House set to pass bill to slash terrorist funding

JAKARTA. After one year of deliberations, the House of Representatives has completed a draft bill aimed at reducing funding for terrorist activities. It is hoped the bill will be passed in a plenary session at the House on Tuesday.

Once passed, the bill will designate several ministries, including the Law and Human Rights Ministry, Finance Ministry and Foreign Ministry, as well as other governmental institutions, such as the National Police and the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK), to the frontline in the fight against terrorism.

Under the bill, the institutions would have the authority to track down and cut the sources of funding for terrorist activities, both domestically and overseas.

The bill places the PPATK as the leading institution responsible for freezing bank accounts and confiscating assets related to terrorism and terrorist organizations in cooperation with law enforcement agencies and financial service providers.

Article 27 of the bill, for instance, gives the PPATK the authority, upon request from the National Police, to directly block bank accounts and confiscate all assets belonging to individuals or corporations that are alleged terrorists or linked to terrorist groups.

The bill will also allow Indonesian authorities to work together with foreign agencies via extradition agreements and mutual legal assistance on the grounds that terrorism is a transnational crime.

Article 43 allows foreign governments to request the Indonesian authorities to block the bank accounts of individuals or corporations included on the list of world terrorist groups.

The article also stipulates that the Indonesian government can lodge similar requests to authorities in foreign countries.

Although the bill imposes severe punishments on individuals or corporations proven to be involved in funding terrorist acts, it provides leniency for terror suspects.

The bill would allow individuals to have their names removed from the country’s list of terror suspects.

The House’s special committee tasked with deliberating the bill also included a provision that could help the families of terror suspects.

The bank accounts of terror suspects would remain open if they were the only financial providers for their families.

Bank accounts belonging to suspected terrorists could also be exempted if they were used to pay for family members’ educational costs or health bills.

So far, all nine political factions at the House have agreed on the final version of the draft bill and will be ready to pass it today (Tuesday).

The special House committee deliberating the bill said that together with the 2006 Counterterrorism Law and Law No. 25/2003 on money laundering, the bill would significantly weaken terror networks operating in the country.

Some lawmakers, however, have warned the government to guard against possible intervention from foreign countries.

Nasir Djamil from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) called on the government to be selective in responding to requests from foreign governments.

“We hope the Indonesian government will not easily submit to overseas demands in the name of a global effort against terrorism. The government must ensure that the implementation of this bill serve our national interests,”
Nasir said.

House special committee chairman Adang Darajatun, said that lawmakers would closely monitor the implementation of the new bill so that it would not be abused or further foreign interests.

“We should not be afraid because we believe in the government. We will, however, keep an eye on its implementation,” he said. (Margareth S. Aritonang/ The Jakarta Post)