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)