"Deradicalisation" and Indonesian prisons: ICG report

"Deradicalisation" and Indonesian Prisons, the latest report from the International Crisis Group, notes that Indonesian police have had some success in using economic aid to persuade jihadi prisoners to reject deeply-held tenets. It could be undercut, however, by a lax and corrupt prison administration.

"Prison reform is essential in Indonesia for many different reasons, but helping buttress deradicalisation programs is one", says Sidney Jones, Crisis Group's Senior Adviser in Jakarta.

Indonesia currently has some 170 men (no women) incarcerated for involvement in jihadi crimes. While many are members of Jemaah Islamiyah, the country's largest jihadi organisation, more than half belong to other groups. About 150 men and one woman have been released since 1999 after serving sentences for crimes related to terrorist acts, more than 60 in 2006-2007 alone.

The police initiative is aimed at using ex-prisoners as a vanguard for change within their own communities after their release. It is based on the premise that individuals in jihadi organisations can be persuaded to break with the larger group, but in many prisons, the need for protection from inmate gangs serves to solidify jihadi ranks. Police efforts to show compassion seek to challenge the jihadi premise that government officials are by definition anti-Islamic. The extreme corruption of the prison system, however, sends exactly the opposite signal, that officials condone vice. The police strategy is aimed at reducing the ranks of those committed to using violence, but the success of hardcore jihadis in prison in recruiting criminal followers may offset those gains.

The Indonesian government is beginning to address the problem but needs to do more. It should encourage donors to fund prison reform programs, establish an on-the-job training program for prison administrators and improve coordination between correction officials, the courts and the police. Deradicalisation efforts themselves warrant scrutiny. The police need to define the objectives and benchmarks for success and conduct an internal evaluation to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the program thus far.

"Unless prison corruption is tackled, jihadis, like narcotics offenders and big-time corruptors, will be able to get around any regulation. Unless prisons get better trained staff, recruitment and dissemination of radical teachings will continue", says John Virgoe, Crisis Group's South East Asia Project Director. "And unless there is better coordination between government agencies, the successes of one may be negated by the failings of another".//International Crisis Group.