Elite create mob society, not 'civil society'

Elite create mob society, not 'civil society'

Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia's political elite have failed to bring about a civil
society as they are more inclined to use repressive and
militaristic approaches than democratic principles in resolving
differences, an expert says.

"The use of repressive measures facilitates the birth of mob
societies rather than civil societies," political analysts J.
Kristiadi of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS) told The Jakarta Post on Friday on the sidelines of a
three-day seminar on Indonesian Transition to Democracy.

"When a government controls civilians with military power for
a long period of time, what do you think happens to the
civilians? They (the civilians) form mob societies and settle
their problems with weapons," said Kristiadi, adding that the
country's political elite were products of a severely repressed
society who could not but encourage Indonesians to form and
maintain "mob societies".

Indonesia was autocratically ruled for 32 years by former
president Soeharto, who used the military to dispose of his
enemies and jailed people speaking out against his government.

Kristiadi particularly criticized the government's recent
decision to reinstate the Iskandar Muda Military Command in Aceh.
Human rights campaigners and Acehnese people have strongly
objected the move.

"The government says it needs to curb separatist activities in
Aceh ... the government also knows that by reinstating the
military command, it encourages the taking up of arms and
weaponry by civilians," said Kristiadi, adding that the answer to
the Aceh case was not the deployment of thousands of soldiers in
the province, but in understanding damage control and its
management.

"Politicians must not allow the military to heavily influence
the running of local administrations," he said.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had earlier stated that the
reintroduction of the Iskandar Muda military command in Aceh was
designed to "strengthen the Indonesian Military's ability to
handle the separatist movement in the province."

Aceh has been under the auspices of the Bukit Barisan Military
Command based in the North Sumatra capital of Medan since its own
military command was dissolved in 1984.

Human rights activists have accused the army of committing
widespread abuses in Aceh, including running death squads that
target civilians opposed to Indonesian rule.

Kristiadi called on the country's elite to educate civilians
to form groups and learn about managing their own security and
societies in a civilized manner and to learn the virtues of
negotiating to settle a problem.

"Guns, weapons ... killing is never the answer," he said.

In the seminar, legal expert Nursyahbani Katjasungkana said
that capital punishment must be abolished from the Indonesian
legal system.

"The sentencing of drug smugglers to death in Indonesia hardly
stops drug traffickers from sending drug couriers into and out of
Indonesia," she said, adding that under Indonesia's corrupt legal
system, the execution of a death sentence is a crucial matter.

"How is it fair to take away a person's life via a corrupt
legal system ... how can anyone justify taking a person's life?"
she asked.

Nursyahbani noted that criminals were sent to prisons not
because society was taking revenge on them.

"Courts are not arenas for vengeful societies. Prisons are
called Lembaga Pemasyarakatan (rehabilitation institutes) because
people sent into them are supposed to be taught certain values
and skills to become better human beings ... so that they are
sent back into their societies as better people," Nursyahbani
said.

"Bombers too get the death penalty. Does the sentencing of a
bomber make for a better society? Life imprisonment is fine, but
not capital punishment."