A license to kill<\/p>\n
The most controversial buzz phrase in Indonesia today is
\nperhaps \"shoot on sight\". The order, given by Armed Forces
\nCommander Gen. Wiranto over the weekend to police nationwide,
\nsounds lawless to law-abiding citizens. So it is quite rational
\nthat it provoked protests from lawyers and political activists.<\/p>\n
Most people did not expect such an order to be issued by the
\nArmed Forces' top leader, because no thinking person had the
\nslightest inkling that the law and all it stands for would be
\npushed aside, especially since the 1945 Constitution says the
\nstate will respect the supremacy of law.<\/p>\n
However, some people who see the police's impotence in facing
\nthe orgies of killing, looting, robbery and arson say they can
\nunderstand Wiranto's order as an effort to protect innocent
\npeople.<\/p>\n
And nobody reacted negatively when Jakarta Police chief Maj.
\nGen. Noegroho Djajoesman announced early last month that officers
\nhad shot 191 suspected criminals, killing 90 of them, in 1998.
\nThe reason is that people may have long become accustomed to
\ncliche statements from the police like \"the action was justified
\nin the incident\", or \"the officers had no choice but to fire
\nbecause the suspects were endangering the lives of the victims
\nand trying to attack the officers\", or \"the officers fired three
\nwarning shots before they shot the criminals who tried to resist
\narrest\". Of course, no witnesses are needed in the incidents
\nbecause -- unlike other civilized countries -- Indonesia does not
\nhave a law which forbids officers from shooting an unarmed
\nsuspect.<\/p>\n
So world reaction was quite vigorous when suspected criminals
\nmysteriously started to disappear and their bodies wash up on
\nriverbanks between 1982 and 1985. Even despite such a drastic
\nmeasure, it failed to bring down the crime rate. And the world
\nwas reluctant to condemn president Soeharto when he defended the
\noperation in his authorized autobiography, which was published a
\ndecade ago.<\/p>\n
We are afraid Wiranto's order could produce the same number of
\nfatalities. We are also concerned that the order could be used as
\njustification to kill innocent people in the country's trouble
\nspots, such as Aceh and East Timor or on campuses. What the
\nauthorities should do to handle the growing number of riot cases
\nis to find the provocateurs and the masterminds, rather than
\nmerely claim that they exist.<\/p>\n
Wiranto's order seems illogical, if not proof of authorities'
\nfrustration in combating crime. Many people are starving in the
\ncurrent economic crisis, and they know that, ironically, so many
\nofficials have robbed the state of its wealth and have gone
\nunpunished.<\/p>\n
When people start taking the law into their own hands, does
\nthat mean police officers should do the same? What kind of people
\nwe are? Have we lost our senses and gone back to the Stone Age?<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/a-license-to-kill-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}