U.S. cops to train Indonesian police

JAKARTA (JP): Washington will send a team of United States police officers in the next few days to train their Indonesian counterparts in handling protests, Antara said on Monday.

Quoting Sunday's report of The New York Times, the news agency said the dispatch was arranged in anticipation of the June 7 general election, despite criticism from many human rights activists.

The U.S. police will also train Indonesian police on how to improve relations with the media, political parties, and opposition parties.

A source in the White House said a team of U.S. justice and foreign affairs ministers visiting Indonesia recently recommended the program, saying it might help reduce the level of violence during and after the polls as it would teach techniques to handle protests peacefully.

The source said the Indonesian government has accepted the offer, but did not provide details on the number of U.S. officers to participate in the training program.

The source also said that even if the training starts in May, Indonesian police would still get enough knowledge to prevent riots from turning violent.

The U.S. team concluded that if the police could handle protesters in a peaceful way, they could prevent the military from getting involved.

Experience has shown that the involvement of the military in quelling protests can lead to violence that claims lives, the team said.

Human rights activist Mike Jendrzejczyk of the Asian Human Rights, said the training program might prevent further violence in many demonstrations in Indonesia.

Mike noted that if police violence still occurs in the country after the U.S. training program, it could be a hot issue for criticism by the U.S. Congress and non-governmental organizations.

"The United States will face criticism if Indonesian police trained by the U.S. officers are proven to commit more violence against demonstrators, as well as other human rights violations," Mike said.

The White House gave a guarantee that the program will involve only a select group of police officers in Jakarta, and said Indonesian human rights activists will participate in arranging the curriculum for the training. (swe)