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."