Veterans urge caution on shoot-on-sight order

JAKARTA (JP): Retired officers on Tuesday urged caution in the carrying out of orders to shoot rioters on sight to prevent unnecessary killing of suspects and innocent people.

Military observer Hasnan Habib criticized the statement of National Police Chief Gen. Roesmanhadi that officers could be dismissed if they did not dare to open fire on rioters. Such a statement "could lead to reckless shooting," he said as quoted by Antara.

Chairman of the Association of Retired Military Officers (Pepabri) Gen. (ret.) Try Sutrisno said while he agreed with the heightened response to unrest, the orders should be in line with procedures including the use of prior warning shots, types of bullets involved and targeted parts of the body.

Hasnan said further that Armed Forces (ABRI) personnel involved in carrying out the order should be professionals to prevent rioters being shot in the head instead of in the leg, the agency reported.

Reports have cited dozens of cases in which police have shot suspects dead, while police have said they were all resisting arrest or attempting escape.

Crowds should be differentiated from rioters, he added. Hasnan said the measure would hopefully be effective, and was quoted as saying that it would not imply the "to kill or be killed" concept applied in war.

The retired officers of the association had visited Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto, also the Minister of Defense and Security at headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta. The delegation including former minister of defense and security Edi Sudrajat said they had requested input from the ABRI leadership before a planned national level meeting of the association in the near future. The association, together with the armed forces, is part of the ABRI Big Family.

Activists said Monday that capturing the masterminds behind recent unrest would be better than announcing a shoot-on-sight order.

Wiranto had announced the order on Saturday saying the current widespread violence could no longer be tolerated but that the order would be carried out only if necessary.

The veterans' association has come into the spotlight regarding its statement that members were free to join any party and no longer had to support the ruling party Golkar as they have for decades.

Edi is an executive of the new Justice and Unity Party set up by dissident senior members of Golkar. (anr)