Chivalrous attitude
Chivalrous attitude
One of the capital's dailies reported in its Sept. 6 edition
Gen. (ret.) Rudini appealing to the community that it should stop
its condemnation of the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI). On the
previous day, Minister of Defense and Security/Commander of the
Armed Forces Gen. Wiranto made public his defense of the Armed
Forces when he said " ...don't bring the Armed Forces to
justice..."
It seems that the statements made by these two ABRI figures
have been based on a mistaken assumption. People do not in the
least intend to condemn, discredit or even bring to justice ABRI.
So far, the people have been demanding that ABRI show its
chivalry and its accountability as a professional institution
upholding a high moral standard.
As an institution, the Armed Forces cannot give a pretext that
it only carry out its professional tasks so that it cannot be
simply blamed, as Rudini said in his statement.
In fact, Wiranto demonstrated the chivalrous qualities of ABRI
when he openly tendered his apology for human rights violation
cases in Aceh. However, it seems that not all "ranks" of ABRI
fully agree to the stance taken by Wiranto and even the "ranks"
of retired Army men, as shown by Rudini, do not want to so easily
"admit" their mistakes.
As a former high-ranking officer of the Armed Forces, Rudini
has not shown quite an edifying attitude. He should have fully
supported the gallant and chivalrous attitude as Wiranto and
Prabowo have demonstrated. In this respect, Rudini should place
himself only as a model figure of ABRI, one that can give
encouragement from behind. One may get the impression from his
statement that he does not wish to see ABRI take up a chivalrous
attitude, as already "pioneered" by Wiranto and also that he
prefers ABRI to go back to its "basic attitude", as already shown
so far, namely hiding behind obsolete pretexts such as "a
procedural mistake", "an analytical error" and the like.
The attitude shown by Rudini is "quite understandable" because
when he was a high-ranking officer -- among others the Army chief
of staff -- the Tanjung Priok case broke out. Also, when he was
minister of home affairs, various human rights violations
occurred in, among others, Aceh. It seems that Rudini is "afraid"
of being implicated in these cases. Hence his less chivalrous
statement.
Every past "criminal case" perpetrated by ABRI cannot be
closed just by tendering an apology or by undertaking
humanitarian and charitable acts. As a professional institution,
ABRI must uphold moral ethics and professionalism by utterly
exposing all these "criminal cases", enforcing the law, bringing
the perpetrators and the masterminds to court and providing the
victims and their families with compensation.
ABRI should do all these things and should not instead cleanse
itself of the guilt. Is it true, then, that the gut of the Armed
Forces is only that much?
MOH. ABDUL KARIM
Jakarta
One of the capital's dailies reported in its Sept. 6 edition
Gen. (ret.) Rudini appealing to the community that it should stop
its condemnation of the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI). On the
previous day, Minister of Defense and Security/Commander of the
Armed Forces Gen. Wiranto made public his defense of the Armed
Forces when he said " ...don't bring the Armed Forces to
justice..."
It seems that the statements made by these two ABRI figures
have been based on a mistaken assumption. People do not in the
least intend to condemn, discredit or even bring to justice ABRI.
So far, the people have been demanding that ABRI show its
chivalry and its accountability as a professional institution
upholding a high moral standard.
As an institution, the Armed Forces cannot give a pretext that
it only carry out its professional tasks so that it cannot be
simply blamed, as Rudini said in his statement.
In fact, Wiranto demonstrated the chivalrous qualities of ABRI
when he openly tendered his apology for human rights violation
cases in Aceh. However, it seems that not all "ranks" of ABRI
fully agree to the stance taken by Wiranto and even the "ranks"
of retired Army men, as shown by Rudini, do not want to so easily
"admit" their mistakes.
As a former high-ranking officer of the Armed Forces, Rudini
has not shown quite an edifying attitude. He should have fully
supported the gallant and chivalrous attitude as Wiranto and
Prabowo have demonstrated. In this respect, Rudini should place
himself only as a model figure of ABRI, one that can give
encouragement from behind. One may get the impression from his
statement that he does not wish to see ABRI take up a chivalrous
attitude, as already "pioneered" by Wiranto and also that he
prefers ABRI to go back to its "basic attitude", as already shown
so far, namely hiding behind obsolete pretexts such as "a
procedural mistake", "an analytical error" and the like.
The attitude shown by Rudini is "quite understandable" because
when he was a high-ranking officer -- among others the Army chief
of staff -- the Tanjung Priok case broke out. Also, when he was
minister of home affairs, various human rights violations
occurred in, among others, Aceh. It seems that Rudini is "afraid"
of being implicated in these cases. Hence his less chivalrous
statement.
Every past "criminal case" perpetrated by ABRI cannot be
closed just by tendering an apology or by undertaking
humanitarian and charitable acts. As a professional institution,
ABRI must uphold moral ethics and professionalism by utterly
exposing all these "criminal cases", enforcing the law, bringing
the perpetrators and the masterminds to court and providing the
victims and their families with compensation.
ABRI should do all these things and should not instead cleanse
itself of the guilt. Is it true, then, that the gut of the Armed
Forces is only that much?
MOH. ABDUL KARIM
Jakarta