ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the nature and extent of prisoner radicalisation in Indonesia. It assesses the current de-radicalisation initiatives and terrorist rehabilitation efforts spearheaded by the police and those in civil society. The reasons for recidivism are as multiple and as varied as the kinds of motivations that spur some individuals to want to engage in terrorism in the first place. Beyond a focus on the individual terrorists, there are concurrent efforts within civil society on wider counter-radicalisation endeavours targeting the larger community in an attempt to marginalise extremist elements and stem the spread of violent extremism within the Muslim mainstream. Both rehabilitation and counter-radicalisation are long-term projects and the results are never immediate; funding thus remains an issue for civil society organisations. Accordingly, de-radicalisation and rehabilitation efforts in Indonesia need to take into account both sides of the equation in order to be effective, and broader prison reform, too, is necessary to curb the problem of radicalising inmates.