Gradual removal of military territorial commands sought
Gradual removal of military territorial commands sought
JAKARTA (JP): Military observers called on Tuesday for gradual
removal of the Indonesian Military (TNI) territorial commands and
demanded TNI quit its interference in the civil government's
decision-making policy.
The Alliance of Young Researchers on Civil-Military Relations
said in a media conference that the action should be taken as a
consequence of TNI's past involvement in politics and government
affairs.
One of the researchers, Anas Saidi, said TNI's territorial
commands were the source of its power and instruments of human
rights abuses as the commands had performed as a shadow
government for the civil administration.
"The measure should be implemented gradually as we have to be
conscious of the future of the personnel in the military commands
and ensure that the commands are not involved in local
administration affairs.
"Meanwhile, the regional military commands (Kodam) are not
supposed to be stationed in the capitals of the provinces," he
said while disclosing the results of its recent survey on civil-
military relations.
The research queried 16,223 respondents residing in provinces
under the jurisdiction of the Jakarta Military Command -- the
Siliwangi Military Command overseeing West Java province, the
Brawijaya Military Command overseeing East Java, the Udayana
Military Command overseeing Bali, East and West Nusa Tenggara
provinces and the Tanjungpura Military Command overseeing the
four Kalimantan provinces.
The survey, held through random sampling, found that a
majority of the respondents allowed the provisional presence of
the military commands as they could provide safety and security
to the public. But they demanded that the commands be replaced by
police as soon as that institution was capable of taking over the
responsibility.
The respondents also rejected military involvement in the
executive and legislative bodies.
Quoting results of the survey, Anas said TNI's involvement in
businesses should be controlled by the state, suggesting that
there should be public accountability for TNI's non-budgetary
funds.
"We have found that TNI's involvement in businesses has
distorted the market as they 'carry arms' while running the
businesses.
"We recommend that the businesses be converted into state
enterprises to ensure public accountability and transparency," he
said.
"Just like other countries in transition to democracy,
isolating the military from politics will only make the force
jump into businesses," he added.
Anas, however, reminded that while the state restructures the
military commands, it also has to eliminate militaristic behavior
from society, especially paramilitary organizations practicing
military procedures and wearing uniforms.
"We can also see people using the military's repressive
approach in settling their problems," he said. (bby)