The 2002 Bali bombings occurred on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attack killed 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesian, 27 Britons, 7 Americans and 5 Swedish citizens). A further 240 people were injured.
Various members of Jemaah Islamiyah, a violent Islamist group, were convicted in relation to the bombings, including three individuals who were sentenced to death. 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. An audio-cassette purportedly carrying a recorded voice message from Osama Bin Laden stated that the Bali bombings were in direct retaliation for support of the United States’ war on terror and Australia’s role in the liberation of East Timor.
On 9 November 2008, Imam Samudra, Amrozi Nurhasyim and Huda bin Abdul Haq were executed by firing squad on the island prison of Nusakambangan at 00:15 local time (17:15 UTC).
On 9 March 2010, Dulmatin, nicknamed “the Genius” – believed to be responsible for setting off one of the Bali bombs with a mobile phone – was killed in a shoot-out with Indonesian police in Jakarta.
Attack
At 23:05 Central Indonesian Time (15:05 UTC) on 12 October 2002, a suicide bomber inside the nightclub Paddy’s Pub detonated a bomb in his backpack, causing many patrons, with or without injuries, to immediately flee into the street. Twenty seconds later, a second and much more powerful car bomb hidden inside a white Mitsubishi van was detonated by another suicide bomber outside the Sari Club, located opposite Paddy’s Pub. The van was also rigged for detonation by remote control in case the second bomber had a sudden change of heart.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 metre deep crater.
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. There were so many people injured by the explosion that some of the injured had to be placed in hotel pools near the explosion site to ease the pain of their burns. Many of the injured were forced to be flown extreme distances to Darwin (1100 miles/1800 km) and Perth (1600 miles/2600 km) for specialist burn treatment.
A 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.
A report released on August 2005 by the United States-Indonesia Society (USINDO) described the events as follows:
The investigators were thus able to recreate the bombers activities. Amrozi, Idris and Ali Imron had simply walked into a dealership and purchased a new Yamaha motorbike, after asking how much they could re-sell it for if they returned it in a few days. Imron used the motorbike to plant the small bomb outside the U.S. Consulate. Idris then rode the motorbike as Imron drove two suicide bombers in the Mitsubishi to the nightclub district in Kuta. He stopped near the Sari Club, instructed one suicide bomber to put on his explosives vest and the other to arm the vehicle bomb. The first bomber headed to Paddy’s Pub. Idris then left the second bomber, who had only learned to drive in a straight line, to drive the minivan the short distance to the Sari Club. Idris picked up Imron on the Yamaha and the duo headed back into Denpasar. Idris dialed the number of the Nokia to detonate the bomb at the Consulate. The two suicide bombers exploded their devices. Imron and Idris dropped the motorbike at a place where it eventually attracted the attention of the caretaker.
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 Pub 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. On 14 October, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1438 condemning the attack as a threat to international peace and security.
Two bodies were never identified and were cremated at Bali in September 2003.
Awards
There were many acts of individual heroism.
Kusitino ‘Kossy’ Halemai, a Wallis and Futuna-born Australian citizen who was managing the Bounty Hotel in Kuta at the time of the attacks, sheltered survivors in the immediate aftermath of the blasts. He was singled out for praise with the award of the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) on 13 June 2005.
Husband and wife Richard and Gilana Poore, who organised a makeshift triage area in the Bounty Hotel’s reception area, were both honoured with an OAM.
James Parkinson, an emergency nurse, worked alongside Doctor Hogg from Wollongong in the Denpasar Sanglah Hospital running the trauma centre for the bombing victims. After disappearing in Africa and Europe for three years, the Governor General’s department finally tracked him down and awarded Parkinson the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2005.
Senior Constable Timothy Britten and Mr Richard Joyes of Western Australia were both awarded the Cross of Valour for their actions during the course of the day. The Cross of Valour is the highest civil honour and is equivalent to the Victoria Cross for Australia which is the highest military honour.
The bomb
The Mitsubishi L300 van bomb was initially thought to have consisted of C4, a military grade plastic explosive which is difficult to obtain. However, investigators discovered the bomb was made from potassium chlorate, aluminum powder, and sulfur. For the Sari club bomb with the L300 van, the terrorists assembled 12 plastic filing cabinets filled with explosives. The cabinets, each containing a potassium chlorate, aluminum powder, sulfur mixture with a TNT booster, was connected by 150 metres (490 ft) of PETN-filled detonating cord. Ninety-four RDX electric detonators were fitted to the TNT. The total weight of the van bomb was 2,250 pounds (1,020 kg). The large, high-temperature blast damage produced by this mixture was similar to a thermobaric explosive,although the bombers may not have known this.
Suspects
The organisation suspected of responsibility for the bombing was Jemaah Islamiyah, an Islamist group allegedly led by radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. A week after the blasts, Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera put to air an audio-cassette purportedly carrying a recorded voice message from Osama Bin Laden saying that the Bali bombings were in direct retaliation for support of the United States’ war on terror and Australia’s role in the liberation of East Timor.
