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Indonesia Uses 'Soft Approach' to Contain Terrorist Threat
Brian Padden | Jakarta 18 January 2010
Ritz-Carlton after July 2009 bombing in Jakarta
Photo: AP
Security guards man a gate outside the bombed Ritz-Carlton hotel in Jakarta,
Indonesia, 22 Jul 2009
Terrorism tied to Islamic fundamentalism seems to be on the rise in many
parts of world -- from Yemen and Pakistan in the Middle East to Southern
Thailand and the Philippine island of Mindanao in Southeast Asia. But, in
Indonesia -- a country that security experts worried might become a base for
training and exporting al-Qaida recruits -- terrorism has significantly
declined in the last five years. The Indonesian government's response to
terrorism was to take a soft approach, to treat it as a crime and and not a
war, and that this approach seems to be working.
In July of 2009, terrorists again struck in the heart of Indonesia's
capital. Suicide bombers linked to Jemaah Islamiyah, an Indonesian
terrorist organization affiliated with al-Qaida, detonated explosives in two
Western hotels in Jakarta, killing nine people and injuring more than 50
others.
This deadly bombing was a reminder that terrorism remains an active threat
in Indonesia. But the reality is that terrorism in Indonesia has
significantly declined, in the last few years. The Jakarta bombing was the
only major terrorist attack in 2009. In 2008, there were no
terrorist-related fatalities.
Anti-terrorism analyst Sidney Jones says there are only about 2,000 J.I.
members in Indonesia, out of a population of 250-million people.
Improvements in the social and political conditions in the country have made
it harder for terrorist recruitment.
"We don't have a repressive government. The country is not under
occupation. We don't have an alienated minority. And, we don't have any
hostile neighbors stirring up trouble or having the inclination to stir up
trouble," Jones said.
Still, she says, as far back as the late 1990's, terrorism was on the rise
Indonesia and, in 2001, there was legitimate concern that the terrorists
were gaining public approval, as a wave an anti-American sentiment spread
across the Muslim world.
"Immediately after 9/11 and immediately after the invasion of Afghanistan,
there was at least passive support in a number of circles in Indonesia for
some kind of retaliatory measures against the United States. And, there was
a sense that the invasion was not justified," Jones said.
The Bali bombing in 2002, which killed 202 people, brought world attention
to the growing terrorist problem in Indonesia. Rather than responding to
these terrorist acts with massive military force, the Indonesian government
decided to take a softer approach, to treat terrorists as criminals and not
as enemy combatants captured on the field of battle.
History Professor Azyumardi Azra, with the State Islamic University in
Jakarta, says that, by trying the terrorists in open court, the government
was able to convince a skeptical public and ambivalent Muslim organizations
that these terrorist acts were indigenous Muslim-on-Muslim crimes and not a
Western plot.
"After bringing some of the perpetrators of the Bali bombing one to justice,
then it is clear that they did this suicide bombing by themselves, not
because of engineering by external intelligence powers," Azra said. "This is
one of the reasons moderate Muslim organizations changed their attitude."
Jones says outside of Indonesia there was criticism that some of the
sentences for the terrorists were too lenient. For example, Islamic cleric
Abu Bakar Bashir -- an accused J.I. leader -- received only a 30-month
sentence after being convicted of conspiracy related to the Bali bombings.
He was released after serving a little more than a year. Later, the
Indonesian Supreme Court overturned his conviction. Jones says, although
the justice system was not perfect, the transparency of the process helped
build public confidence and support.
"There has been almost a strengthening of the rule of law," Jones stated.
"Because of the way the terrorist cases were handled."
Azar says Indonesian Muslim groups are also playing a more prominent role in
promoting multiculturalism and tolerance and preventing outside fundamentals
groups like the Wahabi and Salafi sects from gaining a foothold.
"In the last two or three years, moderate Muslim organizations -- like
particularly N.U. [Nahdlatul Ulama] and Muhammadiyah -- have come to realize
there should be very careful, there should be, pay more attention of the
infiltration of these Wahabi or Salafi-oriented muslims, that they try to
control the mosque," Azra said.
Involvement from Western powers like the United States remain in the
background, mostly sharing intelligence and providing anti-terrorist
military training. Jones says the millions of dollars in post-tsunami aid
provided by the U.S. government and private organizations did little to
enhance America's image in Indonesia, in part because it was not highlighted
by the local media. But she says the election of U.S. President Barack Obama
has won a huge number of Indonesian hearts and minds.
"The switch from Bush, who was so universally reviled, to someone who grew
up in Indonesia and who talks about his favorite Indonesian food and still
remembers some Indonesian language, I think that made all the difference,"
Jones said.
Although the threat of terrorism remains, Jones says Indonesia has contained
the problem by not declaring a war on terror.
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