Zaky Pawas, Jakarta – Legal and human rights activists say the government now has enough evidence to ban violent hard-line groups following a street brawl involving members of the Betawi Brotherhood Forum over the weekend.
Three people were injured and traffic came to a standstill in many parts of South Jakarta when a violent clash involving as many 30 people, including members of the forum, also known as FBR, spilled out into the streets in Rempoa on Saturday.
"The government always says that these people are just acting as individuals and do not represent their organizations, but we have to look at the facts," Nurkholis Hidayat, director of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH), told the Jakarta Globe on Monday.
"The number of violent acts conducted in the name of organizations such as FBR or FPI [Islamic Defenders Front] has been consistently high."
Nurkholis said banning hard-line organizations was possible and did not infringe on civil rights because clear limits had to be set. "When [organizations] are there to create hostility and havoc, they should not be allowed," he said.
The perception that police were slow to act against these groups because they were seen merely as thugs or were even maintained by the police "was no figment of the imagination," Nurkholis added.
"Even though the state denies this, these organizations have long been used by the police for economic as well as political purposes," he said, adding that military and police involvement in supporting hard-line civilian groups was already well known.
Zainal Abidin, a legal and human rights analyst formerly with the Indonesian LBH, said that even though it was a basic right to form public organizations, the groups needed to be "reminded" that it meant peaceful assembly.
"Organizations have to refrain from all forms of violence," he said. "If they can't, then this is when law enforcement steps in."
Aside from apprehending the rank-and-file members of these hard-line groups, Zainal said the police needed to solve the problem at its roots. "The leaders of these groups must be held to account for the actions of their members and must be brought into line with the law," he said.
Meanwhile, the South Jakarta Police's Comr. Nurdi Satriaji said 30 people had been named suspects over Saturday's violence, of which 23 had been arrested. The reason for the clash, however, was still uncertain, he said.
After the incident, the police brought together the leaders of the groups involved – FBR, Pemuda Pancasila, Kembang Latar and the Betawi Communication Forum (Forkabi) – to reconcile their differences.
"During the meeting with the group leaders, we all agreed that the situation and current problems would not get worse," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said. "We hope that after this incident there will be no more clashes," Nurdi added.