Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Activist groups united on Monday to oppose the government's plan to "legalize" the military's security business, in which private companies pay soldiers to protect their industries in conflict areas.
Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono recently said the government was preparing a set of guidelines to regulate the relationship between the Indonesian Military and corporations in security affairs.
Juwono's announcement comes after reports last month that US mining subsidiary PT Freeport Indonesia made direct payments to soldiers to secure its copper and gold mine in Timika, Papua.
An alliance of NGOs said such guidelines would be against the Law on State Defense and the Law on the Indonesian Military (TNI), both which ban the military from receiving funds outside of the state budget.
The alliance includes Propatria – a group of defense and military analysts – Indonesia Corruption Watch, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and other human rights groups – Imparsial, Human Rights Watch and Infid – along with the Forum for the Environment (Walhi).
"Issuing guidelines will mean legalizing the military's income from corporations, making it less professional. It will also mean... security authorities will end up working for corporations rather than carrying out their primary task of defending the state and protecting the people," Kontras spokesman Haris Azhar said.
Chalid Muhammad of Walhi said the guidelines could also help legalize human rights abuses and environmental destruction at mining sites, particularly those in conflict-ridden areas.
"If the government issues the guidelines, human rights abuses and environment destruction will continue and security personnel in the field will prioritize work in corporate security for money," he said.
Harry Supartono, the coordinator of Propatria, said the NGOs would meet the House of Representatives Commission I on defense to seek political support for their opposition to the guidelines.
He hailed a House working committee for its decision to investigate Freeport's transparency in its management of the environment, taxes and revenues. However, the probe should be expanded to investigate Freeport's security dealings, he said.
State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar last week sent a team to Timika to probe allegations of environmental damage at Freeport's mining site.