YOGYAKARTA – A suicide bombing at a police station in Bandung, West Java, in December grabbed headlines in Indonesia, not just over the fallout but also for who the perpetrator was.

The man who attacked the Astana Anyar police station on Dec 7 – killing one other person and injuring 11 others – was previously jailed for four years for terrorism in 2017. He was released in 2021, even though officials knew he was far from reformed.

The case highlights Indonesia’s chronic challenge in the war against terrorism – the risk of recidivism.

Between 2002 and 2020, at least 94 terrorist former convicts reoffended, according to a report by the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict think-tank. They accounted for more than 11 per cent of terrorist inmates released in that period.

And at least one expert believes up to seven in 10 of those released are known by the authorities to still hold extremist ideologies.

About 600 terrorism inmates were serving time in Indonesia in 2021, according to the Ministry of Justice. This figure was said to be less than 300 in 2017. Most of them were motivated by the desire to wage war against non-Muslims and participate in armed violence for terror groups.

Indonesia’s deradicalisation and rehabilitation programme has had some success in getting former prisoners back on the right track, but experts tell The Straits Times that challenges like resource constraints and a lack of coordination among government agencies need to be solved, and more drastic measures may be needed.

Red and green tags

When terror criminals are imprisoned in Indonesia, they are screened by the National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) and categorised as “red” or “green”.

Inmates are “red” if they continue to hold on to their wayward radical beliefs, and “green” if they demonstrate a sense of remorse and are deemed to have a low-risk of repeating their crimes.

“Green” inmates have to take a pledge denouncing their past views and declare their loyalty to Indonesia, usually in a mass ceremony held several times in a year, with the media and their family, as well as community members, present.

In jail – and even after they are released – “red” prisoners often refuse to interact with or even acknowledge their “green” peers, whom they consider infidels and traitors to be reviled in the same vein as non-Muslims.

Inmates in each category receive different courses of religious and nationalism counselling.

The danger lies in how both groups are not separated in prisons, giving opportunities for hardliners to influence or confront “reformed” prisoners and turn them back to problematic beliefs.

No matter how they are categorised, inmates are released back into society once their jail term is up.

“Outside prison, theoretically, these ex-inmates will be monitored by BNPT and parole officers from the prisons, as well as staff from Indonesia’s anti-terrorism squad Densus 88,” said Dr Noor Huda Ismail, a visiting fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Government deradicalisation programmes offered to inmates at the end of their jail term include initiatives to help them start their own businesses, run a warung or food stall, or work in the agriculture sector.

An example is 46-year-old Joko Tri Harmanto, better known as Jack Harun, who was sent to jail in 2004 for six years for his role in the deadly 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people.

The former member of terror group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), which has staged multiple attacks in Indonesia, was released on parole in 2008.

Jack now runs a soto restaurant in the Manang district in Central Java, started in 2016 with seed funding from BNPT. Past reports had him serving over 300 bowls of the traditional Indonesian soup a day.

Two years ago, Central Java provincial governor Ganjar Pranowo featured him on his YouTube channel to highlight how reformed terrorists deserve second chances, and the video has racked up more than two million views.

Providing funds for these former inmates to get back on their feet is important because, often, money is the reason why some of them return to their radical ways, said Dr Haula Noor, who studies radicalised cases, with a focus on their families, at the Australian National University.

Radicalisation mostly begins with the belief that Muslims have been oppressed and there is a need to strike back against the oppressors.

But in many cases, the networks and community that come with joining terror groups are a big pull factor as well. And this is what sometimes draws terrorists released from jail back to these networks, said Dr Haula.

“According to a number of former terrorists whom I interviewed, funding from the terrorist network surprisingly became the biggest reason for those who are willing to return and repeat the terrorist action.”

The environment provided by terror groups feels like “safe havens” to these individuals, noted Dr Mustafa Izzuddin, a senior international affairs analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore.

