EDITORIAL Winning battles, losing wars
The war against terror has forced governments to rethink national security. Protecting against invisible, anonymous threats requires extraordinary vigilance and exceptional measures. Ultimately, victory in this battle will rest on a broad consensus on what we are fighting for; only then can governments marshal their resources against extremists. Yet there is a very real danger that measures taken to fight terrorism will undermine the will needed to prevail in that struggle. We cannot afford to become like our enemies. Two recent events should remind us of how easy that is, and of how hard we must work to maintain the moral clarity that separates us from the terrorists. In one case, Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled recently that antiterror laws passed in the wake of the Bali bombings could not be used retroactively. In a 5-4 decision, a majority held that the government could not use tough new laws to punish behavior that occurred before the laws were passed. That is common sense. Ex post facto laws can easily become capricious and instruments of oppression. The court decision raises questions about the fate of more than 30 terrorists, including those found guilty of killing more than 200 people in the October 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali. The ruling does not mean that the terrorists will go free, as the court pointedly declined to throw out the convictions. Many of the guilty men confessed, and there is considerable physical evidence to tie them to the crimes. Most are likely to be retried under older statutes against murder, conspiracy, or aiding and abetting fugitives. The lower level of proof allowed by the new laws should have an effect on judicial reasoning. There is also some question about the risk of double-jeopardy: No person can be tried twice for the same crime. The first conviction, though, may preclude the need for a second trial. There is concern that the ruling may hurt the case against Mr. Abu Bakar Bashir, the militant cleric accused of leading Jemaah Islamiyah, a terrorist organization linked to killings in Indonesia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Mr. Bashir is a popular religious leader who denies any ties to terrorism. The government has been very careful in prosecuting him, fearful of antagonizing Muslims in the country. On the other side of the globe, the United States recently released a report on the abuse of detainees held in U.S. facilities throughout Iraq and Afghanistan. The report, compiled by U.S. Army Inspector General Lt. Gen. Paul Mikolashek, identified 94 incidents of confirmed or possible abuse that occurred, yet concluded that the incidents were the result of "the failure of individuals" who did not follow known standards of discipline,or leaders who did not enforce those standards. It found no pattern of abuse or involvement by higher ranking individuals. The report has been sharply criticized. It identified 20 deaths and 74 instances of abuse -- beatings, sexual assaults and thefts -- but did not address the use of unmuzzled dogs during interrogations or the existence of "ghost detainees" (captured people without a record of detention), even though other U.S. military reports have documented those practices. It concluded that the abuses involved a small percentage of the 50,000 detainees seized in Afghanistan and Iraq. The problems it did uncover were the result of individual "aberrations" rather than "systemic" problems. That's the same defense that has been used by the U.S. government since reports of the horrifying abuses first surfaced. Those conclusions fly in the face of previous Army investigations that said interrogators and guards were poorly trained and supervised, that their orders were unclear, and that facilities in which detainees were kept were unsafe and unsanitary. Lt. Gen. Mikolashek's report does not disagree with those findings, but it differs on the question of culpability. Red Cross reports found that detainee abuse was part of a pattern that resembled torture and seemed to be tolerated by the government, particularly since the behavior continued even after being brought to the attention of U.S. officials. The prisoner abuse scandal has badly damaged the image of the U.S., especially in light of the argument that the elimination of human-rights abuses was one justification for the U.S.-led coalition to topple the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. The strongest and most important weapon the civilized world has in the struggle against terrorism is the freedom and dignity offered to citizens. If these are sacrificed for expediency, we will have lost the war. The greatest danger is that in fighting this threat, we will become like our enemies -- as appears to have been the case at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. The law must remain supreme if we are to maintain our moral superiority in the struggle against terror and extremism. The Japan Times: July 31, 2004 (C) All rights reserved ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi.4t.com *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. 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