Wiranto defends security volunteers<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Defense and Security\/Armed Forces
\n(ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto justified the use of civilian
\nsecurity guards on Wednesday and said they would not have been
\nrecruited if there had not been threats to disrupt the Special
\nSession of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).<\/p>\n
\"They wouldn't have been recruited had there been no threat to
\nthe session,\" Wiranto said before attending the Assembly's second
\nplenary session.<\/p>\n
Wiranto was speaking about the much-criticized presence of
\nthousands of volunteers who patrolled the city in trucks on
\nTuesday, many of whom were armed with bamboo spears and other
\nweapons, including swords. They were seen yelling insults and
\nthrowing rocks at student protesters, hitting civilians on
\nseveral occasions.<\/p>\n
However, Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman on
\nWednesday pledged to pull all civilian security volunteers away
\nfrom the vicinity of the Assembly building.<\/p>\n
\"We will take the volunteers away from the legislative
\nassembly building because they appear to pose a danger to other
\ncivilians,\" Noegroho was quoted as saying by Antara after making
\na brief inspection of security arrangements at the complex.<\/p>\n
He said the volunteer force would instead be temporarily
\ndeployed to guard shopping centers and office buildings. He did
\nnot elaborate.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday evening, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen.
\nTogar M. Sianipar said in a statement that the police had not
\nordered precinct chiefs to mobilize civilians.<\/p>\n
Sianipar also said that National Police chief Lt. Gen.
\nRoesmanhadi had made it clear that demonstrators must not bring
\nsharp weapons with them.<\/p>\n
He reiterated that civilians had volunteered out of concern
\nafter hearing reports that the session was under threat from a
\nnumber of groups opposed to it.<\/p>\n
Police have also \"introduced order\" to the groups of civilians
\nwho initially staged demonstrations in support of the session but
\nlater went on to undertake \"activities which were against the
\nlaw\", Sianipar said.<\/p>\n
Among those who have voiced harsh criticism at the deployment
\nof civilians are the independent Commission for Missing Persons
\nand Victims of Violence (Kontras), politicians Amien Rais and
\nMatori Abdul Djalil, and a number of international human rights
\ngroups.<\/p>\n
\"Mobilizing 125,000 largely untrained civilians against
\nthousands of student protesters just doubles the problem,\" Human
\nRights Watch said in a fax dated Nov. 10.<\/p>\n
\"Who is going to guard the guards,\" the New York-based rights
\nwatchdog said.<\/p>\n
The International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH)
\nsaid two civilian youth groups mobilized -- the Pemuda Panca
\nMarga and the Pemuda Pancasila -- had been implicated in past
\noutbreaks of violence that have since been linked to the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
\"Far from reassuring the population, they are making people
\nnervous,\" the FIDH said.<\/p>\n
Matori, the chairman of the National Awakening Party, said the
\nuse of vigilantes showed contempt for the people.<\/p>\n
Amien, who leads the National Mandate Party, called for the
\nvigilante groups to be disbanded.<\/p>\n
\"The Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander has the golden opportunity
\nto show the people that he is sensitive to their demands,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Deploying civilians is tantamount to pitting brother against
\nbrother and it's dangerous, he said.<\/p>\n
Kontras added to calls to withdraw the armed civilian guards
\nin a media conference here on Wednesday. Coordinator Munir said
\nthe deployment of thousands of civilian guards under the pretext
\nof safeguarding the session was an attempt to create conflict in
\nsociety.<\/p>\n
He accused the authorities, especially the police, of
\n\"systematically\" and \"intentionally\" recruiting and organizing
\nthe deployment of civilian guards from a number of towns in
\nCentral and West Java.<\/p>\n
Separately, leaders of the Muslim Forum to Uphold the
\nConstitution and Justice (Furkon) said from their office in the
\nGrand Mosque Istiqlal that they had organized the civilian guards
\nto protect the ongoing Special Session from being disrupted by
\nthose opposed to it.<\/p>\n
\"Furkon believes that the Special Session is the only bridge
\nthat will lead to the constitutional implementation of the reform
\nagenda,\" chairman Komaruddin Rachmat said.<\/p>\n
He noted the presence of groups claiming to be students who
\nhave openly declared they intend to disrupt the proceedings of
\nthe session.<\/p>\n
\"They even mobilized the masses near the legislative assembly
\nbuilding. Thus, we state firmly that Furkon will not back off
\nuntil the groups who wants to foil the session stop their
\nactions,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He apologized to the public for the \"unsympathetic\" behavior
\nof some Furkon members deployed to safeguard the session, adding
\nthat sharpened bamboo poles brandished by its members were not
\nspears but flag poles.<\/p>\n
Another leader, Faisal Biki, said: \"I fear the guards have
\nbeen infiltrated by those who want to stir up trouble. That is
\nalways a possibility.\"<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Antara reported that Embay Mulya Syarif, the leader
\nof the Banten People for Reform, had called home 3,000 volunteer
\nsecurity guards who traveled from Banten to Jakarta to safeguard
\nthe session. He said they had been infiltrated by men armed with
\nspears and machetes. (team)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/wiranto-defends-security-volunteers-1447893297",
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