Military's role still haunts public: Research

Military's role still haunts public: Research

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite the growing democracy over the last six years, the people
still harbor deep concerns over the role of the military in
public life, which they say has spurred the prevalence of
violence, a study has found.

In the preliminary report of a study presented on Thursday by
human rights watchdog Demos, 83.3 percent of respondents said the
Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police were not
accountable enough to the civilian government and the greater
public.

The study also found that 88.9 percent of respondents were of
the opinion that the government was susceptible to outside
interference from paramilitary units, militias and groups of
thugs, all of which they claimed were linked to elements in the
military.

"As a result, 75.5 percent of respondents said they were
vulnerable to violence," it said.

The study interviewed 400 respondents consisting of non-
governmental organization (NGO) activists, members of political
parties and other politically conscious community figures across
the country's 32 provinces as part of an ongoing project to gauge
the extent of democratic development.

The study also found that the concept of security was "still
defined as a state- or territorial security that takes precedence
over human security, which covers universal human rights," the
report said.

The House of Representatives recently endorsed the
controversial military bill, which it said would help transform
the TNI into a professional military. However, the enacted bill
did not address the abolition of the TNI's territorial role.

Asmara Nababan of Demos said no significant changes had been
made in the relationship between the TNI and the civilian
government, as the political stage was still dominated by the
political elite, who were reluctant to implement sweeping
reforms.

"Instead, those from the old regimes, including the military,
were able to secure strategic positions in government without
counterbalancing measures from the pro-democracy movement," he
said.

Asmara said as the existing political system could not
diminish the role of the military overnight, the public needed to
be given a role in the decision-making process on the use of
military force.

"People must be involved in the decision-making process at all
levels. Such a role must be played the whole time, not just once
every five years," Asmara said, referring to the span of time
until the next election year.

He said the people should be consulted at every step during
the decision-making process.

Analyst Andi Widjajanto of the University of Indonesia
concurred with Asmara and said the civilian government must
impose intricate procedures on the use of the military force.

"Such procedures would obstruct the arbitrary use of military
force," he said, adding that they would also prevent the military
from accumulating greater power.