2002 Bali bombing
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| 2002 Bali bombing | |
|---|---|
| Image:2002 Bali Bombing.jpg A huge plume of smoke and fire can be seen emerging from downtown Kuta | |
| Location | Bali, Indonesia |
| Target(s) | Two nightclubs, US Consular office |
| Date | 12 October 2002
|
| Attack Type | Suicide bombing, car bomb, and other bombing |
| Fatalities | 202 |
| Injuries | 209 |
| Perpetrator(s) | Jemaah Islamiyah members |
| Bali bombings on October 12, 2002 | |
| Nationality | Deaths |
| Australian | 88 |
| Indonesian | 38 |
| British | 25 |
| American | 7 |
| German | 6 |
| Swedish | 5 |
| Dutch | 4 |
| French | 4 |
| Danish | 3 |
| New Zealander | 3 |
| Swiss | 3 |
| Brazilian | 2 |
| Canadian | 2 |
| Japanese | 2 |
| South African | 2 |
| South Korea | 2 |
| Ecuadorian | 1 |
| Greek | 1 |
| Italian | 1 |
| Polish | 1 |
| Portuguese | 1 |
| Taiwanese | 1 |
| Unknown | 3 |
| Total | 202 |
The 2002 Bali bombing occurred on October 12 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attack was the deadliest act of terrorism in the history of Indonesia, killing 202 people, 164 of whom were foreign nationals (including 88 Australians), and 38 Indonesian citizens. A further 209 were injured.
The attack involved the detonation of three bombs: a backpack-mounted device carried by a suicide bomber; a large car bomb, both of which were detonated in or near popular nightclubs in Kuta; and a third much smaller device detonated outside the United States consulate in Denpasar, causing only minor damage.
Various members of Jemaah Islamiyah, a violent Islamist group, were convicted in relation to the bombings, including three individuals who were sentenced to death. Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, was found guilty of conspiracy, and sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment.<ref>The Age newspaper "Bashir's release a cause of great pain.". Retrieved on 2006-09-19.</ref> Riduan Isamuddin, generally known as Hambali and the suspected former operational leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, is in U.S. custody in an undisclosed location, and has not been charged in relation to the bombing or any other crime.<ref>"Indonesia seeks access US held Hambali", The Age, September 8, 2006.</ref>
Contents |
[edit] The attack
At 23:05 (15:05 UTC) on 12 October 2002, a suicide bomber inside the nightclub Paddy's Bar detonated a bomb in his backpack, causing many patrons, with or without injuries, to immediately flee into the street. Fifteen seconds later, a second and much more powerful car bomb hidden inside a white Mitsubishi van, was detonated by remote control outside the Sari Club, located opposite Paddy's Bar. Damage to the densely populated residential and commercial district was immense, destroying neighbouring buildings and shattering windows several blocks away. The car bomb explosion left a one meter deep crater <ref>Australian Department of Defence Aspects of forensic responses to the Bali bombings</ref>.
The local Sanglah hospital was ill-equipped to deal with the scale of the disaster and was overwhelmed with the number of injured, particularly burn victims. Many of the injured were flown to the relatively close proximity of Darwin and Perth for specialist burns treatment.
The comparatively small bomb detonated outside the U.S. consulate in Denpasar, which is thought to have exploded shortly before the two Kuta bombs, caused minor injuries to one person and property damage was minimal. It was reportedly packed with human excrement<ref>Australian Federal Police AFP Investigative Operations into Bali Bombing</ref>.
The final death toll was 202, mainly comprising Western tourists and holiday-makers in their 20s and 30s who were in or near Paddy's Bar or the Sari Club, but also including many Balinese Indonesians working or living nearby, or simply passing by. Hundreds more people suffered horrific burns and other injuries. The largest group among those killed were holidayers from Australia with 88 fatalities.
There were many acts of individual heroism. Kossy Halemai, a hotel manager, was singled out for praise with the award of Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2005.
Three bodies were never identified and were cremated at Bali in September 2003.
The car bomb was initially thought to have consisted of C4, a military grade plastic explosive which is difficult to obtain. However, on 21 October investigators at the scene disclosed that the main portion of the bomb consisted of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer agent readily available in Indonesia.
[edit] Suspects
The organisation immediately suspected of responsibility for the bombing was Jemaah Islamiyah, an Islamist group allegedly lead by radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir[citation needed] that has been linked in many news reports to the al-Qaeda network.[citation needed] The Indonesian chief of police, General Da'i Bachtiar said that the bombing was the "worst act of terror in Indonesia's history". Other Indonesian ministers stated their belief that the blasts were related to al-Qaeda.
Abu Bakar Bashir, though officially wanted in Singapore and Malaysia, held a news conference on 12 October to deny any involvement. In a number of statements he denied that the bombing had been perpetrated by Indonesians, and blamed the United States for exploding the bomb, claiming that it wasn't possible for Indonesians to construct such a sophisticated device.
Aris Munandar (aka Sheik Aris) is a Jemaah Islamiyah associate linked to Bashir. He is believed to have assisted the Bali bomber Amrozi in acquiring some of the explosives used in the Bali bombings. Philippine intelligence considers Munandar to be associated with Mohammad Abdullah Sughayer, a Saudi national suspected of financing the al-Qaeda affiliated Abu Sayyaf Group in southern Philippines. Munandar is still at large.
