JUNE 7, 2003
INSIGHT: The life of a JI detainee
The recent terror attacks in Saudi Arabia and Morocco are a grim reminder that even though the Al-Qaeda network has been disrupted, its affiliates have not been de-fanged. What about Singapore's own Jemaah Islamiah members? How is their rehabilitation proceeding? M. NIRMALA speaks to sources close to the JI detainees to piece together this account of their life in detention
AT THE Whitley Road detention centre, which once held communists and chauvinists and Marxist detainees, there is a new signboard.
It points towards Mecca.
Its purpose is to help the centre's newest inhabitants perform their five daily prayers as Muslims.
And their call to prayer each morning comes not from the radio or a nearby mosque, but Gurkha guards who knock on their cell doors to tell them it is dawn. Each detainee has his own prayer mat.
Life for the 31 members of the Jemaah Islamiah, netted in the two waves of arrests in December 2001 and September last year, has not been starved of religion, even though it was a twisted version of their faith that persuaded them to hatch deadly plans of chaos and carnage in Singapore.
They are in detention for punishment and reform. So after morning prayers, which are followed by exercise, then breakfast, they are sent to air-conditioned interview rooms with wooden chairs and tables.
Eighteen months after their arrest, daily interviews with intelligence officials continue to be part of their routine.
During the interrogations, which can last up to six hours at a time with short breaks in between, intelligence officers try to ferret out every conceivable strand of information so they can connect the dots in understanding the JI's organisational structure, connections with other networks and possible plans for future attacks.
While Insight has no information on how they are questioned, it understands that to protect the detainees against any possible abuse, there is a doctor who examines each of them every single day. Even the smallest scratch or blister on their bodies is checked and recorded.
The interviews, along with intelligence-gathering in and out of the country, has kept the Internal Security Department busy. The threat of terrorism, as the recent bombings in Riyadh and Casablanca reminded the world, still looms large.
The ambition of the JI, fashioned on the Al-Qaeda model, is to institute a regional Islamic order. Even after arrests across the region, it still has cells in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Intelligence gleaned from the JI detainees here, who have been described as foot soldiers in the chain of command, is shared with Singapore's neighbours.
It was exchanges like these which led to the arrest in Manila of explosives expert Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi, or 'Mike', in January last year.
Security analysts say only good information can stop or disrupt a determined attack by fanatics willing to die. Referring to the Israeli experience in getting terrorists to spill the beans, Dr Boaz Ganor, director of Israel's Counter-Terrorism Institute, says: 'Detainees are very hard to interrogate.
'They are trained to not give away secrets and to resist... When one is released, he goes back to his group and briefs others.'
The Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups in the Middle East have even published books to teach fellow terrorists how not to crack in an interrogation, he points out.
TEARS AND FEARS
WHEN they are not being interrogated or counselled, the detainees are taken out for exercise at an open yard near their cells twice a day.
Most of their time, however, is spent reading.
Their literary diet includes not just the Quran and books on Islam, but also self-improvement books such as The Unofficial Guide To Managing Time, Successful Web Marketing and Analog And Digital Electronics.
One detainee - perhaps underlining the JI members' own commitment to education, as revealed in the White Paper on their arrests - is trying to complete his degree in electronic engineering at the Open University. His lessons were interrupted after his arrest, and he now is looking forward to having them mailed to him.
The solitude gives the men, who are generally not allowed to interact with one another, plenty of time to reflect on the impact of their past actions on their future and families.
According to psychologists, the detainees typically wrestle with feelings of guilt, thinking they have failed as husbands, fathers or sons.
Many were the sole breadwinners, and their detention left their wives to fend for themselves and their young children. Some of these spouses have begun to work in order to earn an income, say sources close to them. A few are selling home-made curry puffs or taking in laundry.
Once a week for half an hour, family members are allowed to visit the men in a room where, unlike in conventional prisons, there are no glass partitions to separate them.
It is a time to catch up on family ties and news about the outside world. Some weeks, birthday cakes are cut, the children play and their fathers ask them about their schoolwork. And the women update their husbands on how they are coping.
Community groups, Muslim and non-Muslim, have helped with their utility bills, and schools have chipped in to pay for school uniforms, meals and books.
When they visit during the holy month of Ramadan, the families are occasionally allowed to bring treats such as dates and mountain honey for the detainees' breaking of fast.
It is not a case of ISD officers going soft, says one observer, adding: 'These small acts of kindness reflect a broad approach to rehabilitation aimed at re-integrating the detainee back to the mainstream.
