Return of the gunmen?<\/p>\n
A hungry man, they say, does not question where his food comes
\nfrom. Somehow, this saying immediately sprang to mind upon
\nreading a news item which appeared in the Jakarta morning
\nnewspaper, Republika, yesterday.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, the report said, 151 young residents of
\nJakarta, who hail from the province of South Sulawesi, visited
\nthe office of the Indonesian Foundation for the Study of Justice
\nand Democracy (YLPKDI) on Jl. Setiabudi, Central Jakarta. The
\nyouths presented the board of the foundation with a signed
\nstatement in support of active military involvement in fighting
\ncrime in this city.<\/p>\n
The youths said the measures taken by the chief of the Jakarta
\nMilitary Command as head of the coordinating body for national
\nstability for the greater Jakarta area (Bakorstanasda Jaya)
\nwarranted the full support of the public and should be continual.
\n"And if necessary "petrus" (penembak misterius, or mysterious
\ngunmen) should be revived," the report quoted the statement as
\nsaying.<\/p>\n
For those who are unfamiliar with it, the term "petrus" came
\ninto vogue some years ago, when citizens in Jakarta and other big
\ncities in Indonesia were startled at the almost daily regularity
\nof newspaper reports on the discovery of the dead bodies of
\nsupposed criminals found in all sorts of public places, from
\nroadsides to marketplaces. Often, the deceased were found tied up
\nand stuffed into sacks. Most of those people had gunshot wounds
\nand hence were obviously murdered.<\/p>\n
However, the question of who killed them remained a mystery,
\nalthough rumor had it that it was the work of licensed gunmen,
\nsent out by whoever had the authority to clear criminals out of
\nthe capital. The official explanation at that time was that the
\nvictims were casualties of a "gang war" that was supposed to be
\nraging. The mysterious killings subsided and eventually stopped
\nafter lawyers and human rights advocates, here and abroad,
\nprotested against what they suspected were killings by officially
\nlicensed gunmen. And even politicians objected on the grounds
\nthat the measures, if condoned, could eventually tempt those who
\nhad the power to do so to try to eliminate politically unwanted
\npersons by the same means.<\/p>\n
All the protests notwithstanding, it is a well known fact that
\nmany Indonesians -- probably the large majority -- welcomed those
\nstrong measures against criminals, which they attributed to
\nmilitary concern over the rising tendency toward crime at that
\ntime. And, indeed, there was no doubt that criminals seemed to
\ndisappear for a while from the urban landscape, at least in the
\nbig cities of Java.<\/p>\n
It is no doubt that this same reason is what motivated the
\nyouths to visit the YLPKDI office this week. In their statement
\nthe youths said among other things that they regarded the
\nmilitary involvement in the fight against crime in Jakarta at
\npresent as necessary. The main reason they cited was that the
\npolice are now often ignored by criminals, a phenomenon which
\nshatters the public's feeling of security.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, obviously it must be clear that the doubts
\nand anxieties that were voiced by those with cooler minds against
\nsuch drastic measures apply now as they did during the days of
\n"petrus."<\/p>\n
The questions remain the same. To mention a few: Who is marked
\nfor this kind of "elimination", and who has the say in making
\nsuch choices? Who is there to guarantee that only criminals will
\nbe eliminated, or that those licenses to kill will not be abused?<\/p>\n
If support for mysterious shootings is indeed widespread (just
\nhow widespread is a matter of speculation), then obviously we as
\na nation are confronted with a serious dilemma. Obviously we are
\nhungry for security, at home and in the streets. But shouldn't we
\nquestion where that security comes from and how it is achieved?<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/return-of-the-gunmen-1447898607",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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