Dicky Christanto and Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – Human rights monitor Imparsial says it supports the military members' right to vote as early as the 2014 election, provided the military reform its tribunal system to prevent abuse of power.

Al-Araf, Imparsial's program director, said Tuesday that before the state granted the military members the right to vote, it would have to ensure they were bound by civil law like any other citizen.

"For instance, if military members carry out violent actions against civilians, they will have to be tried at a civil court, not the military court," he told reporters at the Imparsial office in Jakarta.

He added that the current military court system was prone to abuse of power because all legal processes, from investigation to trial, were carried out by military officers. He said that the military tribunals were the source of the military's impunity in the face of any charges of wrongdoing under the law.

"The effort to reform the military court system has stagnated. The Justice and Human Rights Ministry has not even included the amendment of the military tribunal law into this year's national legislation program," Al-Araf said.

He said that the Indonesian Military also needed to encourage political and democratic education in all its institutions to properly perform the right.

Imparsial managing director Poengky Indarti said that the organization suggested three other preconditions for the state to consider before granting military members the right to vote.

"Firstly, there has to be a clear mechanism on how military members use their voting rights in the general election to ensure their independence," she said.

She continued that the second precondition required was the state should consider the level of military members' maturity in understanding different political choices among members, so that difference would not be the source of internal conflict after the general election ended. "Third, the military should remain bound to civil authority," she said.

Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum said the next election would be the right time to return the right to vote to all military members as long as it adhered to democratic principles and mechanisms. "I think the time has come for all military members to use their right to vote in a mature way," he said.

However, he said that the House of Representatives and the government would need to ask the military chief for confirmation about the readiness of his institution to use the voting right. "If the chief said they were ready to vote, we can include that in the next amendment of the general election law," said Anas.

Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. I Wayan Midhio said he appreciated the recent attempt to give the right to vote at the upcoming 2014 general elections for the Indonesian Military.

"We have entered the world of democracy, therefore this is the perfect moment to give the opportunity to soldiers to exercise their rights at the upcoming general elections. There is no need to be afraid," he said.

He then highlighted the need to deliberate specific yet firm regulations regarding this to avoid any unexpected situation. "We expect that the upcoming regulation, which will allow military members to vote, is thoroughly deliberated and does make room for interpretation,"

he said, adding that firm regulation would make the military even easier to catch up and not be manipulated. (rdf)