Human Rights-Compliant Counterterrorism Myth-making and Reality in the Philippines and Indonesia

Since 9/11, we have lived in an age of counterterrorism in which the spectre of terrorism justifies increasingly repressive and violent measures. Against this backdrop, legal scholars and human rights advocates have encouraged integration of human rights into the discourse of counterterrorism as the best way to counter such repression and violence. This book challenges that received wisdom by showing the ambiguous effects of such converged discourse on developing countries. It highlights the effect of terrorism discourse on human rights in two developing countries, viz., the Philippines and Indonesia, the efforts of local advocates in resisting abuses in the name of counterterrorism, and the persistence of violations despite legal and policy reforms in those countries. Applying a novel analytic framework drawn from critical terrorism studies and critical international law, the book provokes new thinking on the future of human rights advocacy in the age of counterterrorism.

1. Introduction; 2. Human rights-compliant counterterrorism: emergence and consequences; 3. Counterinsurgency and the 'War on Terror' in the Philippines; 4. Promoting human rights while rejecting counterterrorism: three Filipino campaigns; 5. The anti-extrajudicial killings campaign and the government's response: failed remedy, changed rhetoric, continuing practice; 6. Indonesian terrorism discourse from Suharto to Bali; 7. Indonesia's legalised counterterrorism and divergent domestic reactions; 8. The post-Bali legacy: Densus 88 and impunity for extrajudicial killings; 9. Conclusion.

Jayson S. Lamchek has worked as an attorney for civil society organisations in the Philippines for more than seven years, including the Public Interest Law Center which supported the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. During his work at PILC, he helped campaign against the War on Terror in the Philippines, and represented individuals wrongly accused of participation in terrorism. He was a recipient of graduate scholarship awards from Monbukagakusho (Japan), Erasmus Mundus (European Commission), and the Endeavour Awards (Australia).