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)