to postpone the issuance of a presidential regulation (Perpres) that allows for greater military involvement in curbing terrorism, but lacks clear accountability.
The groups cited the dubious success rate of past and present joint manhunt operations involving the Indonesian Military (TNI) that targeted members of extremist groups.
Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) deputy coordinator Rivanlee Anandar called on the government to instead conduct an audit to evaluate the efficacy of ongoing joint police-military operations, such as the Tinombala operation.
The Tinombala operation has recently returned to the public spotlight following the alleged terror attack last Friday by the East Indonesia Mujahiddin (MIT) at a local village in Sigi regency, Central Sulawesi, in which four people were killed and six houses were destroyed.
The joint operation was established in January 2016 following its predecessor, the 2015 Camar Maleo operation, to hunt down then-MIT leader Santoso and his supporters in neighboring Poso. The operation has been extended several times, most recently in early 2019 amid speculation that the group had recruited new members. The extension expires on Dec. 31, 2020.
Read also: TNI to deploy special unit to Poso as tension rises following alleged MIT attack
Rivanlee said an audit was crucial to assessing the inherent strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the newly proposed Perpres, while the alternative would bypass the necessary checks and balances.
