Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The House says it will endorse a bill on military tribunals requiring soldiers who commit crimes to stand trial in civilian courts, a prospect the armed forces has fought to block.

Andreas Pareira, chairman of the House of Representatives' special committee preparing the bill, said Monday military courts should only try soldiers accused of violating military rules, and leave the civilian courts to hear criminal cases.

"In the reform era, there must be a clear separation between violations of military codes and criminal codes, no matter who the violators are," Pareira told reporters a day after returning home from South Korea, where he led a House delegation on a four-day study tour in South Korea, which included a look at that country's court system.

"Soldiers and civil servants violating military code are brought to military court, while those violating the criminal code will be tried in civilian courts," he said.

He added that deliberation of the bill would resume next month, with its endorsement expected in August at the latest.

Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono, representing the government and the Indonesian Military (TNI) in the deliberation of the bill, has expressed objections to the bill, saying its adoption at this time would be inappropriate. He has proposed the military be given at least a three-year transition period before enforcing the new military justice system.

Deliberation of the bill had been suspended for three months because of a deadlock between the House and the administration. However, the deadlock was broken in March when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono accepted a House proposal that stressed the authority of civilian courts to try soldiers in criminal cases.

Referring to the South Korean military courts, which he said were similar to those in Indonesia, Pareira said the House was eager to reform the military court system not only because it was unaccountable, but also to minimize crimes and rights abuses involving soldiers.

"The public in South Korea has never complained about their military courts trying soldiers who are criminal suspects because the courts have always been transparent and all verdicts are executed without exception," he said.

Kusnanto Anggoro, a military analyst at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said there were no political or legal reasons for Indonesia not to reform the military courts.

"No matter whether criminal soldiers are tried at civilian courts or not, the military courts must be transparent and accountable and the military criminal code must ensure justice for servicemen, without reservation," he said.

He said that unlike Indonesia, South Korea had the political courage to bring former presidents Roh Tae-woo and Chun Do-hwan to justice for corruption, even though both were retired generals. This has encouraged the nation to make reform a success and has allowed it to achieve significant progress in all fields, he.

"Since entering the reform era in 1998, Indonesia has not had the political courage to bring to justice former president Soeharto and his military men responsible for a great number of human rights abuses and corruption cases during the New Order era," Kusnanto said.

He also questioned the capacity of the civilian courts, which he said were generally regarded as corrupt, to convict soldiers implicated in crimes and rights abuses.

Kusnanto suggested the House maintain the 1993 Military Court Law, simply adding emphasis to transparency and accountability and a harsher military criminal code.