Observers tell House to allow TNI to be prosecuted in civilian courts
Observers tell House to allow TNI to be prosecuted in civilian courts
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Observers demanded the House of Representatives on Monday to
amend its bill on the military tribunal so as to pave the way for
trials of soldiers in a civilian court for crimes they commit.
Hari T. Prihantono of the ProPatria think tank for military
reforms said the bill should make it clear that soldiers would be
court martialled for violations of the military's code of ethics,
but they have to stand trial at a district court for criminal
charges.
"The leadership of the Indonesian Military must allow soldiers
to stand trial in civilian courts if they face criminal charges,"
Hari said.
He was responding to the bill proposed by a group of lawmakers
to amend Law No. 31/1997 on military tribunals, which is supposed
to bring it in line with the People's Consultative Assembly
decree in 2000 to separate the police from the military.
The Assembly said in its decree that as a consequence of the
separation, soldiers were subject to trial at the military
tribunal for violations of the Military Law, and the public court
for violations of the Criminal Code.
No radical changes, however, are found in the current bill of
amendment to the military tribunal, as it authorizes the military
tribunal to hear criminal cases involving soldiers or those
considered servicemen. In its appendix, the bill states that
military offenses are termed as all violations perpetrated by
soldiers.
With public monitoring largely non-existent, military
tribunals have been accused of providing protection for soldiers
who commit serious crimes, thus maintaining the culture of
impunity.
Without public scrutiny a few years ago, an officer, who is a
son of a former Army general, got a light sentence and eventually
had his jail term cut short despite being convicted of a drug
crime -- one which carries a maximum sentence of death under the
antinarcotics law.
Hari said military tribunals were commonly set up during
periods of martial law, while during peace time it would hear
violations of the military code of ethics, such as desertion and
insubordination.
According to the draft amendment of the military tribunal law,
civilian investigators can only intervene in the legal process
against soldiers who are accused of committing crimes in
collaboration with civilians.
"It should be the police who have to investigate such cases,
unless when martial law is in effect," Hari said.
A joint military-civilian court was established in 2000 to try
soldiers involved in the killings of Aceh Muslim cleric Tengku
Bantaqiyah and dozens of his followers in November 1999.
Joint civilian-military investigation teams have also been set
up to investigate retired military officers accused of
involvement in crimes, in a move critics deemed as a compromise.
As part of general judicial reforms, the Indonesian Military
(TNI) has surrendered the administration of the military court to
the Supreme Court. But it will take years to place the military
court under full supervision of the Supreme Court, due to the
"unreadiness" of the investigators.
Ikrar Nusa Bhakti of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences
(LIPI) urged the lawmakers to define a mechanism, which would
enable civilian investigators to probe abuses against civilians
involving military personnel while conducting operations.
He warned that the military had frequently covered up such
violations in the name of state secrecy.
Ikrar, however, would not object if the soldiers were court
martialled for abuses against civilians as long as the court
handed down heavier punishments than civilian courts.