HomeReportsBureau of CounterterrorismCountry Reports on Terrorism 2021…Indonesia

# 					Country Reports on Terrorism 2021: Indonesia			

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                -  Indonesia 

## Indonesia

**Overview:**Indonesia continued to detect, disrupt, degrade, and deny safe haven for terrorist  groups operating within its borders. ISIS-affiliated Mujahidin Indonesia Timur (MIT), Jamaah  Ansharut Daulah (JAD), and ISIS-inspired lone actors targeted police and other symbols of state  authority. While not a member of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, the Indonesian  government and Muslim civil society leaders continually denounced ISIS and actively promoted  the importance of CVE efforts to complement law enforcement counterterrorism efforts. Indonesia pursued members of al-Qa’ida-inspired Jemaah Islamiyah connected to charity  fundraising, legitimate businesses, or active in mainstream religious organizations.

**2021 Terrorist Incidents:**ISIS-inspired groups and lone actors continued to target civilians and  law enforcement:

- On March 28, two JAD members executed a suicide bombing in front of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral Church in Makassar, South Sulawesi, injuring 20 people. • On March 31, Indonesian National Police (INP) killed an ISIS-inspired suspect after she fired an airsoft gun at police at the INP headquarters in Jakarta.
- In May, MIT members killed four villagers in Poso district, Central Sulawesi.

**Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security:**On April 24, the coordinating minister  for political, legal, and security affairs announced the designation of Papuan armed groups as  terrorist organizations, but Indonesia has not to date added those groups to its domestic List of  Terrorism Suspects and Terrorist Organizations. Human rights organizations raised concerns of  suspected extrajudicial killings by Indonesian security forces in the provinces of Papua and West  Papua as part of CT operations. Human rights groups also continued to advocate for reform of  the 2018 Antiterrorism Law, citing concerns that provisions of the law that allow detention  without trial were not in line with international norms. The Government of Indonesia in January  adjudicated victims’ requests for compensation for damages incurred attributable to past terrorist  attacks in Indonesia, in accordance with Regulation No. 35/2020 on Providing Compensation,  Restitution, and Assistance to Witnesses and Victims, as an implementing regulation under the  2018 Law on Terrorism.

INP counterterrorism force Densus 88 reported the arrests of 370 terror suspects during 2021, 13  of whom died while resisting arrest or in custody. Densus 88 on September 18 killed MIT leader  Ali Kalora while executing the joint police-military task force Operation Madago Raya in Parigi

Moutong district, Central Sulawesi. The government extended Operation Madago Raya  (formerly Operation Tinombala) through December 31. Indonesia in April sentenced six  suspects to death for masterminding the 2018 riot inside the INP mobile brigade command HQ  detention facility in Jakarta that killed five personnel. The National Counterterrorism Agency  (BNPT) said 13 Indonesian foreign terrorist fighters were repatriated from the Philippines and  Malaysia in 2021.

Border security improved, but challenges remain. Indonesia’s Customs and Excise Directorate  General has the capability to screen most international passenger traffic against INTERPOL  databases. Indonesia also actively contributed stolen and lost travel document (SLTD) records to  the INTERPOL global database through automation. Police and other agencies maintain  watchlists of suspected terrorists, but lines of communication and coordination among  stakeholder agencies were not always clear. The U.S. government is working in coordination  with BNPT and other Indonesian border security and law enforcement agencies to develop and  consolidate these efforts through the Watchlisting Assistance and Support Program (WASP).

**Countering the Financing of Terrorism:**Indonesia is a member of the Asia Pacific Group on  Money Laundering. Indonesia’s Financial Intelligence Unit, the Indonesian Financial  Transaction Reports and Analysis Center, is a member of the Egmont Group. Indonesia acquired  observer status in FATF in 2018 and is on track toward full membership sometime in 2022. The  nation is also a member of the Defeat-ISIS Coalition’s Counter-ISIS Finance Group. In 2021,  Indonesia arrested, prosecuted, and convicted individuals for financing terrorism and added 17 entities to its List of Terrorism Suspects and Terrorist Organizations.

**Countering Violent Extremism:**Indonesia issued a presidential executive order on January 6,  formalizing its National Action Plan for CVE. BNPT also managed “deradicalization” programs  for terrorist convicts. Indonesians deported from third countries for attempted travel to Iraq and  Syria were enrolled in a one-month deradicalization program at a rehabilitation shelter operated

by the Ministry of Social Affairs in Bambu Apus, East Jakarta. BNPT used former terrorists for  CVE outreach campaigns and helped establish boarding schools to educate children of former  terrorists.

**International and Regional Cooperation:**Indonesia continued to use the Jakarta Centre for  Law Enforcement Cooperation as a regional training center. Indonesia co-chairs the Global  Counterterrorism Forum CVE Working Group with Australia, which has been extended until late 2024. The Australian-Indonesia Partnership for Justice Phase 2 (AIPJ2) on law and justice  reform from 2017 to 2022 addressed the prevention of violent extremism. BNPT in November  recognized the Hedayah Center for modeling the Indonesian experience in the treatment of  children and families affected by violent extremism as a best practice in the *Blueprint of a****Rehabilitation and Reintegration Center: Guiding Principles for Rehabilitating and****Reintegrating Returning Foreign Terrorist Fighters and Their Family Members.*With support  from the Government of Japan, Hedayah and BNPT in September delivered a capacity building  program on Supporting Families in Countering Violent Extremism in Jakarta.

Indonesia continued to support CT efforts in several regional and multilateral organizations,  including the UN, ASEAN, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Intersessional Meetings on  Counterterrorism, the ARF Workplan on Counterterrorism and Transnational Crime, the ASEAN  Defense Ministerial Meetings (ADMM), the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human  Rights, and the APEC Counterterrorism Working Group. The United States and Indonesia  cohosted a virtual workshop with the Republic of Korea for ASEAN members on terrorism  watchlisting in November.

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Bureau of CounterterrorismBureau of East Asian and Pacific AffairsCountering TerrorismCountering Violent ExtremismCounterterrorismIndonesiaTerrorism

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