Nicholas Ryan Aditya, Danu Damarjati, Jakarta – The Civil Society Coalition for the Security Sector Reform has criticised the Army's (TNI AD) plan to recruit 24,000 privates (tamtama) as a move that injures the spirit of reformasi – the political reform process that began in 1998.
"This certainly injures the spirit of TNI [Indonesian Military] reform that desires the formation of a professional TNI that no longer takes part in taking care of civil affairs", said Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) Director Ardi Manto Adiputra representing the coalition in a statement received on Tuesday June 10.
The recruitment of soldiers to form the territorial development battalion is intended for non-military work or to be employed in civilian affairs.
"The coalition views, the recruitment plan is outside of the main tasks of the TNI as a tool of state defence. TNI [soldiers] are recruited, trained and educated for war and not to take care of affairs outside of war such as agriculture, plantations, animal husbandry and health services", he said.
Adiputra believes that the TNI should focus on strengthening its combat capabilities, especially in the midst of the geopolitical situation and the threat of more complex and modern warfare.
"In that context, deploying the TNI to take care of things outside of defence will actually weaken the TNI and make the TNI unfocused in facing the threat of war itself and indirectly threaten the country's sovereignty", he said.
This plan is considered to deviate from the main tasks of the TNI as a tool of national defence.
The coalition also mentioned that the plan to form a non-combat battalion was a setback from the spirit of TNI reform post-1998 reformasi.
According to the Coalition, the Constitution explicitly limits the involvement of the TNI in civil affairs, except under certain conditions such as military operations other than war (OMSP) that must obtain state political approval.
"Yet, the 1945 Constitution and even the TNI Law itself set restrictions on the TNI which clearly does not have the authority to manage agriculture, plantations, animal husbandry or health services", he said.
To that end, the Coalition is urging President Prabowo Subianto and the House of Representatives (DPR) to conduct strict supervision of and evaluate the recruitment policy.
"Because (the policy) violates the identity of the TNI as a tool of national defence according to the mandate of the Constitution and the TNI Law", said Adiputra.
The Coalition that delivered the statement consists of a number of civil society organisations such as Imparsial, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Amnesty International Indonesia (AII), the Institute for Public Research and Advocacy (ELSAM), the Jakarta Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) and dozens of other organisations.
Earlier, TNI spokesperson Brigadier General Wahyu Yudhayana explained that the recruitment of 24,000 prospective privates was in the context of preparations for the latest organisational structure, namely the formation of a territorial development battalion.
"As a concrete implementation, the TNI AD plans to form a territorial development battalion spread throughout Indonesia to support stability and development in 514 districts and municipalities. Each battalion will later be established on 30 hectares of land and will have companies that directly respond to the needs of the community", Yudhayana told Kompas.com on Tuesday June 3.
However, these soldiers will not be prepared for combat, but to answer the needs of society, from food security to health services.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Rekrutmen Besar Tamtama untuk Urusan Sipil Dinilai Cederai Semangat Reformasi".]
