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Indonesia Defence and Security Report Q4 2011
Business Monitor International, Sep 2011, Pages: 86
Instability in Papua currently poses the greatest threat to Indonesia’s security, with the province experiencing widespread violence, as well as peaceful independence protests, during August. President Yudhoyono’s offer of dialogue with Papuan leaders needs to be followed up with urgent action, as the extra-constitutional activities of the Indonesian armed forces in the province continue to provoke its inhabitants and also stoke the long-running insurgency waged by the Free Papua Movement.
In light of events in Papua, where the TNI has been accused of conducting illegal surveillance operations, the introduction of a new intelligence bill to the Indonesian parliament in June raised hopes that the Yudhoyono administration would finally advance the country’s stalled security sector reforms. Though the proposals have met with opposition, the country’s military intelligence services could come under tighter civilian control as a result of the changes.
The imprisonment of Jemaah Islamiyah’s (JI’s) spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir in June was arguably the high watermark of Indonesia’s campaign against Islamist terror networks in the South East Asian region. However, while the threat from JI appears greatly diminished in its traditional form, the government is concerned about growing numbers of young men who risk being radicalised at Islamic boarding schools or over the internet.
However, the government’s failure to clamp down on growing religious intolerance in Indonesia appears to run counter to its hopes to curbing Islamism. In particular, harsh sentences handed down to members of the Ahmadiyah religious sect for actions portrayed in most reports as self-defence in the face of attacks by Muslim groups led to widespread allegations that the country was at risk of betraying its founding principle of religious equality.
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