“You will be killed just as you kill, and will be bombed just as you bomb”, “Expect more that will further distress you.”
The Indonesian chief of police, General Da’i Bachtiar said that the bombing was the “worst act of terror in Indonesia’s history”.
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 Abu Sayyaf Group in southern Philippines. Munandar is still at large. A report by the United States-Indonesia Society describes the arrest of Amrozi and other suspects.
General Pastika ordered his men to make the arrest early the next morning, November . Amrozi was asleep in the rear of the house. According to Greg Barton’s account, Amrozi did not attempt to escape, but laughed instead, later exclaiming, ”Gosh, you guys are very clever, how did you find me?” Amrozi’s mobile phone, a particularly important piece of evidence, was seized during his arrest. Bags of chemical ingredients for bombs were found in his workshop and soil samples taken from outside his home showed traces of the primary chemical used in the Sari Club bomb. Police found receipts for the purchase of chemicals used to make the bombs, as well as a list of expenses incurred in making the bombs. Further search of Amrozi’s home revealed copies of speeches by Osama bin Laden, and Abu Bakar Bashir, the radical Indonesian Muslim cleric reputed to be the leader of Jemaah Islamiyah. The speeches exhorted listeners to wage jihad. Police also uncovered training manuals on ambush techniques and numerous articles on jihad. Under questioning Amrozi revealed the names of six others involved in the bombing: Ali Imron, Imam Samudra, Dul Matin, Idris, Abdul Ghani and Umar Patek. But Amrozi’s mobile phone proved to be the real catch. Indonesian investigators were able to print out a list of calls he had made immediately before, during and after the bombing, as well as the names and telephone numbers in the phone’s memory. Pastika kept Amrozi’s arrest secret for two days. After it was announced, Polri monitored the sudden flurry of communications among numbers listed in Amrozi’s telephone before the calls abruptly ceased. The investigators were able to identify the location of a number of the telephones, leading to a series of arrests.
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.
On 12 October 2005, a 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.
On 13 June 2007, it was reported that Abu Dujana, who might have headed a terrorist cell in Bali, was captured.
Just past midnight on 9 November 2008, the three convicted of carrying out the bombings (Imam Samudra, Amrozi Nurhasyim, and Ali Ghufron) were executed by a firing squad.
Umar Patek was finally arrested in Abbottabad Pakistan in early 2011. The U.S. government had offered a US$1 million reward for his arrest for Patek who is suspected in other bombings as well as the one in Bali.
Execution of perpetrators
On 24 October 2008, Bali Officials announced that three men convicted of carrying out the bombings would be executed by firing squad in November 2008. On 25 October 2008, Communications and Information Minister asked the Indonesian media to stop calling the three heroes.
The Denpasar District Court, on 3 November, accepted a reprieve motion to reconsider the death sentences.Fahmi Bachmid, a lawyer for the family of Jafar Sodiq, a brother of Amrozi and Mukhlas, stated: “We lodged the judicial review to Denpasar court to question (previous) decisions.” Lawyer Imam Asmara Hadi stated: “We have lodged an appeal because we haven’t received a copy of the Supreme Court rejection of our previous appeal.”
Indonesia’s Supreme Court denied previous petitions for judicial review amid the constitutional court’s dismissal of the bombers’ appeals. Denpasar court official Nengah Sanjaya said the 3-page appeal would be sent to a Cilacap, central Java court. But the Attorney General’s office said on 1 November the execution was “very close.” Supreme Court judge Djoko Sarwoko, however, said a “last-minute legal challenge by the relatives of Imam Samudra, Amrozi Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron will not change or delay the execution.” They were moved to isolation cells, and execution spots were ready on the Nusakambangan island prison where they are being held. Local chief prosecutor Muhammad Yamin said they will be “executed simultaneously” but at different locations. Imam Samudra, Amrozi Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron were executed by firing squad after midnight on 9 November 2008 (West Indonesian time). In the final moment, there was no remorse or repentance, and they shouted: Allahu Akbar, or “God is great!” For burial, Mukhlas and Amrozi’s bodies were flown by helicopter to Tenggulan, Lamongan, East Java, while Imam Samudra’s body was flown to Serang, Banten, amid “welcome martyrs” banner displayed at the cemetery. The execution caused high tension and sparked clashes in Tenggulan between hundreds of police and supporters. Indonesian singer and TV presenter Dorce Gamalama attended the funeral of Imam Samudra. After praying with the crowd, she spent half an hour in the house of the executed man and spoke with his mother. On leaving she was quoted as saying “I’m certain he’s gone to heaven”. Maaruf Amin, deputy chairman of the Indonesian Ulemas Council, the chief body for Islamic clerics in Indonesia said of the men: “They did not die a holy death. That can only be in a war and Indonesia is not at war.”
Terrorist Groups 