Breaches in TNI's code of conduct due to indicipline
Breaches in TNI's code of conduct due to indicipline
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
"It used to be great, being a soldier," says an Army colonel,
half in remorse, half in nostalgia.
In the past, he continues, when a soldier stood at a roadside
waiting for an angkot (public transit vehicle), the driver, upon
seeing him, would stop and say that as he was heading in the same
direction -- he would be happy to take the soldier, while in fact
he was going in the opposite direction.
"Today, an angkot would turn around and avoid us. Or, the
conductor would ask for the fare as soon as we'd entered the
vehicle. In the past, it would be a struggle to make them accept
our money," says the colonel.
Indeed, there is a big gap between then and now, and the
military has only itself to blame for the decay in public
appreciation of their very existence.
Sunday's incident at Binjai, North Sumatra, was only another
entry in a long list of breaches in TNI's code of conduct that
includes criminal offenses, from the unthinkably ridiculous to
grave crimes like murder and treason.
On Dec. 26, 1999, for example, a group of about 45 soldiers,
angry at being scolded for not wearing motorcycle helmets,
stormed a police station in East Kalimantan, killing at least one
policeman and injuring 11 others.
On Dec. 15, 2000, Air Force Sgt. Maj. Mirad Rikardo, 30, died
in hospital a day after he was interrogated and beaten by members
of the Air Force Provost at Adisutjipto Air Force base in
Yogyakarta. Mirad had been declared a deserter for failing to
report to work for the three days prior to his arrest by the
provost.
These examples of TNI's bad conduct have not only tarnished
its image but have also distanced it from the people. This is
unacceptable, given that TNI has always prided itself on the fact
that it was borne of the people, and is therefore one with the
people and is there to protect the people.
A host of reasons have been cited for the breaches in TNI's
code of conduct and many seem to agree that poor welfare is the
main reason.
A four-star general told me recently -- when asked to comment
on a Newsweek report about soldiers taking bribes in Aceh-- that
he could not be too hard on the soldiers.
"I can't be too hard on them. You know how much they get," he
said, referring to the low salaries of the troops.
Poor pay may be a justified excuse, but how can one explain
the dedication of a soldier who has been stationed in a remote
part of Irian Jaya for 15 years and has never yet lost faith in
his mission?
"I have lived here for 15 years. It's my home now and I will
spend the rest of my life here rather than go back to Java," said
the noncommissioned officer stationed in a village outside Wamena
in Jayawijaya regency.
The officer lives in a simple hut with an earth floor, exactly
like the dwellings of other local tribespeople. Yet he is
content, although his monthly Rp 50,000 operational stipend is
far from adequate. He has to patrol neighboring villages and the
money is nowhere near the amount he spends on gasoline. Yet he is
content because he likes what he does and loves the people.
Low wages are therefore a poor excuse and it is an insult to
dedicated officers to blame poor conduct on poor pay. Discipline
and dedication are what is lacking among today's members of the
military. A military without discipline amounts to an armed gang
and a military without dedication is nothing but a mercenary. TNI
has to prove it is neither of the two.