Student groups want ABRI to quit politics<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) must quit politics or
\ndemocracy will never develop, 18 student groups declared here on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
They demanded in a demonstration the abolition of the Armed
\nForces' dual function -- a 40-year-old concept that justifies the
\nIndonesian military's role in politics in addition to its
\ndefending the country.<\/p>\n
Groups making the statement included the Gadjah Mada
\nUniversity Student Senate, the Indonesian Islamic University
\nstudents representatives council (DPM UII), the student senate of
\nthe Karangmalang Teachers' Training Institute, the Indonesian
\nMoslem Students Action Front (KAMMI), Yogyakarta Moslem Students
\nLeague (LMMY), Concerned Indonesian People Action Front (KARPI),
\nPeople's Mass Solidarity for Democracy (SOMASSI), Committee for
\nPeople's Struggle for Change (KPRP), the East Timor Students
\nAssociation (IMPETTU).<\/p>\n
They signed their joint statement at the Yogyakarta Legal Aid
\nInstitute office.<\/p>\n
The students' remarks are another open attack on ABRI, whose
\nleaders have for the past few days been calling on the public to
\nstop denouncing its dual role.<\/p>\n
The students argued against the military's presence in
\npolitics on the grounds that it had retarded the country's
\ndemocratization in the past three months, which some people have
\ndescribed as the first political opening in decades.<\/p>\n
They cited the unresolved cases of kidnappings of political
\nactivists and rights violations allegedly perpetrated by the
\nmilitary as examples of how ABRI had held back the reform
\nprocess. Of the 24 activists kidnapped, 14 are still missing.<\/p>\n
\"The investigation, shrouded with obscurity, into the
\nkidnapping of activists and the trials of the Trisakti students'
\nshooting, showed us that ABRI has hindered the democratization
\nand reform process,\" they said.<\/p>\n
They also blasted the Armed Forces for allegedly protecting
\nsenior officers from the law, despite alleged atrocities
\ncommitted under former president Soeharto's 32 years in power.<\/p>\n
They referred to rights violations in Aceh, Lampung, East
\nTimor and Irian Jaya.<\/p>\n
One activist, Titok Haryanto of the Gadjah Mada Student
\nCouncil, also criticized the dual function for having slowed down
\nthe reform and democratization process initiated by President
\nB.J. Habibie.<\/p>\n
A similar demand for ABRI to quit politics was voiced almost
\nsimultaneously in a demonstration by hundreds of students at the
\nGadjah Mada University compound.<\/p>\n
\"Lower Prices. Scrap ABRI's dual function,\" one poster read.
\n(23\/44)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/student-groups-want-abri-to-quit-politics-1447893297",
"image": ""
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