A Note of Caution on the Proscription of JI in Indonesia

By Zachary Abuza

Today in sentencing Abu Dujana and Zarkasih, two leaders of Jemaah Islamiyah arrested in mid-2007, the court, for the first time, designated JI as an illegal organization. My colleague Johnathan Winer lauded the decision, but I add some caution.

First some background. Despite the UN Securuty Council’s 1267 Committee designation of JI, Indonesia failed to uphold its obligation under international law or proscribe it under domestic law.

The principle reason why JI has not been outlawed is parliamentary opposition, as Islamists do not believe JI exists or secularists see the effort to ban it as a throwback to the Suharto era’s crackdown on NGOs. Indonesian official have hid behind ludicrous claims that since JI is not registered, it cannot be banned, nor can they claim that it is pointless to ban something that “is not a formal organization with card-carrying members.” As the current Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs, Admiral Widodo A.S., insisted, “As a formal organization, Jemaah Islamiyah has never existed.” Upon taking office in September 2004, President Yudhoyono said that he was willing to submit legislation to parliament that could lead to the proscription of JI, but only after seeing proof that the organization exists. As he told Time magazine in November 2004, “If there are explanations and proof that JI as an organization does exist in Indonesia, and if it is legally proved that its members are involved in terrorist activities, then it will be declared a banned organization. We will use the legal process in order for this to become a legal and law enforcement issue, not a political one.”

But it was all political. With the rising clout of political Islamists and a growing sense of more conservative religiosity, no politician was going to risk a political ruckus to ban a group called the Islamic Community. As Indonesia’s top CT official, Ansyaad Mbai, stated with refreshing bluntness: “The reason this is not being done immediately [banning JI],” explained “is because the political situation is still very sensitive.”

Mere membership in JI was not a crime, and one had to be directly tied to an attack to be convicted and tried.

The Indonesian courts seem to be frustrated with the cowardice of Indonesian legislators for not banning JI, something that has made their jobs more difficult. In the second trial of Abu Bakar Ba’asyir in 2004, the courts found that while he was not linked to any one terrorist incident, there was significant evidence that he was the spiritual chief of JI. That was the first time that the courts had acknowledged that JI was an organization. Yet politicians did nothing.

In today’s ruling, again, the courts ruled: "JI, as a corporation which one of the caretakers is the defendant, has been declared a forbidden corporation"; but it unclear whether this will have any impact or if that ruling is binding on other branches of government. Despite the court’s ruling, I do not believe that police will be using that ruling as a basis for arresting JI members that they cannot link in some degree to a terrorist act. Parliament is still unwilling to take up the issue of JI and legally designate the group. Until they do this, Indonesian law enforcement - which deserves inordinate credit for their superb efforts that have led to the arrests and conviction of more than 3000 JI members - will be fighting with one armed tied behind their back.

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