When Singapore began busting local cells of regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah in 2001, it had a useful counter-terrorism tool at its disposal: the Internal Security Act. A legacy of British colonial rule in former Malaya, the ISA allows for indefinite detention without trial.
More arrests followed as details emerged of plots to hit Singaporean and western targets in the city state, including cutting off the crucial water supply from neighbouring Malaysia. In all, about 70 Singaporean members of JI were detained under the ISA. But there was no appetite to put anyone on trial for what amounted to detention aimed at stopping attacks on Singaporean soil and preventing Muslim extremists from regrouping in other countries.
In recent years, Singapore has begun releasing terrorist detainees who are no longer deemed a security threat. Over one-third of JI suspects have been freed from jail or released from house detention. At the same time, authorities continue to closely watch the Muslim community and arrest suspects linked to foreign terrorist organisations.
Behind the release of the suspects is a religious counselling programme that uses Muslim clerics to rebut extremist views and instil moderate Islamic teachings. The theological programme, staffed on a volunteer basis by Singaporean Muslims, is part of a broader effort to rehabilitate JI members and enable their release. Clerics also reach out to families of detainees and the wider Muslim community to counter extremist propaganda.
Proponents say the success of Singapore's approach offers lessons to allies in the US-led war against Muslim extremism and an alternative to indefinite detention without trial of extremists in Guantanamo Bay and other prisons. In recent years, other countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia have also promoted religious rehabilitation in jails bulging with terror suspects, with varying results.
Faced with swelling detention centres after a surge in troop deployments to trouble spots, US military commanders in Iraq have begun to take note. With an estimated 25,000 Iraqis in US custody, the US has in recent months introduced religious education programmes that are modelled, in part, on Singapore's scheme, and on a much larger programme in Saudi Arabia.