Country Reports on Terrorism 2012

Capacity Building Working Group meeting in Semarang, Indonesia on March 6-7. Indonesian
officials regularly participated in GCTF events throughout the year. On March 20, the
Indonesian House of Representatives formally ratified the ASEAN Convention on
Counterterrorism.
Countering Radicalization and Violent Extremism: The Government of Indonesia broadened
its efforts to counter radicalization and violent extremism. The Vice President’s office convened
an interagency taskforce charged with creating a blueprint for counterterrorism that includes
initiatives to counter violent extremism. In concert with other government agencies, the National
Counter Terrorism Agency (BNPT) developed plans for a media campaign to counter extremist
narratives. BNPT identified schools, universities, and religious institutions as targets for outreach
efforts. BNPT enlisted repentant terrorists to publicly denounce violence at book launches and
other public venues. For example, on June 20, BNPT organized a launching of the book The
Cloud of Jihad authored by Khairul Ghazali, a repentant violent extremist currently serving a
five-year jail term. BNPT invited members of extremist groups to the event with the aim to open
dialogue among groups that hold divergent beliefs. The Ministry of Religious Affairs held a
symposium in September called “The Strategic Role of Religious Education in the Development
of a Culture of Peace.”
BNPT also established a Terrorism Prevention Communication Forum in 15 of Indonesia’s 34
provinces as a means to better coordinate counterterrorism efforts at the local level, and plans are
underway to expand the program. Recognizing that campuses are sometimes recruiting grounds
for violent extremists, BNPT co-sponsored a religious education curriculum workshop in Solo as
an effort to undercut radical messages being spread on some university campuses. Plans were
underway to open a rehabilitation and de-radicalization center for imprisoned terrorists in Sentul,
one hour south of Jakarta. This facility, where terrorist prisoners would serve the latter part of
their jail terms, would help prepare convicted terrorists for successful and non-violent
reintegration back into society after their release. However, reforming the Indonesian corrections
sector remained a daunting challenge, and the government had no comprehensive or standardized
system in place to handle terrorist prisoners.
NGOs complemented government efforts with civil society members, academics, and victims of
terrorism engaged in outreach and programs, primarily to students at educational institutions in
communities identified as most vulnerable to violent extremism.
DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA (NORTH KOREA)
Overview: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is not known to have sponsored
any terrorist acts since the bombing of a Korean Airlines flight in 1987. On October 11, 2008,
the United States rescinded the designation of the DPRK as a state sponsor of terrorism in
accordance with criteria set forth in U.S. law, including a certification that the DPRK had not
provided any support for international terrorism during the preceding six-month period and the
provision by the DPRK of assurances that it would not support acts of international terrorism in
the future.
Four Japanese Red Army members who participated in a 1970 jet hijacking continued to live in
the DPRK. The Japanese government continued to seek a full accounting of the fate of 12
Japanese nationals believed to have been abducted by DPRK state entities in the 1970s and
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