Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The National Human Rights Commission, or Komnas HAM, said on Monday that the House of Representatives would be wise to approve the request of the Indonesian Armed Forces, or TNI, to allow soldiers suspected of committing civilian crimes to be questioned by military police and subsequently face trial in a military court.
TNI spokesman Air Vice Marshall Sagom Tamboen had earlier said that members of the military should be given special treatment under the law when suspected of civilian crimes, because they differed from ordinary people as they had to be willing to sacrifice their lives in defense of the country.
Komnas HAM chairman Ifdhal Kasim, addressing the House of Representatives' Commission I, which oversees defense affairs, said that the Indonesian legal system gave members of the TNI a different legal standing compared to civilians. Civilian courts often hand down tougher sentences compared to military courts.
"To settle the dispute, [the House should] just meet the [TNI's] request," Ifdhal said. "It will only be valid for two to three years, after which soldiers can be questioned by the police, just like other citizens."
The military would prepare soldiers to face police questioning in the lead up to civil accountability, he said. "The soldiers would be trained to understand how the civilian Criminal Code works, and what role the police play in the whole process."
The House has been mired in a stalemate over the deliberation of the military tribunal bill. Only five out of 10 party factions have expressed support for the proposal, while four have rejected it.
The commission's chairman, Andreas Pareira, said that the dispute would likely be settled through voting in a plenary meeting. "Any input would be discussed in the House Committee's forum," Andreas said.
Legislators began working on the bill four years ago, and it has been controversial from the start.
In 2006, a yearlong impasse between the special committee and the Ministry of Defense forced President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to issue a statement saying his administration supported the bill's basic principles.
The drafting of the bill was stalled in June 2008 when the ministry proposed preserving the power of the Military Police to investigate soldiers alleged to have committed civilian crimes.
Soldiers have long enjoyed special privileges in the national legal system, and the proposed bill is aimed to give them the same legal standing as civilians.
The bill is seen as crucial to continuing stalled reforms within the controversial TNI, which has long been accused of committing gross human rights violations.