More criminal suspects shot dead by police

More criminal suspects shot dead by police

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Almost every day it seems, the media report that at least one
suspected robber has been shot dead by police.

This perception is supported by data held at the forensic
department of the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM),
which shows that the number of firearm victims increased by 140
percent, from 108 in 2000 to 255 last year.

RSCM is the only hospital in Jakarta authorized to carry out
visum et repertum (a post-mortem designed to collect evidence for
a police investigation) on suspected murder victims. Anybody
whose death has not been attributed to natural causes is sent to
its morgue.

Police sent two unidentified bodies to the hospital on Monday.
The two were shot, respectively, on Jl. Pangeran Jayakarta,
Central Jakarta, and in Tambora, West Jakarta, after robbing
bajaj (three-wheel motorized cab) passengers.

Police said officers shot the two because they had ignored
warning shots and tried to escape.

However, there have been allegations that in some cases the
police have deliberately killed suspected criminals.

This was confirmed by A. Mun'im Idris from the RSCM forensics
department and criminologist Adrianus Meliala from the University
of Indonesia.

Mun'im said that he had inspected the bodies of several people
that he believed had been killed intentionally by the police,
based on their wounds, which indicated they had been shot in the
head at close range.

He said the police might be resorting to unjustified killings
as a short-term solution to the increasing incidence of crime in
the city.

In 2001, the crime rate increased significantly due to the
prolonged economic crisis, according to Jakarta Police Chief
Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara, speaking in December last year.

The number of robberies increased by 36 percent to 6,453 in
2001, while car and motorcycle thefts rose by 100 percent to
6,046.

Meanwhile, Meliala said that there were three possible
explanations for the increasing number of firearm victims.

First, the uncontrolled circulation of firearms within the
Jakartan population; second, the increased number of criminal
attacks on members of the public and the police, and third, the
attitude prevalent within some sections of the police force that
it was easier to shoot suspects than deal with cases according to
proper procedures.

Mun'im said murder was a violation of human rights, but that
he could understand when police shot dangerous criminals who
threatened the lives of innocent people.

"This might be a short-term solution. The police might feel
that they have the right to eliminate all the thugs who threaten
society," he said.

Mun'im added that the huge number of firearm victims also
showed that the public could not rely on the country's legal
system, as many suspects who were sent to court received lenient
sentences.

As for the police, it was understandable if they felt
disappointed because they sensed that their hard work was not
being appreciated, he said.

"The police feel that they have worked hard risking their
lives in fighting the bad guys. They must be disappointed seeing
those they have arrested receiving light sentences in court", he
said.

Secretary General of Human Rights Asmara Nababan strongly
condemned the shooting of suspects, saying that it not only
violated human rights but was also against the law.

"The presumption of innocence should apply not only to (former
president) Soeharto but also to suspected robbers," he said.

Asmara noted that the shooting of criminal suspects could
inspire people to take the law into their own hands, as seen in
the widespread incidence of street vigilantism.

And the shooting of criminals would not be effective in
reducing crime.

"During Soeharto's regime, shock therapy to combat crime was
conducted in 1982 and 1983. For almost a year, hundreds and maybe
thousands of suspected criminals were shot dead in so-called
mysterious killings. But it failed to reduce the number of
crimes," Asmara said.

"The police must fight crimes, not criminals," he stressed.

He added that the police were only entitled to shoot someone
in self-defense.

Sr.Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam, the city police spokesman, said
the police were forced to shoot the suspects because they had
attacked his officers.

"Currently, they are becoming fearless in fighting the police,
or running away," he said.

He claimed that a lot of police officers had died because of
the brutality of criminals, but he failed to give the number.

Anton added that, before shooting a suspect, all police
officers were obliged to obey the standard operating procedures
on the use of firearms. If a suspect tries to resist, three
warning shots must be fired in the air. If he or she continues
to resist, police officers have the right to shoot at the
suspect.

But he admitted there were times when the police wrongfully
shot suspects. "For instance, they aimed at the suspect's leg but
the bullet hit him in the head."