“The terrorists repeat their crimes because they return to the very ecosystem that has caused them to offend in the first place. This ecosystem is a sanctuary which does not just take care of them but also their loved ones,” said Dr Mustafa, a visiting professor of international relations at the Islamic University of Indonesia.

By offering former inmates legitimate alternatives through socioeconomic initiatives like special villages where they have a roof over their heads and a means of livelihood, Densus 88, BNPT and other groups hope to break the hold that radical cells used to have on these former inmates.

Not always successful

Well-intentioned as these programmes may be, they are not always well-resourced or effective, undermining their long-term viability.

“Not all the roles are appropriate for the inmates. Not everyone is inclined to go into farming or start a warung,” said senior researcher Muh Taufiqurrohman, from Jakarta-based think-tank Centre for Radicalism and Deradicalisation Studies.

He and Dr Mustafa both stressed that a lack of resources hampers the ability of these groups to draw up better programmes.

“The government needs to allocate more financial resources to its counterterrorism strategy as it does not appear to have the wherewithal to monitor rehabilitated individuals on whether they will reoffend upon reintegrating into society,” said Dr Mustafa.

A post on BNPT’s website from September 2022 said it was given a budget of 431 billion rupiah (S$38.6 million) for 2023. This goes towards counterterrorism operations like surveillance and intelligence analysis, as well as deradicalisation programmes.  

Some experts say programmes have not been planned for long-term success.

“Those in BNPT and Densus 88 do try to be creative in their solutions, but farming and culinary businesses are not their expertise,” said Mr Taufiqurrohman, adding that their initiatives are organised too “hastily”.

“What they should do is tie up with people who are good in their fields, be it in non-governmental organisations or the private sector, so that the programmes will be better thought out.”

Several experts ST spoke to highlighted how different government agencies run overlapping programmes that compete for the same resources.

Dr Noor Huda said that as a whole, the government takes the issue of terrorism very seriously, as evidenced by moves like the national action plan to tackle violent extremism decreed by President Joko Widodo in January 2021. One initiative trains civil societies and communities to detect and report signs of radicalisation among their members.

Rivalry among official organisations and their leaders can also impede the effectiveness of deradicalisation and reintegration programmes.

“The political will in the government level is already there but personal competition, feuds and even distrust among key leaders – especially between the leader of BNPT, the Indonesian police and other intel agencies – should be minimised,” said Dr Noor Huda, who added that achieving this would not be easy.

Indefinite detention

Tougher rules could be the way to go, and some experts have suggested that Indonesia adopt a stronger stance against those held for terror crimes but who have not shown remorse.

“The government may need to keep radicalised individuals in detention indefinitely or ex-offenders behind bars – including for life – unless it is absolutely sure they will not offend or reoffend upon being reintegrated into society,” said Dr Mustafa.

The danger of releasing hardliners is real.

For instance, the Bandung suicide bomber Agus Sujatno, also known as Abu Muslim Wahid, had been tagged “red” throughout his prison term.

The 34-year-old was affiliated with the Islamic State-inspired terror group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah and had resisted any efforts to deradicalise him, and had even attempted to ideologically convert his fellow inmates in prison.

On Dec 30, 2022, BNPT announced that it would initiate a comprehensive evaluation of its deradicalisation programme, including stricter monitoring of those who have been tagged “red”.

Mr Taufiqurrohman estimates that of the thousands of people who have been jailed for terrorism crimes and released back into society, between 60 and 70 per cent of them are still tagged “red”.

He also pointed out that even those categorised as “green” and who pledged to stay away from terror could be pretending to have shaken off their views.

“They could just be waiting for their time to strike, like a ticking time bomb. Some of us say that there is a fear of them being ‘once a JI, always a JI’,” said Mr Taufiqurrohman.

“Once JI becomes stronger, they could strike again.”

While the idea of indefinite incarceration goes against human rights, the government should consider it before more attacks by former prisoners happen, Mr Taufiqurrohman said.

“We can treat them humanely, while still keeping them behind bars to make sure that they do not get the chance to launch attacks or hurt more people.”