A speech to the students of the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation

JCLEC Semarang, 7 December 2005

7 December 2005

Thank you Lester Cross (Director of Studies, JCLEC ) for that introduction.

Inspector General Primanto, General Purwoko (Director JCLEC), Ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted to have the opportunity to visit JCLEC today to see first hand the progress that has been made in establishing the Centre. Might I say how impressed I am by the wonderful grounds here at Akpol (the Police Academy) and the impressive training facilities here at JCLEC. I'm looking forward to having a closer look at the facilities and to meeting some of you later this afternoon.

Looking around the room, I am pleased to see so many faces from different parts of the region, including my own country - coming together at JCLEC to share experiences and learn more about how we can combat terrorism - our common enemy.

JCLEC Progress

You are no doubt aware that JCLEC is a joint Indonesian and Australian initiative. And it is an initiative of which both Governments are very proud, and I think justifiably proud. JCLEC is an ambitious and aspirational project. It represents new opportunities to enhance the quality of Australia's cooperation with Indonesia, and other regional countries, in matters of counter-terrorism and other transnational crime. It is an asset to be exploited in building the capabilities and professionalism of those who participate in its programs to the broader benefit of our countries.

It offers the potential to broaden its contribution in areas beyond pure policy and law enforcement; for example its use earlier this year as a forum for workshops involving police, prosecutors and judges. It has already made excellent progress increasing the capacity of officers from law enforcement agencies and other counter-terrorism agencies in the region... strengthening the ability of these agencies to fight terrorism and other transnational crime.

Since being officially opened in July last year, JCLEC has already held more than 26 courses providing training for more than 500 officers.And the Centre has continued to develop an operational support role for responding to future terrorist attacks.

JCLEC has built close working relationships with other CT Centres in the region, including the South-East Asian Regional Centre for Counter-Terrorism in Kuala Lumpur and the International Law Enforcement Academy in Bangkok. It's important that these CT centres complement each other, that they coordinate activities and share capabilities. To me JCLEC embodies the spirit of cooperation between Indonesian and Australian agencies, especially POLRI and the AFP, which was so important to both countries in the aftermath of the Bali bombings of 2002. This spirit of cooperation has lived on and grown from strength to strength in the face of adversity.

JCLEC is also an asset for the whole region. Because we need to work as a region to ensure cooperation between all agencies in the region to effectively respond to these transnational threats.

Political Commitment to Combating Terrorism

I want you to know that the Australian Government is absolutely committed to working with neighbouring governments and agencies to combat terrorism in the region and to giving the people on the front-line - people such as yourselves - the support and resources they need to do the job. Australia's contribution to the establishment and running of JCLEC forms part of a broader counter-terrorism commitment worth more than $250 million in 2004 and 2005.

A commitment to combating terrorism in South-East Asia has also been made by all governments in the region and by governments outside the region which provide support for JCLEC's training activities. I'd like to recognise the EU, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States for their contributions to the Centre - we appreciate them very much. I know I speak on behalf of these governments when I say that we fully support your work to track down those responsible for terrorist acts and to bring them to justice.

And I know from speaking to President Yudhoyono and Foreign Minister Wirajuda that the Indonesian Government also strongly supports this work. We are now seeing the signs that this commitment from regional governments is showing positive results and that we are making real progress against the terrorist menace.

More than 300 JI members have been arrested in the region, including three members of the terrorist network led by Azahari and Noordin Top and more than 40 terrorists have been successfully prosecuted for their involvement in the Bali bombings. Last month we saw the demise of Azahari in East Java and we are confident that it is just a matter of time before Noordin Top and other key JI members are also brought to justice.

But, while good progress has been made, more still needs to be done. We can not afford to be complacent or to under-estimate the continuing and evolving nature of the terrorist threatn - a threat that will be around for some years to come - perhaps many years.

