REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that the involvement of the military (TNI) in fighting terrorism would depend upon needs and would also need better coordination with other security agencies.

"Yes, it would depend upon the needs. TNI also has superiorities and we need more of them, but there must be good coordination," he said at his office here on Tuesday.

He made the statement in response to proposals for TNI's involvement in the fight against terrorism, which would be regulated in the revised anti-terrorism law now still being deliberated in the House of Representatives.

Regarding criticism that it would increase the risk of human rights violations, the vice president stated that terrorism was a cruel criminal act, and security forces would act for the sake of the safety of citizens and state interests.

"It is all for the interests of the state and the people. They are inseparable. A nation consists of people. So it is not a human right issue. It is needed because terrorism is a crime and an evil, and so it would not run against human rights," he stated.

Kalla added that although the government wished that the revision process could be speeded up, it would not intend to produce a government regulation in lieu of that, because Law Number 15, 2093 on terrorism crime is still effective enough to fight terrorism.

"The current law is already quite effective. We have been praised by the world that we, police anti-terrorism squad Densus and the military, have so far been able to carry out their duties well, although one or two failed. On the other hand, we cannot say that with the presence of law, terrorism will automatically be prevented. We cannot be sure," he remarked.

Kalla revealed that the revision of the anti-terrorism law is part of efforts to increase the performance of the government and security agencies to overcome terrorism from an early stage.

"There must always be efforts like this. The government wishes it could be done faster so that action could be taken quickly. Now we cannot arrest any suspect before he acts," he pointed out.

One of the aims of the revision is to give authority to intelligence agency to take preventive measures to be allowed to conduct interrogation on a person or a meeting suspected to be connected with terrorism.

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