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From owner-indonesia-l@indopubs.com Tue Dec 15 20:53:31 1998
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1998 18:54:17 -0700 (MST)
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From: apakabar@Radix.Net
Subject: [INDONESIA-L] JKTP - Muladi at Odds with Wiranto on Militia
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Muladi at odds with Wiranto on militia
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice Muladi broke ranks with Armed Forces
Commander Gen. Wiranto on Monday over the plan to establish a civilian
militia to help the police maintain law and order.
_________________________________________________________________
Speaking after attending a hearing with House of Representatives
Commission I for security and defense, Muladi said the plan must first
be regulated by law. Otherwise, "it would have a basic flaw," he told
reporters.
He pointed out that Article 20 of the 1982 law on national defense
stipulates that the establishment of Rakyat Terlatih (trained
civilians) for security purposes should be regulated by law.
We don't have the law (on trained civilians) yet, so we suggest that
President (B.J. Habibie) and Minister of Defense and Security/Armed
Forces Commander (Gen. Wiranto) immediately propose the bill." Muladi
said.
One way to meet the legal demands would be by regulating the militia,
"if they are considered necessary," through a government regulation in
lieu of a law (known as Perpu), he said.
Such government decrees can be introduced in a state of emergency.
However, even "the urgency of the matter should be debated further,"
Muladi said.
The need to regulate the deployment of a civilian militia through a
law was first aired on Monday by Commission chairwoman Aisyah Aminy
from the United Development Party (PPP). The previous day, Wiranto
announced that the Armed Forces (ABRI) was forging ahead with the plan
and would, in the first phase, recruit 40,000 civilians to be assigned
to "security disturbance-prone areas."
Muladi said the Ministry of Defense and Security had a concept of the
law because the issue was discussed some time ago between the ministry
and scholars at Diponegoro University in Semarang Central Java, when
Muladi was rector of the university.
"I remember that we, together with the Ministry of Defense and
Security once had a seminar on the issue," Muladi said.
At a hearing of House Commission VIII for finance and the state budget
on Monday, Minister of Finance Bambang Subianto said the government
had allocated Rp 2.58 billion (US$340,000) for the training of the
civilian militia in the current fiscal year that ends next March.
Of the amount Rp 646 million had been disbursed, he said, adding that
the government would increase ABRI's budget in the 1999/2000 fiscal
year.
"The government is aware that tensions related to the general election
in June will lead to a higher cost in maintaining security. Therefore
we will support ABRI with sufficient funds," the ministry's Director
General of Budget Affairs Darsjah told the hearing.
The 1999/2000 fiscal year budget would take into consideration the
rise in price of, among other things, additional equipment, and
mobilization costs, he said.
He estimated that ABRI's funding had recently risen on average by 16.5
percent a year, or 66.1 percent in the last five years.
On Sunday, Minister/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung said it would cost
the government about Rp 6 million to train one civilian.
Problems
Hendardi of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association
(PBHI) said the ABRI plan to deploy a civilian militia was only adding
problems to a country already beset with unrest.
"This program will only complicate things further and the deployment
of a civilian militia is fertile soil for conflicts between groups of
people," Hendardi said in a statement.
Chairman of the Islamic Community Party Deliar Noer echoed Hendardi's
stance, and said establishing a national dialog would be more
effective in averting conflicts than resorting to the use of a
militia.
Wiranto is already facing sharp public criticism over the mobilization
last month of 125,000 untrained civilians to help secure the Special
Session of the People's Consultative Assembly
Human rights activists, legislators and analysts criticized the
deployment of these civilian guards as they regularly ended up
brawling with residents and student protesters
In recent months Indonesia has been rocked by violent unrest,
including clashes between troops and students, and religious and
economic riots that have damaged scores of places of worship.
Wiranto told a media conference on Sunday that the militia would be
equipped with shields and batons and be authorized to make arrests,
handcuff those they detain and report them to the authorities.
Wiranto, however dismissed concerns that the militia would be used for
certain political interests and to fight the general public.
(byg/das/aan)