Police chief vows to retrain Brimob members as real police
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Police officials pledged on Monday to end the paramilitary function of the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) in Aceh and retrain them over the next three months for duty as proper law enforcers as required by the Dec. 9 peace agreement signed by the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Monday that some 3,000 Brimob members, most of whom are not Achenese, had begun their training in Aceh to learn basic police duties.
"They have to be fully informed of their new duties as law enforcers and no longer as a paramilitary unit," Da'i said after attending a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
The four-star general said that the training is slated to be completed in the next three months as compared to the five months as agreed upon earlier.
Such training, according to Da'i, was necessary as Brimob members were trained to be combatants, not traditional law enforcers.
"The National Police Headquarters must closely monitor Brimob members adjusting to their new roles in the province," he said.
The government was specifically instructed to change the function of Brimob in the cessation of hostilities agreement signed by the government and GAM in December.
The special military-style police unit was seen as GAM's worst enemy since the end of the military operation in 1999 as the unit took over the harsh operations to attack Acehnese separatists.
Da'i also said that the Joint Security Committee (JSC), which monitors the implementation of the peace accord, should be able to distinguish between offensive strikes against GAM and law enforcement.
"Should they (Brimob) have to hunt down a criminal, who later turns out to be a GAM member, it is part of law enforcement efforts. JSC should be able to distinguish that," Da'i said.
JSC announced on Saturday several serious violations to the peace deal by both the Indonesian security forces and GAM since the implementation of the peace deal. Such violations are considered a threat to the peace deal.
Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, meanwhile, said on Monday that the JSC - a tripartite body composed of 50 Acehnese leaders, 50 Indonesian officers and 50 foreign security experts -- should look more closely at whether the violations blamed on policemen had actually violated the peace deal or were part of normal law enforcement activities in the province.
"When they hunt down a (suspected) criminal for breaking a law, it cannot be considered a violation of the peace deal, but part of law enforcement efforts," Endriartono claimed.
"The JSC should be wiser in judging such situations," the general remarked.
He reiterated Jakarta's call for GAM to end their independence campaign in a bid to prevent the failure of the peace deal.
"The basic idea of the peace deal was the acceptance of the special autonomy law (as a starting point) in the province and not independence. GAM should admit that if they want to maintain the peace deal," Endriartono warned.