Indonesian authorities also believe more suspects remain at large. In 2005, Indonesian police arrested 24 additional people suspected of involvement in the Bali attacks and a 2003 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta. Some were believed to have been making preparations to leave for the Philippines.
An October 12, 2005 story in Australian broadcaster SBS's documentary series Dateline, called "Inside Indonesia's War on Terrorism", argued that the Indonesian military or police may have been involved in executing the attack. <ref>"Scoop" Independent NewsSBS Documentary: Inside Indonesia's War on Terror</ref>
[edit] Legal proceedings
Image:Bali kuta blast monument ag2.jpg
[edit] Initial charges and trials
In April 2003 Indonesian authorities charged Abu Bakar Bashir (also rendered "Ba'asyir") with treason. It was alleged that he tried to overthrow the government and set up an Islamic state. The specific charges against Bashir related to a series of church bombings on Christmas Eve in 2000, and to a plot to bomb United States and other Western interests in Singapore. He was initially not charged over the Bali attack, although he was frequently accused of being the instigator or inspirer of the attack. On 2 September Bashir was acquitted of treason but convicted of lesser charges and sentenced to a prison term of four years. He said he would appeal. On October 15, 2004, he was arrested by the Indonesian authorities and charged with involvement in another bomb attack, which killed 14 people at the J. W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta on August 5, 2003. Secondary charges in this indictment accused him of involvement in the Bali bombing, the first time he faced charges in relation to this attack. On March 3 2005, Bashir was found not guilty of the charges surrounding the 2003 bombing, but guilty of conspiracy over the 2002 attacks in Bali. He was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment. The Australian, US, and many governments expressed its disappointment that the sentence was too short; in the outcome, Bashir was freed 14 June 2006 having served less than 26 months for his conspiracy<ref>The Age newspaper Bashir's release a cause of great pain</ref>
On 30 April 2003, the first charges related to the Bali bombings were made against Amrozi bin Haji Nurhasyim, known as Amrozi, for allegedly buying the explosives and the van used in the bombings. On 8 August he was found guilty and sentenced to death. Another participant in the bombing, Imam Samudra, was sentenced to death on 10 September. Amrozi's brother, Ali Imron, who had expressed remorse for his part in the bombing, was sentenced to life imprisonment on 18 September. A fourth accused, Mukhlas, was sentenced to death on 1 October. All those convicted have said they will appeal, and none of the death sentences have yet been carried out. The Australian, US, and many other foreign governments expressed satisfaction with the speed and efficiency with which the Indonesian police and courts dealt with the bombing's primary suspects, despite what they characterized as light sentences. All Australian jurisdictions abolished the death penalty more than 30 years ago, but a poll showed that 55% of Australians approved of the death sentences in the Bali cases. The Australian government said it would not ask Indonesia to refrain from using the death penalty.
[edit] Constitutional appeals
On July 23, 2004, one of the convicted bombers, Maskur Abdul Kadir, successfully appealed his conviction. He had been tried under retrospective laws which were introduced after the bombing and which were employed to aid the prosecution of those involved in the attack. These laws were used by the prosecution instead of existing criminal laws as they allowed the death penalty to be imposed and lowered certain evidentiary restrictions.
The highest court in Indonesia, the Constitutional Court, found by a margin of five to four that trying the terrorist suspects under these retrospective laws violated Article 28I(1) of the constitution [2]. The minority judges argued that international human rights documents such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights allowed an exception to not applying retrospective legislation in the prosecution of crimes against humanity. The majority found that this argument was inconsistent with the text of Article 28I(1) which states that the rights listed there "cannot be limited under any circumstances."
Following this decision, charges related to the bombings against Idris, who had confessed to participating in the attacks to the police and court, were dismissed.
Both the chief of the Constitutional Court, in extra-judicial comments, and the Justice Minister, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, stated that the decision has no effect on the status of the thirty-two other convictions reached before the Constitutional Court's ruling. The legal status of Kadir, Idris and others who might have their convictions quashed following the ruling on the retrospective law is unclear.
The decision by the Constitutional Court has been seen as an important demonstration of its independence from the government. It is a relatively new body, created after the fall of Soeharto, and this decision was one of the first to overrule the constitutionality of the government's application of a law.
[edit] Notes
<references />
[edit] References
Australian Federal Police http://afp.gov.au/international/operations/previous_operations/bali_bombings_2002
[edit] See also
- List of terrorist incidents
- 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing
- 2004 Jakarta embassy bombing
- 2005 Bali bombings
[edit] External links
- Remember Bali: a memorial website
- Australian Broadcasting Corp. Online
- News on the Bali bombing
- Current affairs program Four Corners: "The Bali Confessions" (February 10, 2003)
- Photographs and writings pertaining to the Bali tragedy
- Emptybottle.org: A weblogger writes (and friends and family gather online) as his friend is caught in the bombing, is hospitalized, and later dies from his wounds.
- Asian Law Centre: Melbourne University legal analysis of the Constitutional Court's decision (July 27, 2004)
- [1] Bali’s message of dialogue- includes the Bali Declaration on Building Interfaith Harmony July 2005
- [2] Two photographs from the site of the bombing
de:Anschlag von Bali 2002
fr:Attentat de Bali
id:Bom Bali 2002
ms:Pengeboman Bali
nl:Bomaanslagen op Bali op 12 oktober 2002
ja:バリ島爆弾テロ事件
simple:2002 Bali terrorist bombing
fi:Balin pommi-iskut 12. lokakuuta 2002
