Carlos Paath – Rights activists are demanding immediate changes to the 1997 Law on Military Tribunals, in the wake of a deadly attack on police detainees that some have blamed on the Army's Special Forces.

Haris Azhar, the coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said that amending the law was necessary to allow armed forces personnel accused of criminal offenses to stand trial in a civilian court rather than a military tribunal.

"Revising the law on military tribunals is an essential part of the reform process in the military and the judiciary," he said. "As it currently stands, the law doesn't allow for servicemen to face justice in a criminal court, an anti-corruption court or a human rights tribunal," he added.

Haris said Kontras had recorded 87 cases of violence by military personnel against civilians since 2004, none of which resulted in criminal charges against the offenders.

"The perpetrators of these crimes and acts of violence were all tried in a military tribunal, even though none of the offenses was committed in the course of their duties," he said.

He added the problem with military tribunals was that the perpetrators tended to receive more lenient punishment than a criminal court would mete out. "It puts them beyond the reach of the law and enforces the military's culture of impunity," he said.

Aziz Syamsuddin, a member of the House of Representatives' Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, said legislators were open to discussing amendments to the 1997 law, but were still waiting for the government to submit the draft.

"Amendments to that law have been needed for a long time. At one point we even formed a special committee of legislators from House Commission III and II [on domestic affairs] to discuss it," he said.

He added that most legislators also agreed with the need to try military personnel in a civilian court if their offenses warranted it.

Hendardi, the head of the Setara Institute, a democracy watchdog, said the law in its current form "makes the military untouchable by criminal law statutes."

"If a soldier kills someone as part of his duty, there's no question that he should go before a military tribunal," he said, "But how can you justify a military tribunal if he attacks a police detention center and kills the inmates?"