'A key part of this process is to emphasise the point that they were detained not for their religious beliefs, but for the acts related to terrorism which they pursued as JI members.'
So though family life may be disrupted, a lot of effort is put in to ensure families remain connected.
For example, sources say that intelligence officers arranged a special session to help one detainee counsel his daughter who was doing poorly in school. It worked. The girl passed her examinations and is now doing better.
On another occasion, when a detainee was allowed to see his sister and her new husband, some ISD officers chipped in to buy a wedding gift for him to give them.
One detainee could not visit his wife when she gave birth. Another could not see his grandson when he was born. They were given Polaroid shots of the newborns.
When the babies were big enough to be brought to the detention centre, the men sobbed as they kissed and held them for the first time.
But sometimes, at the weekly meetings, scenes of another kind are played out, say sources close to the detainees. Angry wives scold their husbands for leaving them in the lurch, and parents chastise their sons.
The men, say the sources, try and put up a brave front. But there are moments when they break down and cry.
The sense of having failed their loved ones can be such that, once, a detainee chose not to attend his father's funeral because he felt he would have brought more shame to his family - by law, he would have had to show up handcuffed and accompanied by policemen.
Instead, he called his mother and then traipsed back to his cell, sobbing.
The focus on cementing family bonds is an important part of the rehabilitation process. The aim is to build a strong support system for the detainees so that when they are released, they will not drift back into the clutches of the terror network.
'The public perception is that the detainees are treated by their captors in inhumane ways,' says a security analyst.
'Many do not realise that while in prison, a major part of the work is to build or rebuild the mental scaffolding or belief systems of the prisoners. This is the best way of preventing the growth of future generations of JI members.'
ROAD TO REFORM
BUT this rebuilding process is not always gentle. A tougher approach is also used to drive home some lessons.
The men, who do not get to read newspapers, are sometimes shown images of the aftermath of terrorist attacks - to make them see the horror they too could have caused.
According to sources who have spoken to them, the shock was unbearable for many when they were shown ugly newspaper images of charred bodies lying in bloody heaps after the Bali bomb blast.
Some turned ashen and a few wept, muttering 'Ya Allah! Tak sangka macam itu!', meaning, 'Oh Allah! I never thought it would be that way!'
So have the JI detainees recanted?
It is too early to tell, and followers of deviant religious groups are always the hardest to reform, say psychologists.
Dr Brian Yeo, a consultant psychiatrist, tells Insight that it is easier to reform people who join such organisations out of fear, hunger or greed.
But for those who do it for religion, the turning point is tough to reach because the converts believe that 'even if their lives, families and leaders are destroyed, there is a higher calling and a higher purpose in life'.
What is significant, say sources, is that a few of the detainees are showing that perhaps they were not observing all the proper teachings of Islam after all, because apparently now, they struggle to perform all the five daily prayers.
Such lassitude towards Islamic obligations is further confirmation, say the sources, that their terrorist beliefs were based on deviant teachings.
They add that the detainees are showing various levels of remorse, but Insight could not obtain more details.
According to the White Paper on the JI published in January this year, some of them still believe they are duty-bound to wage a jihad or holy war against the United States.
The toughest challenge for the authorities is likely still to be Ibrahim Maidin, the firebrand founding father of the Jemaah Islamiah in Singapore.
He told the judge who reviewed his case that he had failed only because 'Allah did not will the attack to happen and pre- destination cannot be overridden'.
Whether or not the detainees are fully rehabilitated will be known when their detention orders are up for review after two years.
Meanwhile, Muslim community groups are not giving up on them.
Bonding with fellow Muslims is seen to be an important feature of weaning them off their fanatical beliefs, say sources.
Muslim groups help the detainees' families cope by helping them pay for provisions, utility bills and childcare fees.
Some mosque leaders have also organised special briyani lunches for the men on Hari Raya Haji and Prophet Muhammad's birthday.
One of them was Ustaz Ali Haji Mohamed, chairman of the Khadijah Mosque. He says: 'It is very, very important not to cast them aside.
'We are trying to tell them that the community still cares for them and hopes they will repent and return to their families and communities to lead a peaceful, non-violent life.'
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Prayers: 5 times daily.
Exercise: Twice a day at an open yard.
Interrogation: Daily, even 18 months' after their arrest. The interviews to gather information about the JI can last up to six hours at a time, with short breaks. To guard against possible abuse, a doctor examines each detainee every day.
Solitude: The men cannot interact.
Reading: Most of their time is spent reading books on Islam and self-improvement.
Family time: Once a week, relatives can visit for half an hour.
Rehab: They are sometimes shown images of bloody terror attacks.