Lure of Isis, militant spouses: why 11 per cent of Indonesia’s freed terror convicts reoffended

Indonesia’s Institute for Policy Analysis and Conflict (IPAC) found that 94 convicts released from 2002-2020 committed another terror-related crime

120 offenders will be released this year, as IPAC urged the Detachment 88 counterterrorism squad to be alert, despite Islamic State’s waning appeal

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Indonesia’s specialist counterterrorism police unit apprehends a suspected militant outside a home in Bekasi, West Java. A new report looks into the reasons why released terror convicts take part in terror activities again. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:00pm, 5 Sep 2020Updated: 8:28pm, 5 Sep 2020

At least 94 convicted Indonesian terrorists released from jail from 2002 to May 2020 committed a second terror-related crime, a report by the country’s Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) has found.

The repeat offenders are among 825 male and female terror convicts who were released, bringing the recidivism rate to 11.4 per cent.

“Most will not commit a second terrorism offence or related crime after release, but the challenge is to understand the factors that could tempt individuals to re-engage with extremist organisations and the programme interventions that might dissuade them,” said IPAC.

A high level of radicalism in prison, a militant spouse or family member who is a close contact after their release; and the availability of a powerful, ideological movement that carries with it the possibility of collective physical action are among the factors for recidivism, according to the IPAC report, which was released on Friday evening.

“Without the opportunity for action, ideological commitment and radicalised family members alone might not be enough to convince a released prisoner to return to violence. These are not the only factors … but they bear particular scrutiny,” said IPAC.

The idea of jihad in the service of Islamic governance “is a powerful draw” for released convicts and several local militant groups provided the outlet for this belief, including a 2010 terror training camp in Aceh province and the militant Mujahidin of Eastern Indonesia in Poso, Central Sulawesi from 2012-2016. But it was the call to migrate to Islamic State (Isis) in Syria and Iraq from 2014-2017 that became “the biggest draw for Indonesians, including former prisoners”, according to IPAC.

Among them was Abdul Rauf, who was released in 2011 after serving just under 10 years of a 16-year sentence for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings. In 2014, he became one of the first Indonesians to be killed fighting for Isis in Ramadi, Iraq.

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