TNI's new role in terror fight to be limited, chief says

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian Military Chief (TNI) Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on Wednesday that the plans to reactivate the much-criticized military's territorial function to help in the fight against terrorism would not extend to allowing soldiers to make arrests.

Speaking to reporters after briefing senior Army officers, Endriartono said that the role of soldiers in the field would be limited to gathering intelligence information from the community and passing it onto the police, who would then take the "real legal action" against suspected terrorists.

"The real purpose of the TNI's territorial function is the safeguarding by the military of this nation from any kind of attacks. And this role has never been scrapped. I now want to strengthen this role in the fight against terrorism following on from the President's order for us to do so," Endriartono said.

The statement came amid criticism over his previous statements to the effect that the TNI planned to reactivate its dormant territorial commands -- from the provincial-level regional military commands down to non-commissioned officers, called Babinsa at village level -- as part of the effort to fight terrorism. The plan was unveiled after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on the TNI to be more proactive in fighting terrorism following the Oct. 1 bomb attacks on Bali that killed 23.

But critics, including a number of top politicians and rights activists, have expressed fears that reactivating the TNI's territorial commands, including their territorial functions, could pave the way for the military to become involved once again in politics and human rights abuses as occurred in the past under the authoritarian rule of former president Soeharto.

The TNI's sociopolitical role (the essence of the territorial function), was scrapped following the fall of Soeharto. Instead, the military has been told to focus on national defense, with the police being given full authority over domestic security including the fight against terrorism.

"I can ensure you that I will not let my troops get involved in that sort of sociopolitical role. Never. I will just encourage my troops to reopen communications with the people in a bid to gather intelligence and forward it to the police," Endriartono said.

Endriartono's plan to reactivate the military's territorial role has also been criticized as an Army-heavy policy, while the two other forces -- the Navy and Air Force -- will not be involved, even though suspected terrorists could utilize the country's maritime territory and airspace to launch attacks.

Endriartono did not specifically address this criticism.

Separately, Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said that the government was currently in the process of finalizing a coordination mechanism between the TNI and the police to strengthen the fight against terrorism, and expected final guidelines to be issued within the next three months.

Asked whether the guidelines would enable the state to adequately control the military to prevent it from abusing its revived territorial role, Juwono simply said: "No one can give a guarantee that the military will not abuse its territorial role. All we civilians can do is to do our best to control the military."