Reactions on plan to set up riot alert centers continue
Reactions on plan to set up riot alert centers continue
JAKARTA (JP): More support is pouring for the government's
plan to set up "alert command centers", at each of the over 240
district military commands, to monitor and prevent unrest.
Moestahid Astari of the ruling Golkar and Soerjadi of the
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), as well as military analyst
Yahya Muhaimin of Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta,
separately welcomed the plan. A less supportive stance was voiced
by military analyst J. Kristiadi, and a Yogyakarta Legal Aid
Institute activist who questioned the legal basis for
establishing the centers.
The idea was first aired by President Soeharto when he met
last week with managers of cooperatives of the Islamic boarding
schools (pesantren), as a solution to the episodes of violence
that occurred recently in various parts of the country. He raised
the issue again earlier this week, and the Armed Forces promptly
responded saying the centers would soon be established.
The centers will be entrusted with the task of monitoring
rumors that could spell trouble, and forwarding reports to the
relevant authorities.
Moestahid, however, said government officials entrusted with
operating the centers should not "overact".
He suggested the centers be manned not only by military
members and local administrators, but also community leaders.
Moestahid appeased concerns that the centers might resemble
the now defunct Operation Command for Law and Order Restoration
(Kopkamtib), which grew to be a feared body.
"That could not be true. The centers will surely be different
from the Kopkamtib. This (people's concern) means that steps
should be taken to inform the people about the centers, so that
its actions later will not create suspicion," said Moestahid,
reported Antara.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. R. Hartono also dismissed the
possibility of the centers resembling Kopkamtib. He said the
centers would be there to serve people in many ways, not just
security.
"With the centers, the public will have a place where they can
report on many things, including security, economic, social and
cultural problems and even politics," he was quoted by Antara as
saying.
Hartono said the centers would be manned by security officers
and local administrators, as well as ulemas, intellectuals and
community leaders.
Voicing a similar opinion was Soerjadi, the government-
recognized chairman of PDI. However, he underlined the need for
"careful consideration so that people can actively take part (in
the centers) and not be suspicious of it".
"Efforts should be made so that people don't ask 'is this
country in such a state of semi-emergency that the centers are
needed'," he said.
Soeharto's instruction to establish the National Alert Command
Center was issued in the wake of the racist and sectarian
violence in East Java, West Java and West Kalimantan last year
and earlier this month.
A number of observers, including Moslem scholars, have blamed
the fatal riots on the social and economic gaps which they say
leaves people prone to violence. Amien described these people,
fed up with the corruption of powerful figures' and their own
economic problems, as dry wood that could easily be ignited by
rumors playing up sectarian differences.
Separately, Yahya Muhaimin agreed the centers were needed. But
he said it was even more important that they were responsive to
people's aspirations and grievances.
"This is necessary. On the other hand, if the centers only
play on people's suspicions, then they will only cause more
social unrest," he said.
The dean of Gadjah Mada University's School of Social and
Political Sciences said the centers "should become the
government's most sensitive instrument, sensing people's demands
and grievances before it's too late".
In addition, the center should monitor local officials'
behavior lest they trigger unrest, he said.
Yahya was referring to the riot in Tasikmalaya, West Java,
late December which was triggered by police mistreatment of three
local Moslem teachers.
Need
Military analyst J. Kristiadi of the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies said he did not see a need for the centers.
"I think there is no need to have alert centers. We already
have both military and civil intelligence services, right from
Jakarta to small villages across the country," he said.
"What we should do now is increase the capability of those
working in intelligence. They should be better able to sense the
small problems that could become big," he said.
Kristiadi believed the President's plan to establish the
centers was more of rap over the knuckles of Indonesia's existing
intelligence for its less than satisfactory performance.
Budi Hartono of the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute questioned
Thursday the legal and constitutional basis for establishing the
centers.
"Establishing the centers without a clear legal basis is
against the logic of law and the principle of state of law," Budi
Hartono said. (23/08)