Bill helps to maintain military impunity

Bill helps to maintain military impunity

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives has proposed a bill to revise Law
No. 31/1997 on military tribunals, but efforts to do away with
impunity for soldiers has many obstacles as the draft fails to
specify offenses that requires soldiers to stand trial in a
civilian court.

Article 9 of the bill spells out the authority of the military
tribunals, which hear criminal cases involving soldiers or those
considered to be soldiers.

The appendix of the bill says that military offenses are
classified as all violations perpetrated by servicemen.

In accordance with judicial reforms, the Supreme Court has
introduced a new system, which requires military personnel
charged with violating the Criminal Code to stand trial at a
district court. The proposed reforms followed People's
Consultative Assembly Decree No. VII/2000 on the roles of the
Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police.

Article 3 paragraph 4 of the decree says that soldiers are
subject to trial at the military tribunal for violations of the
Military Law, and the public court for violations of the Criminal
Code.

While the police force has complied with the MPR decree, the
TNI has refused.

One of the lawmakers who sponsored the draft, Lukman Hakim
Saifuddin, said the bill did not categorize which crimes could
send soldiers to military court or civilian court, for fear that
"the more crimes that are listed, the more legal loopholes may
appear."

But Lukman of the United Development Party (PPP) said the bill
was not yet final. "We welcome more suggestions," he added.

Lukman denied allegations that the bill was a setback for the
ongoing attempt to reform the military, saying the draft suggests
that soldiers be tried in the ad hoc human rights court for
allegedly perpetrating institutional crimes.

"A soldier who allegedly commits a crime in his capacity as a
serviceman must face the rights tribunal if there are indications
that he or she was merely following an order. To determine that,
however, requires more investigation," Lukman said.

Debate has been rife for decades over military personnel who
are court-martialled. Such trials have been largely used as
attempts to protect, instead of punish, the soldier, thereby
keeping the military's impunity intact due to a lack of public
access to the trial.

The chain-of-command issue has often been a stumbling block
for investigations into active or retired military officers
accused of corruption or gross human rights violations.

Hari T. Prihantono of the ProPatria think tank, which
campaigns for military reform, said that while the TNI had
acknowledged the supremacy of the Criminal Code following the
endorsement of the TNI law last year, no actual changes had been
made, and the military tribunal law remains unchanged.