More back separate national police force
More back separate national police force
BANDUNG (JP): Observers have made fresh calls for the police
to be separated from the rest of the Indonesian Armed Forces
(ABRI) in order to provide people with legal certainty and
professional service and to improve human rights protection.
Armed Forces (ABRI) Chief of General Affairs Lt. Gen. Fachrul
Rozi, former national police chiefs Awaloedin Djamin and
Koenarto, rights campaigner Satjipto Rahardjo and military law
expert Haryo Mataram were among speakers at a three-day seminar
at the Police Staff and Command School here yesterday.
The event was opened by Deputy National Police Chief Lt. Gen.
Luthfi Dahlan on behalf of Police Chief Lt. Gen. Roesmanhadi.
Calls for the separation of the police from ABRI were voiced
last year when the House of Representatives was deliberating
legislation on the police.
Awaloedin said that in its early history, the police force was
independent of the Armed Forces. It was only in 1964, under the
Old Order regime under founding president Sukarno that the police
came under the Armed Forces. his successor, Soeharto, retained
the union.
He cited as an example investigations into legal violations of
human rights by a civilian. This should be done professionally by
police but the reality was that a mess of regulations often
enabled various institutions with interests at stake to conduct
their own investigations.
Koenarto said Indonesia was the only country whose police
force was placed under the armed forces. "In other countries,
police are part of the ministry of justice, ministry of home
affairs or other bodies," he said.
He called for police autonomy and for the force to be given
power to prevent other parties interfering in its investigations.
Satjipto agreed. "Unless the police are separated from the
Armed Forces, it's the public who will continue to suffer the
consequences... The strong hand of the law must be that of the
police, otherwise things will become a mess," he said.
Satjipto, who is a member of the National Commission on Human
Rights, said the doctrine by which the military operates is to
crush enemies, while the police's is to protect.
Haryo concurred and said that by definition the police force
was not made up of combat troops.
He questioned chapter 5 of the 1997 Law on Police which says
the National Police is an element of the Armed Forces but not a
military body.
"If it's not military, can military law be applied to police
officers? Can military tribunals try police officers?" he said.
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