Kanis Dursin, Jakarta – Opposition from civilian politicians is stalling efforts by Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid to assert civilian authority over the military, blocking efforts to curb rights abuses and resolve past violations, analysts say.

"The enemy of President Wahid is not the military but civilian politicians in the House of Representatives," said Munir of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI).

In August, members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the country's highest legislative body, passed a regulation requiring the president to obtain House approval before replacing chiefs of Indonesian military and police force. Likewise, Munir cites the example of how many Parliament members came to the defense of former armed forces chief Wiranto when Wahid fired him, accusing the president of "bowing to international and Western pressures at the expense of national interest".

Wahid had removed Wiranto from his post as coordinating minister for political and security affairs in February for his alleged involvement in gross human rights violations in East Timor last year. Wahid has taken moves designed to control the military – moves that the institution with a political role does not like.

Analysts say Wahid's problems with the military have made it difficult to curb human rights violations in restive provinces, get to the root of past abuses where justice has been delayed and put the armed forces under full civilian control. "This is a much bigger problem because some civilians protect the military against other civilians," said Munir.

Army Chief of Staff General Endriartono Sutarto shared Munir's opinion, lashing out at bickering civilian politicians. "What has come to the fore is how to get power," Endriartono said. "It is under this situation that the Indonesian military, even though it has asserted its commitment not to enter practical politics, it is still viewed as a primary political force," he said.

Critics say that violence and torture by the military continue – and have tended to escalate since Wahid took over. The Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), founded by Munir, pointed out that throughout 1998, there were around 59 cases of human rights violations by the military, mostly by the Indonesian army. The figure went up to 85 in 1999 and reached 63 cases from January to August 2000. In the past three years, the Indonesian army committed 131 gross human rights violations out of 207 human rights violations, said Kontras deputy coordinator Ikravany Hilman.

Of the abuses committed by the military, torture accounts for 117 incidents, extra-judicial killings 40 cases, arbitrary arrest 23 cases, intimidation 23 cases, and robbery and destruction of property 17 cases, Kontras said. Aceh, at the tip of Sumatra province northwest of Jakarta, has the highest human rights violations with 114 cases. This is followed by East Timor with 63 cases, and Ambon 12 cases, according to Kontras.

"Every day we see violence in Jakarta and other parts of Indonesia such as in troubled provinces Aceh, West Papua, Maluku, and the government does not do anything to stop it. The people are already frustrated with the present situation and have begun to take the law into their own hands," said Munir.

The secretary-general of the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Asmara Nababan agrees that torture, arbitrary killings and involuntary disappearances and other rights violations have tended to increase after Suharto's fall. In fact, he said: "The Wahid administration does not have the necessary political power to stop violence and human rights violations by the Indonesian military and it is time for the government to seek international assistance."

YLBHI and other human rights groups have called on the United Nations to assign a special envoy or working group in Indonesia to monitor human rights violations by the military. Nababan said farmers and workers have suffered severe human rights violations at the hands of the military after Suharto's fall. Farmers are now trying to reclaim their ancestral lands controlled by the military, which, according to Munir, are acting like landlords.

According to Nababan, the biggest human rights issue facing Indonesia now is "transitional justice" – how to deliver justice, meaning solving past human rights violations, in the transition to democracy. "This is a dilemma as the instrument mechanisms and the personnel belong to the authoritarian regime. How do we expect these instrument mechanisms and the personnel to deliver the justice?" Nababan said.

The political will and capability to address rights violations is crucial to Indonesia's becoming a working democracy, activists say. During the Suharto era, Nababan said, people lost their property, freedom and other fundamental rights. "They are right now demanding justice because for 32 years they could not ask for justice.

But if we look at our law, regulations, judiciary system, judges and attorneys, they are all from the old regime," Nababan argued. "On the other hand, we cannot ask the people to be patient, to wait until the transition period is over before we can deliver the justice. We cannot ask them to be patient and wait in the next two to three years before we are able to deliver the justice," he added.

In 1998, Komnas HAM proposed the creation of a South Africa-style Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address past human rights violations. But it got strong opposition from the Indonesian military.

"Without solving the past human rights violations, we cannot develop our future humanely and justly. We have to do this not only to restore the rights of the victims, but also to develop the human rights culture in Indonesia in the future. Until today, not one single case has been solved in the courts," said Nababan, adding that Komnas HAM is incapable of handling all rights violations because of budget constraints and lack of staff.

He called on the government and parliament members to set up independent human rights commissions at the regional level, especially in strife-torn provinces such as Aceh, Maluku, West Kalimantan and West Papua.

But human rights activists believe people will eventually reign over the military. Argued Munir: "Every day now, people in several places in Indonesia, including people at the grass roots level, set up military watches to control the military and check their human rights abuses. This is, I think, is the embryo of a movement, the next movement."