Police 'must be separated from ABRI'

JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights recommended yesterday that the police be separated from the Armed Forces so it could be independent and be in a better position to serve and protect the public.

The rights body told the House of Representatives' Commission I for defense and security, foreign affairs, information and legal affairs, that the police should no longer be the "political tool" of the government and the Armed Forces (ABRI).

"People everywhere demand that their police be really professional in serving and protecting the public, instead of being a mere security tool of the power holder," said commission member Satjipto Rahardjo.

Satjipto was accompanied by his colleagues Marzuki Darusman, Baharuddin Lopa, Clementino dos Reis Amaral, Koesparmono Irsan, Albert Hasibuan and B.N. Marbun.

Satjipto, who is a law professor at Diponegoro University in Semarang, Central Java, said the police must now end their militaryesque way of handling problems.

He said out the police should follow a doctrine that is entirely different from that of the military.

"The military's doctrine is to crush enemies while the police's should be to protect and serve the public," Satjipto said. "The police will never become professional unless it follows its own doctrine."

Satjipto criticized the police academy for not conducting a "genuine police education," saying it stresses military doctrines more than a police doctrine.

Satjipto therefore said the police should be given rights to design their own education programs.

He recounted how he was once told by a police cadet that the latter was only taught to slap people's faces during the first year in the academy.

The police should now be freed from all interference from the government and the Armed Forces, he said, and called on both parties to stop "meddling" in police affairs.

Koesparmono said the police should develop three basic principles: fighting crime, keeping people out of jail and loving humanity.

"Good police must be able to keep people out of jail, not put as many people as they can into jail," Koesparmono, a retired two-star police general, said.

Under the current system, the police are incorporated into ABRI along with the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The police have found themselves on the receiving end of increasingly strong criticism, particularly over their way of handling unrest and rioting.

Given their position as the first layer of security, police have often been involved in clashes with civilian demonstrators over many issues over the past three years.

Eighteen members of the Jakarta Police force are currently facing a court martial for their alleged involvement in the fatal shootings of four Trisakti University's students on May 12 which led to widespread riots in Jakarta. Almost 1,200 people were killed in the unrest that also caused Rp 2.5 trillion (US$216 million) in material losses.

The National Commission on Human Rights, however, said the police were not using live ammunition during the incident.

Lawyers representing the police also believe that the police have been made a scapegoat by other parties.

The commission also told the hearing presided over by Aisyah Aminy that a rally bill being prepared by the House should be drafted in the spirit of freedom of expression.

"There must be one clause which stipulates that the police's role in a rally is only to facilitate the protesters," Marzuki said.

Marzuki also called on the House and the government to keep in their minds that now, in the reform era, laws must be established in order to limit the power of the government.

In the past, he said, "laws were drafted only to perpetuate the power of the government." (byg)