Country Reports on Terrorism 2012

February, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal of Abu Bakar Ba’asyir to overturn his
conviction on charges of terrorism and reinstated a 15-year sentence. This reversed an October
2011 decision wherein judges at the Jakarta High Court threw out the original 15-year sentence
and issued a nine-year jail term based on lesser charges.
In mid-April, seven members of a radical group were found guilty of plotting to poison the water
and food supplies at a police cafeteria in Jakarta and sentenced to jail terms ranging from three to
five years. This case prompted authorities to express concern about terrorists obtaining chemical
and biological agents for use in attacks.
On June 21, judges at the West Jakarta District Court announced a guilty verdict and 20-year jail
sentence for Umar Patek. The trial lasted four months and featured testimony from victims and
legal experts, including American witnesses. Patek was found guilty on all six counts for terrorist
actions spanning more than a decade. He was the last remaining terrorist yet to be sentenced for
the 2002 Bali bombings, for which he was the principal bomb maker.
Indonesia remained an important partner nation in the Department of State’s Antiterrorism
Assistance program, which provided enhanced training in investigative and tactical skills for
Indonesian National Police officers, including elite units that regularly conducted major
operations against terrorists in the region.
Countering Terrorist Finance: Indonesia belongs to the Asia/Pacific Group on Money
Laundering, a Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-style regional body. In February 2012, FATF
placed Indonesia on its Public Statement list because of Indonesia’s failure to make sufficient
progress in implementing its anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism action
plan. Indonesia faces possible FATF sanctions for failure to pass terrorist financing
legislation. At year’s end, revised terrorist financing legislation was pending before parliament.
Indonesia continued to lack a comprehensive law to implement UNSCRs 1267 and 1373, though
the AML legislation provides for the freezing of terrorist assets linked to the UN List of
designated terrorists and terrorist organizations. The Indonesian Financial Intelligence Unit
routinely shared designated terrorists and terrorist entities with banks nationally through the
Central Bank of Indonesia, but this had little effect since Indonesian authorities have not used
existing regulations to freeze assets under UNSCR 1267. For example, Indonesia made little to
no progress in freezing assets of JAT and three of its members after they were placed on the
UNSCR 1267 list in March and April. Prosecutors and police need additional training to be able
to convincingly follow and explain the money trail in a court of law. Judges also need training on
money laundering and financial crimes. Corruption, particularly within the police ranks, also
impeded effective investigations and prosecutions. Charitable and religious institutions remained
largely unregulated, although the Indonesian government was looking at creating an
administrative process to monitor non-profit organizations.
For further information on money laundering and financial crimes, we refer you to the 2013
International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Volume 2, Money Laundering and
Financial Crimes: http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/index.htm.
Regional and International Cooperation: A founding member of the Global Counterterrorism
Forum (GCTF), Indonesia and Australia co-hosted the GCTF’s inaugural South East Asia
45