Posted on 17-10-2002
Terror's
Aftermath in Indonesia
By SIDNEY JONES*
After Sept. 11, there was a sense among Americans that the country
had to
come together for comfort, for protection and for rebuilding.
The reaction
in Indonesia to the Bali bombings has been very different, and
it speaks to
the lack of faith that Indonesians have in their own government.
It also
suggests that the United States and other nations with a significant
presence in Indonesia should redouble efforts to strengthen
political
institutions here and demand accountability from government.
Without more
popular support, the war on terror here is not going to be won.
In Bali itself, the overwhelming response has been anger at
the army and
police. "They tricked us into thinking Bali was safe, and look
what
happened," one caller said on a local talk show. If distrust
of security
forces is generally high around the country, it took a quantum
leap in Bali
after Saturday night. Policemen in Indonesia stand no chance
of being
turned into heroes the way New York's Finest were; the zero
credibility of
the two institutions on the front lines of combating terrorism
does not
make the government's task any easier.
In Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra, where a separatist
rebellion has
resulted in thousands of civilian casualties, a different kind
of distrust
was voiced. "It's appalling that a civilian site was targeted,"
a local
lawyer told me. "But it's important not to jump to conclusions
about who
was involved."
He remarked that the army tends to blame Acehnese whenever a
bomb goes off.
He also cited the example of a local army commander who suggested
Acehnese
rebels were behind a recent attack in North Sumatra when it
was clear from
the beginning that the commander's own soldiers were responsible.
It used to be that if you wanted to bring down a business rival,
a
political opponent or an obstreperous neighbor, you could just
spread the
rumor that he was a Communist, and he would become an instant
pariah.
Indonesians are so jaded by political labeling that they are
not apt to
believe official statements about who may have been involved
in the Bali
attack.
In a town near Poso, Sulawesi, where a communal conflict between
Muslims
and Christians has raged for the last two years, a university
lecturer said
his colleagues were saying that the Bali blast showed the incompetence
of
civilian government. "It's very worrisome: they want Suharto
back," he told
me, referring to the former president. I got the same reaction
Monday in a
crowded minivan going from Pare-pare to Makassar in Sulawesi,
a stronghold
of the former ruling party, Golkar. "Whatever you say about
Suharto, at
least we felt safe," one passenger said.
With the assumption widespread that a Muslim organization is
behind the
bombing, there is now real alarm about escalating ethnic and
religious
violence and the government's ability to handle it. In Indonesia,
there has
been very little rallying around the president, as there was
in the United
States last year. On the contrary, if radio talk shows, politicians'
statements and informal conversations are any guide, President
Megawati
Sukarnoputri's standing seems to have plummeted.
A Jakarta newspaper magnate had another reaction. In a televised
discussion, he warned that the government would be making a
serious mistake
if it made fighting terrorism its main objective, at the expense
of legal
reform and ending corruption. Neither he nor the passengers
in the minivan
had any confidence in their government, but for very different
reasons.
Extraordinary as this seems in the West, many Indonesians are
convinced
that the United States sponsored the Bali bombing in order to
convince
reluctant governments to join its war on terror and support
an attack on
Iraq. Hard-line Muslims like Abu Bakar Bashir — said to be the
head of
Jemaah Islamiyah — are not the only ones making this claim.
The Bush
administration's pressure on Indonesia to take action against
Muslim
terrorists, its policies in the Middle East and the presence
of American
troops in the Philippines' Muslim South have all fueled suspicions
in
conservative circles that Washington has an anti-Muslim agenda.
Some
Indonesians seem to believe that the only organization with
the capacity to
carry out such a devastating attack is the American government.
"American troops want to establish a presence in Indonesia,"
one
commentator said on a television panel Monday night. "They'll
establish a
foothold by offering to help out with the investigation in Bali,
and then
we'll see the influx." If some in Washington think that the
Bali blast will
convert all skeptics to the need for more stringent antiterrorism
measures,
they'll need to reconsider.
In Jakarta, there has been an outpouring of sympathy for the
foreigners
killed, particularly for the many Australians who died. At the
same time,
if foreigners are worried about coming to Indonesia now, some
Indonesians
are also worried about having them in their midst.
Indonesia needs better governance at least as much as it needs
improved
security. The risk is high that Jakarta's reaction to the Bali
bombing will
be not only ineffective but counterproductive. Many advocates
of political
reform in Jakarta have expressed fear over the last two days
that new
antiterrorism legislation — now being drafted by the Megawati
government —
will be an Indonesian version of the draconian internal security
laws used
in Singapore and Malaysia.
This government has never lacked the laws to go after people
reasonably
suspected of planning criminal acts. But it has lacked the will
to use
them. To give the army and police more powers in a country widely
castigated for its corrupt legal system and weak political institutions
is
to invite abuse.
On Oct. 27, the Consultative Group on Indonesia — the main consortium
of
donor countries, led by the World Bank — will hold its annual
meeting to
discuss how much aid to give to Indonesia. The group's meeting
could send a
powerful message about international confidence in Indonesia.
Donors will
be sympathetic to the need to bolster an already weak economy
further
devastated by the bombing. Given what ordinary Indonesians are
saying about
their own lack of confidence, however, the donors would do well
to put
governance at the top of their agenda.
* Sidney Jones is director of the Indonesia project of the International
Crisis Group, a policy research organization.
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