Jakarta – The Civil Society Coalition for Security Sector Reform has responded to a statement by Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander General Agus Subiyanto who claimed responsibility for public security throughout Indonesia.
Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Coordinator Dimas Bagus Arya said that Subiyanto was wrong in saying that the TNI would continue to patrol various areas to anticipate possible demonstrations.
According to Arya, the claim of being responsible for public security shows that the boundaries between defence and internal security functions are increasingly blurred. Furthermore, this statement is considered to carry the risk of justifying a military presence as something normal in civilian life.
"Article 30 of the UUD 1945 [1945 Constitution] places the TNI as a state instrument tasked with defending, protecting and maintaining the integrity and sovereignty of the state", said the Coalition in a written statement on Tuesday August 11.
He emphasised that the responsibility for maintaining security and public order, protection and services for citizens, as well as law enforcement, is an obligation for the National Police (Polri).
The division of tasks, he said, is not just an administrative matter. The separation of the TNI and Polri is one of the important achievements of reformasi – the political reform process that began in 1998 – in ending ABRI's dual function (dwi-fungsi) and military domination in civil affairs.
Arya recalled that the law does indeed allow the TNI to assist the National Police in the framework of military operations other than war (OMSP). However, as a supporting party, the TNI is not given independent authority to determine threats, operational areas or to carry out routine security patrols.
"Assistance must be based on real needs and legitimate requests. The scope, objectives, time period, operational control and accountability must also be able to be examined by the public", he said.
"Therefore, the pretext of 'coordination', 'collaboration', or implementation based on SOPs [standard operating procedures] is not enough to justify deploying the military in civilian space. SOPs are internal regulations. They cannot create authority that is not granted by the constitution or the law", he added.
According to Arya, confronting demonstrations with military patrols shows a wrong perspective. He emphasised that citizens are not potential threats but are the holders of sovereignty who are exercising their rights.
Therefore, the Coalition is urging TNI Commander to immediately retract and correct his statement and stop claiming that the TNI is the main party responsible for public security throughout Indonesia.
Apart from that, the Coalition also asked the National Police to provide an explanation as to whether it had ever requested assistance from the TNI and what the scope of the request was.
"At the same time ensuring that TNI soldiers do not carry out inspections, arrests, confiscations, interrogations, surveillance of activists, or other law enforcement actions", he said.
The Civil Society Coalition for Security Sector Reform consists of Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial), Kontras, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), the Indonesia RISK Centre, Amnesty International Indonesia (AII), the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), the Centra Initiative, the Raksha Initiatives, Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy and several other groups. (tfq/fra)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Koalisi Sipil Respons Panglima TNI soal Tanggung Jawab Keamanan".]
