Ulma Haryanto – The National Commission on Human Rights called on Friday for the revision of the 1997 Military Tribunal Law to include a public trial for cases outside of "military affairs."

"The law is no longer contextual and has diverted from the regulatory legislations above it," said Ifdhal Kasim, chairman of the commission known as Komnas HAM.

A decree on the separation of the military and national police was issued in 2000 by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). The 2004 Law on the Indonesian National Armed Forces, says common crimes committed by military officers fall within the jurisdiction of public courts.

"In their everyday life, these military officers could clash with a civilian. There might be conflicts that result in a crime being committed. But this will never be brought to public court," Ifdhal said.

He also said the current laws gave too much power to commanding officers, making the tribunal prone to abuse of power and obstruction of justice.

For starters, he said, a case could only be forwarded to a tribunal if it was recommended by a senior military officer, or Papera, who has the authority to decide whether a case is dropped or sent to the military tribunal.

"Secondly, the tribunal is exclusive and is not open for public or transparent," Ifdhal said. "Victims and incriminating witnesses are often apprehensive to testify at the court, which leads to lenient sentences."

Ifdhal referred to the case in Papua last year where three soldiers accused of killing a Papuan man were given 15-month sentences for insubordination by a tribunal. "The tribunal did not convict them for murder, but instead for insubordination," he said.

In January, the military was criticized for handing out sentences of between eight and 10 months to three soldiers who tortured two Papuan men, in an act caught on video and posted to YouTube.

The video showed the soldiers putting a burning stick to the genitals of a man and threatening another with a knife while asking them about a weapons cache. "The convicted officers would still get their salary and not be treated as criminals," he said, adding that judges in a military tribunal could be dismissed by the Armed Forces commander.

The House of Representatives is expected to discuss the revision. Eva Kusuma Sundari, from House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs, said the draft bill was once included in the National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) in 2009. "But it was not effective since none of the commission members ever initiated a drafting committee," Eva said.