Umar Patek: The Test of a Prison System

Transcription

1 Umar Patek: The Test of a Prison System An Analysis By: Chris Rottenberg Research Associate with the Osgood Center There have been many heated debates on whether or not a terrorist should, or even could, be brought to trial. Other arguments suggest that the ongoing battles against terrorism should continue on their current path using drone strikes to eliminate targets and thus eliminate the threat from attacking anymore innocent civilians or nations. There has been wide spread speculation on the issue of the former Al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, and why he did not stand trial. The question becomes whether or not an impartial jury could be found. Currently in a West Jakarta court room such a scenario is being played out. The trial of Umar Patek, who is an Indonesian member of the terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), is underway. Decidedly no matter what Umar Patek s fate becomes, whether he faces an extended sentence, life in prison or potentially a death sentence, Umar Patek will spend a great of time in the Indonesian Prison system, a system that is in dire need of reform and upgrade.

2 Indonesian prison administrators have recently initiated counterterrorism training programs regarding terrorist inmates. The process must continue but the underlying problem goes much deeper. Unless prison corruption is tackled, jihadists such as Umar Patek, like gang members, rapists, and murders, will be able to communicate with anyone they want in and out of the prison system and circumvent any directive created to restrict prisoner influence over other inmates. Indonesian prison systems have to be overhauled or they will not be able to address the problems among terrorist inmates that serve to strengthen jihadi solidarity and recruitment practice. Patek had been a fugitive from justice since 2003 and was mainly hiding out in various locations in the Philippines. Patek s arrest in Pakistan and extradition back to Indonesia have raised concerns that these actions will be used as propaganda by extremist groups and as an aid to recruit more members to the global salafi jihad once he is in the Indonesian Corrections system. Umar Patek, born on the central island of Java in 1970, is an Indonesian member of the terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). Patek, whose real name is Hisyam bin AlizeinUmar, is the son of a goat-meat trader. Patek learned to speak English before he was recruited into Jemaah Islamiyah by a fellow extremist, Dulmatin, also known as Amar Usmanan and Abdul Matin ( Patek was captured in Abbottabad, Pakistan just months before the SEAL Team 6 s raid on Osama bin Laden s compound. Umar Patek is alleged to have been the architect who created the explosives used during the 2002 bombings in Bali, Indonesia, which killed 202 people and has been implicated in preparing the explosives that were used in

3 Church bombings in 2000 ( There are fears that Patek s criminal trial in Indonesia will draw similarities to Abu Bakar Bashir s trial. On that occasion, there were thousands of supporters for Bashir at each hearing in the South Jakarta District Court. While authorities controlled the state of affairs during Bashir s trial, the bigger implications of Bashir s arrest and incarceration have yet to unfold. Bashir s arrest and subsequent sentencing may have enraged followers to commit an attack against two police officers in Palu in June 2011, which resulted in their deaths. Indonesia s decision to prosecute suspected terrorists in public trials in the Jakarta Court System and release those convicted when they have served their sentences is also absolutely the right thing to do, especially as it pertains upholding the law of Indonesia. This also means that many extremists that are committed to a radical ideology based on religion which in turn they promote violence, are now coming out of prison system and may return to their old terrorist organizations or operations with a new army of radicalized members they recruited in prison. This makes what happens in Umar Patek s trial, and more importantly his prison commencement all the more important. Of course that is if he is found guilty at the end of his trial. Are inmates going to be rehabilitated, or become more radical after four or five years in prison and with a higher rate of recidivism? The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights needs to seriously re-evaluate the levels of corruption in the prison system that makes all legal regulations meaningless. Either no, or very little, rehabilitation takes place in the Correctional system in Indonesia. Communication between some of the most dangerous prisoners and their followers inside of the prison system is leading to larger networks forming once some of these terrorists are

4 released after their sentences have been commuted or they have served their time. According to a report, Jihadists in Jail: Radicalization and the Indonesian Prison Experience, by Dr. Carl Ungerer of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Dr. Ungerer stated Terrorists have set up shadow governments in Indonesian prisons, recruiting members, sending money from jail to jail and, at least once, coordinating an attack outside. Dr. Ungerer continues to state in his report, In 2005, Benni Ibadan, a warden at the Keborokan Prison in Bali, helped smuggle a laptop into prison for the Bali bomber, Imam Samudra, who was then on death row. It was subsequently revealed that the laptop was used by Samudra to chat with other militants and help plan the second Bali bombing ( Indonesia is considering a plan to have a special prison facility for terrorists after their current rehabilitation programs showed weaknesses in the present system, which has lax supervision of terrorists. Incarcerated terrorists are housed together with the other inmates, some of whom end up being indoctrinated with extremist beliefs. Senior prison official Bambang Sumardiono says that this and other measures were being considered to reform the prisons system in Indonesia, which has been criticized for not doing enough to stop radicalism from spreading behind bars ( Bambang says at least three prisons in Cipinang, Nusa Kembangan and Palu have separate blocks for terrorist inmates. But he admits that the prisons department was struggling with problems such as overcrowding and a lack of prison guards experienced in handling terrorist inmates. But as illegal contraband makes its way into prisons in the United States, so do

