By Xinhua,
Jakarta : Indonesia is having second thoughts about ratifying the ASEAN Convention on Counter terrorism, arguing key elements in the convention already exist in national law, according to local media Friday.
“We are discussing whether it is necessary to ratify international instruments if similar elements have already been included in national laws,” politics and security director for ASEAN I Gede Ngurah Swajaya was quoted by The Jakarta Post as saying.
Ngurah said the government had not submitted the convention to the House of Representatives for ratification.
The convention will take effect after at least six members of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) have ratified, but the grouping has not set a deadline.
So far, only Singapore and Thailand have ratified.
The ASEAN Convention on Counter terrorism was drafted in Cebu, the Philippines in January 2007 during the 12th ASEAN Summit, following the ASEAN Declaration on Joint Action to Counter Terrorism and the Declaration on Terrorism adopted at the ASEAN Summits in 2001 and 2002 respectively.
Once in force, the convention will require the ASEAN countries to take agreed measures against terrorism and prevention schemes, including sharing information, exercise criminal jurisdiction in investigations and trials and prisoner extradition.
Ngurah said no ASEAN members had any crucial reservations about the convention because they had all agreed to cooperate in combating terrorism, but a number of technical issues remained.
ASEAN consists of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.