Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The bashing of an unarmed student protestor by presidential guards has been decried by civil society organizations that say the incident casts doubt on the guards' professionalism.

Ikbal Sabarudin, 21, was punched and kicked by Paspampres guards after he was restrained from rushing toward Vice President Boediono carrying a poster criticizing the president and vice president for being weak on corruption. The incident happened during a ceremony on Friday to mark the 83rd anniversary of the Youth Pledge.

Haris Azhar of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said that the Islamic Union Student Association (Hima Persis) activist had been seriously injured in the bashing, with wounds on his head and bruises on his body.

"We believe that the acts of violence against Ikbal were completely unnecessary if the presidential guards were more professional in enforcing protocol. If Ikbal was considered to have committed a crime, he should have been handed over to police. No need to break the law to enforce the law," Haris said on Sunday.

According to Kontras, there have been two cases of presidential staff overstepping the mark in September and October.

The previous incident, Haris said, took place on Sept. 7 when the same unit was guarding the State Palace during a demonstration marking the seventh anniversary of the murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib. He said that on that occasion presidential guards attacked and wounded several protesters.

Haris said the solution was for the guards to gain a better understanding of their role through training. He said an evaluation should be conducted by the president's office and the national military command.

"Furthermore, if there are violations of protocol in the form of acts of violence, we insist that internal sanctions be levied."