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Indonesian prisons becoming breeding places for preaching jihad

Subhan Choudhury - 7/15/2011

Indonesian security forces’ attempt of irradiating Islamic terrorism from the society has encountered an unorthodox problem – the already detained militants, quite large in number, are preaching jihadi ideals to other inmates of the prisons and that too right under the nose of the wardens. This situation is severely weakening the efforts that the government and security forces are giving to rout out terrorism elements from the country.



Islamic militancy in Indonesia has its unique traits - weak links with al-Qaeda’s top leaders, no affiliation with Afghan Talibans, Thai insurgents or Philippines’s MILF guerrillas; yet very aggressive and resolute in nature.



Prisons in Indonesia run no effective programs that can provide any realistic facilities to inspire the inmates to opt for a regular life after serving their terms. Radicals in most cases end their terms with an even greater jihadi motivation instead. The International Crisis Group reported earlier this year that out of 120 militants arrested and 25 killed in counter-insurgency operations by state forces since early 2010, 26 previously served jail terms for terrorist acts. Radicalization is common is Indonesian prisons and is the primary cause for this. Radicalization blends well when there are the elements such as angry youths, adversity, disaffection and poverty are present in any group or section of society. Indonesian prisons have no lack of these; making it easy for Islamic radicals to accomplish their goal in preaching jihad to other inmates.



Overcrowding is another major reason why convicted terrorists get the chance to preach the accused and newly jailed ones. Lack of resources and funding limit the jail wardens’ intention of separating the suspected preachers from the rest. Moreover, many sentenced terrorists still wish to join jihadist movements in Iraq or Lebanon once they are released. And they are motivating others including petty criminals in doing the same. If this continues, it will severely undermine security forces’ efforts in breaking up Islamic networks.



Shockingly, Indonesian jail guards in many cases allow the clerics to carry out religious sessions inside the cells. For instance, Maulana Yusuf Wibisono, who was responsible for stockpiling explosives for the 2004’s suicide bomb attack at the Australian embassy in Jakarta and 2002’s bombing at a restaurant in Bali is currently serving his terms in Porong prison and regularly preaches inmates to join jihad. Surprisingly even some jail guards participate in such sessions. He preaches that violent jihad is a compulsion as long as the Muslim populations around the world suffer injustice. Officials observed that some inmates and guards already changed their appearance - lengthening hair and beards in imitation of Yusuf Wibisono; but the prison authorities are yet to take any actions in separating him from the rest. On top of that now the Jemaah Islamiyah founder Abu Bakar Bashir is also in prison, making the situation more favorable for the militants. With this backdrop, Indonesian authorities have more things to worry about.



A chief warden earlier this year tried to restrict radicals from meeting and preaching the rest and soon started to receive threatening text messages. The inmates even posted letters to the justice and human rights ministries and demanded action against the warden. Eventually the chief warden was removed from the post and was shifted elsewhere. This speaks how organized and powerful are the militants, even inside the walls of the prisons.



Indonesian prisons need people who would turn bad people into good ones. Currently the situation is other way round. Pinpointing guards those have soft corner for radicals is necessary in order to remove them from the prisons. Closed-circuit television cameras have been installed in some jails but the number is still rather inadequate.



Security forces killed over 700 Islamic militants and arrested more than 1200 since 2002 including several key leaders. When these 1200 come out from jail, they will be a much bigger force with the new recruits in their bags and will severely disrupt Indonesia’s security conditions. The government needs to act soon to ensure its success in knocking down Islamic networks both outside and inside of the prisons.