Law enforcement in 1995 pitiful, says YLBHI
Law enforcement in 1995 pitiful, says YLBHI
JAKARTA (JP): A respected legal aid body noted that the many
cases of mass violence this year were a result of the restricted
role and ability of the law to deal with both latent and manifest
social conflicts.
The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) noted in a year-
end evaluation that collective violence -- such as riots in East
Timor, Purwakarta, Pasuruan, Pekalongan, Jenggawah and Trenggalek
-- had a destructive and disintegrating effect on the public.
Mulyana W. Kusumah, the executive director of the body, stated
that existing laws are unable to "accommodate latent social
conflicts, or prevent and overcome the escalation of manifest
social conflicts" caused by tensions among religious, racial and
social groups.
"The implementation of the function of the law as a means to
build social integration" is still lacking, Mulyana concluded.
The critical statement, a copy of which was made available to
The Jakarta Post, was issued yesterday.
Mulyana pointed out that law enforcement has failed to address
the roots of many problems and this failure is particularly
apparent in cases of abuse by the authorities.
Human rights violations, such as those which occurred in
Liquisa, East Timor in January were treated merely as "procedural
mistakes" by the authorities.
That approach, he said, "fails to address the essence of the
problem, namely the existence of a politics of violence".
The body also noted that the year has been marked by
discriminative law enforcement. "The enforcement of laws as a
means to establish good governance should be improved," he said.
The discrimination occurred, in particular, for "white-collar
crimes" such as corruption, Mulyana said.
"It is very clear that law enforcers found difficulty in
dealing with various types of corruption, despite the fact that
the state has experienced great financial loss because of these
crimes," Mulyana said.
Recorded data at the Attorney General's Office, the Supreme
Audit Agency (BPK), and the Development and Finance Control
Agency (BPKP) shows increasing financial loss suffered by the
state from year to year, Mulyana said.
He also described the weaknesses of law enforcers when dealing
with organized crime such as illegal gambling and drugs
trafficking.
"Efforts to enforce laws against organized crime often amounts
to 'the bark of law enforcers' only," he said.
Partial law enforcement was seen as effective in reducing the
frequency of street crimes and restricting their space but failed
to touch "upper world crimes", he said.
Mass media has often reported on the arrest of drug
traffickers which failed to touch the people behind the crimes.
Mulyana also criticized the Indonesian court as ambivalent,
saying that, on the one hand, it acts as a tool to repress
cultural and political expression. On the other hand, the court
also acts as a means to correct government policies.
As an example of the ambivalence, Mulyana cited the
administrative court which rejected the suit against the
government brought by outspoken politician Sri Bintang Pamungkas
over his dismissal from the House of Representatives.
At another time, however, the court displayed its independence
when it ruled in favor of former Tempo employees in their lawsuit
against Minister of Information Harmoko's ban last year of the
magazine.
Mulyana said that the future integrity of law enforcement and
the courts depends on whether the legal authorities will be able
to correct their weaknesses and ambivalence.
Only by taking corrective steps can the legal authorities
retain judicial independence, he said. (imn)