Jakarta – A number of organisations affiliated with the Civil Coalition for Security Reform have criticised the light sentences given to soldiers involved in cases of abuse that resulted in the death of the victims.
Light sentences were given in the fatal shooting of a rental company boss in Jakarta and the assault of a junior high school student in Medan which resulted in his death. These cases were tried at both the Supreme Court (MA) and the military courts at the appeals level.
In the car rental boss case, on September 2 the Supreme Court commuted the sentences of two former Indonesian Navy (TNI AL) soldiers, Akbar Adli and Bambang Apri Atmojo, who shot the car rental boss, Ilyas Abdurrahman. Both escaped life imprisonment.
In the Supreme Court appeal ruling, Adli and Atmojo were ultimately sentenced to 15 years in prison and an additional sentence of dismissal from military service. Both were also ordered to pay restitution to the victim's family.
In addition to this, the Supreme Court also reduced defendant First Sergeant Rafsin Hermawan's sentence from four years to three years in prison. Hermawan was also dismissed from military service.
A short time later the panel of judges at the I-02 Military Court sentenced Sergeant Riza Pahlivi to 10 months in prison after he was found guilty of committing the crime of assault which caused the death of a junior high school student in Medan, North Sumatra, with the initials MHS.
Aside from the 10 month prison sentence, Pahlivi was required to pay restitution to the applicant Lenny Damanik (MHS's mother) amounting to 12.7 million rupiah.
The Civil Society Coalition said the series of light sentences against Indonesian Military (TNI) members in these cases demonstrated the practice of impunity.
"In recent months, the public has been served up with various light sentences for military personnel who have committed crimes, indicating that the rule of law and the security sector reform agenda have stalled after more than two decades post 1998 reformasi", said Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) Director Muhammad Isnur representing the coalition in a statement on Wednesday October 22.
In particular, the Coalition highlighted the killing of MHS were the perpetrator, a soldier, was only sentenced to 10 months in prison. "This verdict is even lighter than the sentences for minor criminal cases such as theft", he said.
"The irregularities in the judges' considerations, such as stating that the victim had no scars according to witness testimony, further reinforce the view that the military process is a closed, 'untouchable' space that fails to meet standards of transparency and accountability", he added.
The verdict in Medan is also seen as further demonstrating that justice for civilian victims of military violence is still far from what is hoped for.
Isnur added that these facts illustrate a recurring pattern: when the perpetrators come from military institutions, the legal process becomes closed, unequal treatment occurs and disproportionate punishments are imposed.
"The law seems to be subordinated to uniform and rank, not to justice. Justice is often sacrificed to protect the image and solidarity of the corps (esprit de corps), which is misinterpreted as blind loyalty among military personnel", he said.
Therefore, said Isnur, the Coalition is urging the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) to immediately revise Law Number 31/1997 on Military Justice. The Coalition is asking that all general crimes committed by and involving TNI members be tried in general courts.
"Without revising the Military Justice Law, impunity for crimes committed by TNI members will occur, and will also perpetuate the repetition of these acts by other TNI members", he said.
The Coalition is made up of a organisations such as Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial), the YLBHI, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), Amnesty International Indonesia, the Institute for Public Research and Advocacy (ELSAM), the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, the Centra Initiative and Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW). (thr/isn)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Koalisi soal Vonis Tentara Kasus Pembunuhan: Hukum Tunduk Pada Seragam".]
