National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Sutarman, who oversees counterterrorism unit Detachment 88, admitted on Wednesday that some officers had been found to be using unlawful, violent tactics against terror suspects.
"It is true that there are violations and we cannot let the same thing happen again," he said during a hearing at the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The violations had come to light in a 14-minute-long video posted to YouTube last month. The video shows officers of the counterterror unit known as Densus 88 and Mobile Brigade (Brimob) using violence and torture in the capture and interrogation of suspects.
The three star-general said on Wednesday that all Densus 88 officers involved in the violence depicted in the video had been punished.
Sutarman also alleged that the video misleadingly showed two different incidents – one in December 2012 and the other in 2007 – edited into a single file of footage. Both incidents occurred in the restive region of Poso, Central Sulawesi, a known terrorism hotbed.
"There are two different events but they were merged on purpose to make it appear that our troops on the ground are committing acts of torture," the three-star general said. "For the December 2012 event our officers are being prosecuted in an ethics tribunal as well as in a criminal court."
The second video, he said, showed Densus 88 officers closing in on terrorism convict Rahmat Kalahe, also known as Wiwin in 2007. Wiwin is now serving 19 years in jail for brutally killing three Christian students in Poso.
"For the video on Wiwin's arrest there is no torture. Wiwin was shot in a crossfire. It is a lie when he claimed to be arrested and then shot. There was no violence there."
Last week, the chairman of Muhammadiyah, the country's secong largest Islamic organization, and several other Muslim leaders came to police headquarters to submit the video to National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo and demanded he investigate the video.
"We came here to report the alleged instances of torture captured on this video, but we do not know when or where this abuse took place. This is a gross violation of human rights and we hope that Densus 88 will stop reacting excessively," Din said at the time.
Excessive reaction?
The 14-minute video shows at least four young men, some who appear to be in their teens, being interrogated by dozens of armed men wearing the uniforms of Indonesia's counterterrorism unit and the Mobile Brigade.
The men are bound, topless and lying on the ground. One has a wound on his upper right leg, with blood flowing out, darkening his pants. "Where did you hide your gun?" one interrogator asks, his face not shown. "Where did you hide the bomb?" The video then zooms to one of the men who is being accused of terrorism.
"I don't have them," the man replies. He is then hit in the head with what appear to be an officer's Kevlar helmet. The impact makes a sharp crack and the force of the blow opens a cut on the suspect's lip.
In the background, gunshots are heard. The camera pans across scores of heavily armed, masked men in combat gear, waiting to raid a nearby house.
One interrogator questions another suspect. "Just tell the truth. Did you kill a police officer?" he asks, pinning the suspect down with his boot. Moaning can be heard, but its origin is unclear. "Just crack his head," another officer says.
Toward the middle of the video, a man exits the house being targeted in the raid. He is told to walk to the middle of the field and remove his pants, despite the gunshot wound in his torso.
The man is also suffering from head wounds, and appears to be on the verge of losing consciousness. Yet the uniformed men ignore his cries of pain and continue interrogating him.
Disbanding Densus?
After viewing the strong imagery, several members of the House of Representatives are demanding much more than an investigation. Tired of the many complaints and abuse allegations surrounding the unit, lawmakers are pushing for its disbandment, or tighter controls for the unit.
However, the government and the police said Indonesia still needed the squad, considering that terror attacks were very much a threat across the country.
Sutarman said Densus' presence is still needed, particularly in known terrorism hotbeds like Poso, Ambon and Bima. "Last year, there were 23 bombs ready to be detonated in Poso, which we managed to secure. So don't think about disbanding Densus 88 because that would be a victory to the terrorists," he said.
Ansyaad Mbai, chief of the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), agrees with the view that disbanding Densus 88 is a mistake.
"Densus 88 has been very gentle in using its arms. Compare it with Yemen, which uses missiles, or Pakistan, which uses airplanes to eradicate terrorism. In Indonesia, [terrorists] are being prosecuted by police officers. The world has praised our efforts," Ansyaad said on Wednesday. "It is the terrorists who should be disbanded. Densus was formed because of terrorism."
He said that disbanding the squad would be a clear victory for terrorists. "The terrorist groups will celebrate the disbanding of Densus," he said.
Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, also said that calls for dissolution of Densus 88 were excessive and premature. "The police are now investigating the case, but demanding that Densus 88 be dissolved is too much."
Densus 88 was formed shortly after the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. The counterterrorism unit began attracting foreign donors and training agreements, making it the most elite unit in the police force.
But the pressure on getting the job done has seen many officers torture nearly all arrested terrorism suspects, with some suspects reportedly burned and beaten, according to security think-tank the Institute for International Peace Building.
Densus 88 has also been blamed for extra-judicial killings of suspected terrorists. In 2010, Densus 88 officers gunned down five people in Cawang, East Jakarta, claiming they were armed terrorists who had tried to attack arresting officers. The police only ever identified four of the fatalities, fueling suspicions that the fifth victim had been innocent.
"The National Police chief is urged to follow up the demands of several Islamic mass organizations that want Densus 88 to be disbanded. Brimob's presence was sufficient enough to maintain public security and order," Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, chairman of the party known as PPP, said in Jakarta over the weekend.
Lukman said that Densus 88's presence in the National Police has long been of public concern.
Lawmakers from House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, are planning a working committee to monitor the performance of Densus 88.
"The intention is to accommodate the people's criticisms relating to the handling of terrorism.... The working committee will also ask that the counterterrorism action be conducted transparently and accountably," said Al Muzzammil Yusuf, deputy chairman of Commission III.
The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker said that while he and his colleagues supported the fight against terrorism, he called on the authorities to uphold the presumption of innocence, the Constitution and human rights.
On Wednesday, radical Islamic organizations, such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and the Islamic People's Forum (FUI), demanded Densus 88 be disbanded. "Rather than using violence, we should deploy persuasive tactics," said Muhammad Al-Khathat, seceretary-general of FUI.
Retaliatory acts
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) on Sunday warned of fresh outbreaks of violence in Maluku and the Central Sulawesi town of Poso after the video surfaced on YouTube.
"We've got information that there will be underground movements related to the Densus 88 violence video, which has greatly upset many people in Poso and Maluku. Soon, those movements will do some unwanted things," Komnas HAM commissioner Siane Andriani said in Jakarta.
Siane said that the commission had been in contact with various law enforcement agencies, and hoped that they would be able to provide protection against any further violence.