Police need professionalism in dealing with militias

Police need professionalism in dealing with militias

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Police need to improve professionalism, assure
neutrality and build people's trust if they want to deal with
paramilitary groups, a scholar said here Tuesday.

Speaking to The Jakarta Post, political and defense observer
Pratikno of Gadjah Mada University said the government actually
had a legal basis to disband paramilitary groups.

The law on national defense, he said, clearly stipulated that
only the state had the right to the use of violence and force,
thus its monopoly on the armed forces, including soldiers and
police officers.

"But applying the legal instrument needs a guarantee," he
said, adding that in this case only the police, who are
responsible for maintaining security, can guarantee that the law
is enforced.

Pratikno was commenting on a recent call by Indonesian
Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto for all military-
style groups, including those affiliated to political parties and
religious organizations, to disband.

Pratikno also said that the presence of militia groups was
common in most post-colonial societies, including Indonesia. Even
the Indonesian Military, he said, originated from local militias,
including preman (street gangsters) or centeng (thugs), who
fought for Indonesia's independence.

"Later they developed into the official military and members
were provided with official military ranks," he said.

In the context of modern Indonesia, according to Pratikno, all
the militias should have been incorporated into the Indonesian
Military. Efforts had been made to integrate local militia groups
with the official military, especially during the 1940s and
1950s. Yet, their presence is still widespread, even up to the
present time, with some of them possessing the potential to
incite widespread violence and hinder the process of
democratization.

Pratikno, however, asserted that the disbandment of militia
groups would need more than just words. A fair enforcement of the
law on the disbandment of the groups that applies to every
paramilitary group in country is all that is needed.

"However, it is also vital that police guarantee that they are
capable of performing the tasks that the militia groups have been
handling," he said.

Many military-style groups affiliated with political parties
or religious organizations were formed to serve their
organizations' needs, such as providing security during party
gatherings. Pratikno said, however, it would be difficult for the
police to take over those tasks, given their limited personnel.

A senior police officer at the National Police Headquarters
told the Post that on average throughout the country, an
Indonesian policeman was responsible for providing security for
some 1,000 people. Ideally, according to UN standards, a
policeman should be responsible for between 350 and 400 people.

"We plan to make it a 1:750 ratio by 2004, but I'm not sure we
will be able to meet that target given the state's current
financial conditions as well as the existing number of police
academies," said a police officer, who requested anonymity.

Existing academies, according to the officer, could only
produce around 20,000 new graduates a year, comprising officers
and low-ranking policemen and women.

Another reason why disbanding paramilitary groups would be
difficult is the fact that their presence is considered
advantageous to their political or organizational groups,
especially for mass mobilization purposes.

"Not to mention that such groups also have effectively become
political apprenticeships for militia commanders. By being a
leading preman, you can become an elite politician or legislator.
There are many examples of that. You name it," said Pratikno.

Under the circumstances, according to Pratikno, another thing
that the government could do would be to clearly ban the use of
violence and to uphold all laws and regulations. This means that
once members of a paramilitary group commit violence, necessary
legal actions must be taken, including putting them on trial.

Pratikno cited public doubts on the police's ability to take
over certain tasks from paramilitary groups as another constraint
in efforts to disband the militias.

A lack of public trust in the military and security forces,
especially during the New Order, due to their failure to remain
neutral, is another big constraint. In the past, people saw the
military and police as siding with particular groups in the
community.

"This has forced the community to form their own forces to
protect their interests regardless of the fact that it is against
the law," he said.

Unfortunately, he said, both the authorities and the community
accepted the presence of militia groups for their own interests.
The police, for example, consider them more as a help rather than
a possible source of violence.

"But, both have apparently forgotten that their presence at
the same time can also create difficulties to both the
authorities and the community," he said.

Citing an example, Pratikno said that most of the riots that
occurred ahead of the 1999 general election were incited by
clashes between rival party militias or between certain militia
groups and the police.

Pratikno therefore, strongly supported efforts to minimize the
impact of the presence of militia groups among the community,
while acknowledging that to hope for their immediate disbandment
was impossible, given the various factors surrounding the issue.

"It's quite a big concern, watching members of a particular
satgas (task force), laskar (militia group), or other military-
style group stopping cars on the streets as they wish. It's
completely wrong and dangerous. It leads to a process of state
delegitimization," he said.