Djada tells soldiers to improve professionalism

JAKARTA (JP): City Military Commander Maj. Gen. Djadja Suparman underlined on Wednesday the importance of improving soldiers' professionalism in order to provide better service to society.

Speaking ahead of the commemoration of the command's 49th anniversary on Thursday, Djadja said that his office had started upgrading professionalism by, among other things, imposing heavy sanctions on soldiers who had acted against the normal procedures in security operations.

"The Armed Forces (ABRI) member is also a human. He is not perfect and he may also be worn out with all his duties. He is not a superhero who is obliged to be the greatest man in the world."

"We understand this fact and try endlessly to eliminate our flaws," Djadja said after making a devotional visit to Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in South Jakarta on Wednesday as part of a series of events to commemorate the command's anniversary.

He admitted that many of his soldiers had committed violations in security operations in the capital during the year, but he said that the soldiers' behavior was in their individual capacities.

"If there are soldiers who handled protesters rudely as was displayed on TV... that's the actions of individuals. They surely receive punishment and must take the responsibility. Institutionally our rules do not provide opportunities for them to do so," he said

Djadja was referring to the TV news transmitted nationwide depicting soldiers who beat and shot at street protesters.

"Certainly there are soldiers who behave that way, especially when the situation is out of control of the commander or because the circumstances at that moment goad the soldiers to act against the rules," he said.

This year ABRI has received public criticism for the way it dealt with street protesters.

After the Black Friday incident at the Semanggi cloverleaf in Central Jakarta on Nov. 13, some 144 personnel from various military units were to be arraigned for opening fire at protesters without receiving orders from their superiors during the incident.

Twelve soldiers have also been "disciplined" for failing to control their subordinates during the unrest which earned ABRI the public's wrath, and 19 other soldiers have received disciplinary sanctions for beating up protesters.

Four Army members would also face court-martial for beating up journalists in an incident on Jl. Imam Bonjol in Central Jakarta on Nov. 12.

The city military also launched investigations into the recent incident at the Senayan flyover and the shooting incident at the Cawang flyover afterwards to find any soldiers who had violated the riot procedure in dispersing student rallies.

Djadja, who was installed as the city military commander in July, also said that his office had reviewed the military's ways of handling riots.

"At last we have made guidelines, so that in handling a riot we would first look at the type of rally."

"If it is just a moral intellectual movement voicing aspirations of certain parties or the majority of people and is conducted in line with the existing rules, we will face it without a multitude of soldiers, and let the police handle it," he said.

He reiterated that the deployment of soldiers in the security operations in the capital was the requirements of the police and the governor.

During the visit, Djadja and the other command officials strewed flowers on several graves, including the seven Army officers who died during an aborted coup on Sept. 30, 1965, and the former city military commander, the late Lt. Gen. (ret) Norman Sasono. (ivy)