ICG warns of private militia threats
ICG warns of private militia threats
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian government has no other choice but to disband the
many civilian security and militia groups to prevent conflicts
ahead of the 2004 elections, an international think tank group
says.
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said in
its latest report released over the weekend that the presence of
civilian guards served to weaken the police's credibility and
undermine the state as the final guarantor of security.
"The trick is to encourage the disbanding of these
organizations without jeopardizing freedom of association," ICG
Southeast Asia Project director Sidney Jones said in the group's
report released following deadly clashes between such security
units from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and the
Golkar Party in Bali on Oct. 25 and 26, which claimed two lives.
She said it would help if police capability could be improved
so people would no longer have to rely on such groups that have
either ethnic, religious or political affiliations.
"These private security forces often exacerbate, rather than
reduce, security problems, especially when they are linked to
particular religious, ethnic or political groups," she stressed.
In its report entitled "The Perils of Private Security in
Indonesia: Guards and Militias on Bali and Lombok", ICG focused
on the guards and militias on those two islands, which it said
had become "increasingly involved in extortion and violence to
the detriment of legal and political reform in both provinces" in
the past five years.
During the tenure of former president Abdurrahman Wahid,
members of civilian guards apparently affiliated with Nahdlatul
Ulama (NU), formed a "death force" to fight the move to oust
Abdurrahhan, who is a former NU chairman. Violence erupted in
East Java ahead of Abdurrahman's dismissal in 2001, but did not
escalate beyond a few minor skirmishes.
In Bali, the report said, the traditional guards, or pecalang
have taken on, at times, a security role, most recently with the
post-Oct. 12 atmosphere, they have been intimidating non-Balinese
who have taken up residence. They have also been a police partner
as well as having a political role as the protector of President
Megawati Soekarnoputri, the chairperson of PDI Perjuangan.
Bali has been known as one of the strongholds of her party.
While on Lombok, traditional religious leaders, or Tuan Guru,
have their own private militias, which have turned into a
protection force for political candidates.
"While their standing has ebbed and flowed, they are likely to
gain in influence in the run up to the 2004 election as political
parties rely on them to help with mass mobilization campaigns,"
the report said.
The government has either long turned a blind eye to, or
overtly encouraged the establishment of civilian security units,
which began to mushroom after the reform movement in 1998 and the
fall of strongman Soeharto.
The shift of security authority from the military to the
police also causes "the absence of order" in the country as the
police are not yet ready to take on such a responsibility, ICG
said.
Indonesia, a sprawling nation with around 210 million people,
has about 200,000 police officers and 300,000 military personnel.
Citing the lack of police personnel and their limited
capability to deal with various security problems during the
reform era, Megawati, during the celebration of National Police
Day on July 1, encouraged the establishment of civilian guards.
She said it was the constitutional right of the people,
especially those living in conflict areas to defend themselves
and their property.
However, the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono
Sutarto and Coordinating Minister for Political and Security
Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that these groups of
civilian guards should be disbanded as they were of no service to
the country.
Following the clashes in Bali, Susilo renewed his calls for
the civilian guards to be put in order.