5 such luxuries as mobile phones allow jailed terrorists to continue spreading their radical ideology. Indonesian officials have blocked some areas from mobile phone coverage, but this not enough to deal with the ongoing issues that the Indonesian Corrections system faces. With Patek s trial reaching its fevered pitch, and hopefully he will be found guilty and sent to prison, what else has to be considered is which prison for him to serve time in. It would be a mistake on behalf of the Indonesian officials to place Patek in the same prison as Abu Bakar Bashir, Abu Dujana, or Zarkasih were they can once again collaborate and potentially recruit. Terrorist organizations are not easily removed, especially with their intricately woven networks they create. As intelligence professionals, analysts, and academics work hard trying to curtail terrorist actions and cease terrorist activities, we have a lot to learn from, not only the trial of Umar Patek, but once found guilty how the Indonesian prison system will deal with him. The real trial will soon begin but with the myriad of possibilities it seems highly unlikely that Patek and reform will be synonymous, once or if incarcerated. However, if the Indonesian government wants those damaging travel advisories to be lifted and the country s beautiful image as a tourist delight to be restored, the Correction side of the government will have to share the burden of reform, innovation and perseverance. Prison Reform Recommendations: Indonesian Government Corrections System: 1. Make reducing corruption in prisons a top priority and in particular: a. Allow independent audits to take place of the prison, its guards and practices with the end result of the audit s publication to be publically viewed and open for interpretation;

6 b. Mandate that mixed panel of Public officials and Corrections officials on an independent board to review prison contracts with final ruling to come from State prison board; finally c. work with Academic and Private institutions to conduct confidential interviews with offenders, paroles and ex-inmates about unjust prison practices and possible ways to improve prison reform programs and to conduct case studies and social histories for future rehabilitation programs 2. Conduct a critical needs assessment for Indonesian prisons starting with the major prisons in Jakarta, Bali, Medan, Surabaya, Bandung, Semarang, and Makassar. Focus primary attention to proper staff training needs, corruption controls and information sharing; when conducting interviews and assessments of current prison employees, conduct the interview outside of the prison itself in a secure and safe environment as to avoid bias from anyone associated with the prison or an inmate within the prison 3. Conduct training seminars for prison administrators and non-enforcement staff to stream line management practices, proper procurement practices and time management 4. Develop better communication between corrections officials, the courts and the police, with special emphasis on those being held on terrorism related charges. 5. Prepare and deliver reports to the court with recommendations for the treatment of offenders Department of Corrections: 6. Implement a standard of practice for prison administrators and consider an incentive base structure for those who meet and maintain these standards: a. reducing corruption, including the appointment of prisoner supervisors and their assistants that may have ties to known offenders or may have been guilty of corruption type practices in the past; b. develop reporting and analysis standards of inmate activities, including prison required/mandated meetings, gang affiliations, and social activities; c. inspect visitors and random checks of prison personnel, including searches not just for narcotics, weapons and cash but also for unauthorized printed materials, cellular phones and computer disks; d. Set up and maintain educational, cultural and vocational workshops for inmates; finally e. enforce prison regulations including the bans on use of cell phones, pornography and eliminate the use of cash inside the prison system 7. Create and maintain a manual for prison administrators and officers on handling different types of offenders with specific criminal backgrounds, including those convicted of terrorism related crimes. Conduct workshops and seminar trainings on what to look for and how ensure that inmates within the prison system are not spending their sentence recruiting new members, and if they are to initiate a protocol to separate effected inmates from those recruiting Reforming Prison Guards:

7 8. Maintain a Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT). This team of highly trained corrections officers should be tasked with responding to incidents, riots, cell extractions, mass searches, or disturbances in prisons, possibly involving uncooperative or violent inmates. Define what goals and benchmarks for success should be for the prisoner-based deradicalization program and what is needed to achieve them; also conduct an internal evaluation to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the program, why some individuals have refused to join and what impact, if any, the program has had on the overall security threat. 9. Implement an information sharing practice with intelligence and academic professionals on reformed terrorist leaders and members and how to implement a teaching forum of positive change to carry a message to future or current members and places of recruitment. Possibly implement a commuted sentence in lieu of a reformer willing to aid law enforcement preach messages of peace 10. Conduct independent reviews of reform protocols and programs to insure integrity of the programs and gauge if the programs are working based on the cost of the program. Review the qualitative data to discern if conflict prevention is being achieved versus current deradicalization programs already enacted. 11. Concentrate on inmates who become or preach extremism regarding terrorist activities within or outside of the prison. Conduct closer knit intelligence monitoring on current or rising terrorist radical extremists within the prison.