And even communities that are not targeted might be exploited in some way, such as being used as a base for planning terrorist attacks. Since the London bombings all countries are more conscious of the possible threat of home-grown terrorist cells. The recent arrests in Sydney and Melbourne demonstrated that Australia too is not immune from this threat. We have to expect that the terrorists will strike in new places and use new methods.

Terrorist groups like JI have shown themselves to be very good at adapting to their new circumstances as we increase the pressure on their operational environment. The recent bombings in Bali show us that, despite the set-backs following the arrest and prosecution of a number of its members, JI retains a potent capability to inflict harm on innocent people.

We must make it harder for terrorists to train, operate, and find new recruits. We must ensure they have no safe place to turn by increasing our existing cooperation in areas such as document fraud, money laundering, travel security and border control. We must keep them on the defensive, identifying and following up on new leads and tracking down those planning and carrying out new terrorist attacks.

Coordination of CT Effort

Australia understands that our efforts to deal with the evolving terrorist threat will require continuing strong cooperation and coordination with our neighbours in the region. Joint training at a centre like this one is clearly the way forward. And joint training helps to create networks of officers across the region, building links between counter-terrorism agencies.

By training together and sharing your professional experience, you are helping to create those networks and helping improve the coordination of our CT effort.

Combating extremist ideology

Of course, the challenge of combating terrorism goes beyond policing and other practical measures. There are many forms of terrorism. And there are many examples in history where individuals and groups pursuing extreme political agendas have resorted to violence and intimidation to achieve their ends. This reflects their realisation that they cannot build support for their views by normal means of persuasion and debate. Their resort to violence of the most callous and inhuman kind - their willingness to disregard the welfare and aspirations - indeed the very lives - of fellow citizens and fellow Muslims - is a weakness, not a strength.

The terrorism threatening Indonesia and other South East Asian countries is inspired by people with extreme religious views for essentially political ends. Terrorism has no basis in religion. Nor is it sanctioned by religious communities. Nevertheless the threat of terrorism calls for leadership from our religious and community leaders. I commend the community leaders in Indonesia who have shown that leadership in insisting that there is no place for terrorism in their faith. And I wholeheartedly agree with Vice President Kalla when he says that while our police and others must continue to fight terrorism on the physical front, community leaders must actively fight the battle on the ideological front.

The ideologies of Al Qaeda - and their religious affiliates, including JI - falsely postulate a world divided irreconcilably. They invite all who will listen to lay blame for their frustrations and grievances on the West. Yet they ignore the diversity and the complexity of the contemporary world and offer only simplistic impractical and shamelessly vicious solutions.

As a model of cooperation, JCLEC is a challenge to this crude and polarised view of the world where we seek to build cooperation and understanding the terrorists offer only destruction and division. Our efforts together at JCLEC are defined by their cooperative inclusive and practical character. Yet they form part of a broader campaign to understand and defeat the physical and ideological assault from factions who - despite their pretences - lack any broad appeal or genuine authority of a political or religious nature.

In this regard I welcome the increasing efforts of religious leaders in Australia, Indonesia and around the world to counter the bankrupt ideology and false claims of religious learning and authority asserted by terrorists. Community leaders and those with genuine religious authority can reach out to those who have been misled into thinking that extremism, political violence and terrorism provide ready answers to their problems.

Conclusion

To conclude - because I know that you are all keen to get back to your classes - the Australian Government remains committed to working actively and constructively with our neighbours. We have a framework for this cooperation through the counter-terrorism MOUs we have signed with eleven countries. We aim to make it more difficult for terrorists to operate in the region and to destroy their sources of support.

JCLEC is a tangible example of these valuable partnerships between Australia, Indonesia and other countries in the region on counter-terrorism issues. It is also a symbol of our shared ongoing commitment to give the people on the front line the support, the training and the resources required to win that fight.

I trust that you will find your time here at JCLEC a valuable professional experience for yourselves, for your respective agencies, and for your countries. Thank you.