Clear-cut separation needed between police and military
Clear-cut separation needed between police and military
JAKARTA (JP): Observers have called for the prompt issuance of
regulations to clearly define the respective functions of the
military and police so as to avoid the kind of overlapping that
has frequently sparked conflicts between the two organizations.
Koesparmono Irsan and Munir joined the chorus on Thursday
saying that the conflict between the military and police had
reached an alarming level, not only because of the increasing
number of clashes, but also because of the increasing number of
personnel at all levels involved in the clashes.
Koesparmono Irsan, a lecturer in the Police College (PTIK),
and Munir, a founder of the National Commission for Missing
Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), urged the military to
improve its defense capabilities and renounce all its long-held
territorial functions.
"The soldiers should go back to the barracks and the police
shed their militaristic image so as to end the smoldering
conflict between them," Koesparmono said.
Koesparmono, a former police general, stressed that a back-to-
the-barracks policy would help the military to improve its
professionalism and would also be able to prevent a worsening of
the conflict between the police and the military.
"The presence of soldiers in districts and sub-districts is
questionable as the territorial function is no longer relevant,"
said Koesparmono, who is also a member of the National Commission
on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).
Sharing his view, Munir, who is also a human rights activist,
told The Jakarta Post that it was high time for the Indonesian
Military to abandon all its territorial functions "as this has
been the root of the problem so far."
Both Koesparmono and Munir, however, said that the police
should also consider their own failings, abandon their
militaristic style and start to focus on efforts to improve their
professionalism as public servants.
Munir also said that at the present there was no clear cut
division of functions between the police and the military
although officially they had been separated for two years.
He said Indonesia needed several legislative provisions,
including laws on the national police, the military, and on
national defense, so as to institute a clear separation between
military and police functions.
He said that after the official separation of the police from
the military, the police should have become fully responsible for
security affairs, while the military, to some extent, should back
up the police.
But in reality, the military personnel were always more
dominant than the police officers in most operations, he added.
"Therefore, clashes between military and police personnel
often take place when they are involved in joint security
operations in troubled areas," explained Munir.
Koesparmono stressed the need for police officers to abandon
their militaristic style. "In this way they could adjust
themselves to the new paradigm where they serve the people in
security matters."
"We still often see police officers using a militaristic
approach when dealing with the public," he said.
Meanwhile, National Resilience Agency (Lemhanas) Governor
Ermaya Suradinata said his organization had also discussed the
future of the national police after its separation from the
Indonesian Military (TNI).
Discourses developed during the Lemhanas discussions included
the possibility of the National Police coming under the auspices
of the Ministry of Home Affairs, as in China, Russia, and
Thailand.
Ermaya further said that in line with the implementation of
regional autonomy, there was also a possibility that the police
could come under the authority of the regional administrations.
Koesparmono, however, said that the question of whichever
institution was responsible for the National Police was not of
major relevance in resolving the conflict between the police and
military.
"The most important thing is that both sides consider their
failings and sort out their own internal affairs," he added. (02)