Who owns the police?<\/p>\n
Many claim that we are a fast-changing society without
\nrealizing that some aspects of it have refused to modernize. One
\nnotable example is that objectionable attitudes and practices
\nwithin our police force, the most talked-about component of the
\nArmed Forces (ABRI), have changed little.<\/p>\n
Police officers are supposed to be close to the people because
\nit is their job to protect them. But the relationship between the
\ntwo is not as good as should be expected.<\/p>\n
Instances of police brutality continue to be commonplace,
\nwhile controversial murder cases often linger unsolved for years.
\nThe torture and brutal murder of Marsinah, a female labor
\nactivist in East Java, in 1993 is one such case that has even
\ndrawn international attention. The kidnapping and murder of a
\njournalist in Yogyakarta, Central Java, in 1996 after he wrote a
\nreport on the alleged corrupt practices of a high-ranking regency
\nofficial is yet another. Such cases make people question: Who do
\nthe police think they are being paid to protect?<\/p>\n
When the government decided in 1995 to abolish a requirement
\nforcing organizers of public gatherings to obtain a police permit
\nin advance, the people believed that the times in which the
\npolice had refused to respect them had ended.<\/p>\n
They were wrong. Recent incidents in which police have tried
\nto curb proreform activities have shown that many officers feel
\nthey still live in the Soeharto era in which they could act
\nfreely since the regime prioritized stability over human rights.<\/p>\n
With such an abysmal human rights record, it came as no
\nsurprise that the well-respected National Commission on Human
\nRights recently asked the House of Representatives to review the
\npolice force's status. The committee has argued that the police
\nshould no longer be a \"political tool\" of the government and
\nABRI. \"People everywhere demand that their police be professional
\nin serving and protecting the public, instead of being a mere
\nsecurity tool for the power holder,\" said Satjipto Rahardjo, a
\ncommission member attending a hearing with House Commission I for
\ndefense and security, law, politics and information.<\/p>\n
Satjipto, who is also a senior law professor and observer of
\npolice politics, said the police must now end their militaristic
\nway of handling problems. Instead, he argued, it should follow a
\ndoctrine that is entirely different from that of the military.<\/p>\n
The call sounds nothing but logical and timely to us amid the
\nloud public cries for total reform. The incorporation of the
\npolice into ABRI was decided nearly four decades ago under the
\nadministration of then president Sukarno, who liked to appear in
\nsmashing military uniform and wanted to see that not only the
\nArmy, Navy and Air Force wielded military status, but also the
\npolice.<\/p>\n
Gone were the early independent years when the police operated
\namong the people under the coordination of the minister of home
\naffairs. In the years that followed, it was common to see the
\npolice mobile brigade parade with tanks and armored vehicles in
\nJakarta's streets while some of their officers showed off
\nparatrooper wings on their uniforms. The shift created a new
\nclass of uniformed group that became distant from the people it
\nwas intended to protect. It also caused a decline in
\nprofessionalism in the police force.<\/p>\n
We think it is high time that the police be returned to the
\npeople. The idea voiced by the human rights committee had
\nactually been widely, but silently, discussed in public circles
\nduring Soeharto's presidency. We hope the House will take serious
\nsteps to reform the police force because at present, the status
\nof the force is impeding the nation's move toward a more modern
\nsociety.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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