Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Anastasia Wienanti Resardhy – A lack of transparency and scrutiny over last month's attack on Cebongan Prison in Sleman, Yogyakarta, has left many questions unanswered, particularly around the involvement of high-ranking military and police officers, experts have warned.
Military analyst Ikrar Nusa Bhakti said there was too much focus on the attackers and not enough on investigating whether high-ranking military and police officers knew about the March 23 plan to kill four murder suspects who were detained in the prison.
"Is it true that only non-commissioned officers and privates were involved? Let's not be too focused on the attackers. It's suspected that communications with the regional police chief and the regional military commander had taken place [ahead of the attack]," Ikrar told a forum in Jakarta over the weekend.
He doubted that high-ranking military officers, including Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto, were oblivious to the plan or did not receive any warning after Special Forces (Kopassus) commando First Sgt. Heru Santoso was killed at Hugo's Cafe in Yogyakarta on March 19.
"They should have known after the Kopassus member was killed. Why wasn't it prevented? That's why they have to be transparent," Ikrar said.
Ikrar said scrutiny must be applied to the Yogyakarta Police chief's decision to order the transfer of the detainees to the Cebongan Prison. Ikrar noted that unlike during President Suharto's New Order, today the military can not cover up its misconduct or take these cases lightly.
"I think if the Military Court was truly transparent, it would impose a higher punishment compared to the regular court, it could even be 1.5 times tougher," he said.
Ikrar said the Cebongan Prison attack was highly suspicious and that the result of the Army's independent investigation should be treated only as preliminary.
Syarifuddin Sudding, a legislator with the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), said he suspected there was communications between the National Police, the Armed Forces and Cebongan Prison administrators before the attack on the detainees.
The lawmaker said he believed it was likely that there was contact between the regional police chief, the regional military commander and the prison after the Kopassus member was murdered, because of recent nasty outcomes in similar cases, for example when a group of 90 soldiers destroyed a police building in Ogan Komering Ulu, South Sumatra.
The early March attack came after a traffic police officer, Brig. Wijaya, 29, shot dead 23-year-old soldier Pfc. Heru Oktavianus during an argument over a minor traffic violation in January.
Syarifuddin said the four murder suspects were moved from the Yogyakarta Police headquarters to Cebongan Prison because the officials had anticipated a retaliation to the Kopassus murder.
"First they were held by the district police, then they were moved to the regional police and then to the prison. This means there were concerns that an incident, like that in Ogan Komering Ulu, would happen were taken seriously," he said.
Syarifuddin questioned why the request for additional security officers by Cebongan Prison was not fulfilled.
Saurip Kadi, a senior official at nationalist group Defenders of the Country (Pekat), said the prison attack reflected distrust toward legal institutions.
"The root of the problem is that the people's distrust toward state institutions is already high," Saurip said in Jakarta over the weekend. He added that this distrust was mostly due to corruption within the country's law enforcement.
Distrust was what Kopassus members felt when they heard that their commander was killed by criminals, Saurip said. "They didn't think that they would get justice if the case was processed by the law. That's why they decided to take matters into their own hands," Saurip said.
"This is wrong. But the sense of unity among soldiers is always there and that's how it should be," said Saurip, who is a retired army general.
This "sense of unity" often referred to as "esprit de corps" – a term coined by Napoleon Bonaparte, a 19th century French military and political leader – has also been deemed a likely motivating factor for the March 23 attack. "The murder of a Koppasus member would definitely heighten feelings of esprit de corps." Ikrar said.
Tubagus Hasanuddin, deputy chairman of House Commission I, which oversees defense and foreign affairs and a two-star retired army general, said that esprit de corps was needed in a war because a war should be a cooperative effort so that each unit can gain success.
He added that esprit de corps is the spirit to cooperate so that each unit can understand their respective duties and that the officers can help and protect one another. "Maintaining the spirit is important in a war. In the daily lives outside the war, esprit de corps also gives a positive impact and that's why it needs to be maintained," Tubagus said in Jakarta on Sunday.
But he added that the esprit de corps becomes problematic if used in the wrong context. He said that aside from developing a sense of esprit de corps, military officers should also maintain a sense of discipline and comply with the law.
Tubagus argued that esprit de corps was not the real reason why the Kopassus officers launched the jail attack, adding that the incident would not have happened if the officers respected the military's code of conduct and discipline.