President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has put pressure on law enforcement authorities to swiftly resolve communal conflicts, on Monday issuing a presidential instruction on public order and security that makes the issue a priority.
The president’s edict attracted criticism from rights groups, who argued that it failed to guarantee the protection of human rights, and from an opposition legislator, who compared the growing executive power to that exercised under Suharto.
“In 2012 our country was plagued by violence and communal conflicts, including terrorism activities,” Yudhoyono said on Monday at a meeting with government officials in Jakarta. “This means the public weren’t protected well.”
He cited the results of surveys showing public dissatisfaction with security officials. “That’s why I’m making public security and order a priority in 2013 and 2014.”
The instruction calls for cooperation between the military, police and civil leaders such as governors and mayors, urging them to detect conflict early and take a pre-emptive approach. The president tasked Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, to lead the effort.
Yudhoyono said he hoped the instruction would help maintain security and that it would be implemented swiftly.
“There should be no more delays in addressing [conflicts] and no one is allowed to stop something preventable from being prevented. Something that could be solved should also not be left unsolved. Don’t keep a time bomb,” he said.
But Eva Kusuma Sundari, member of House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, expressed doubt about the decision to issue the presidential instruction.
Eva said she believed that Yudhoyono issued the presidential instruction because lawmakers rejected the government’s proposal on a national security bill.
“The presidential instruction on public security and order offers the same content [as the national security bill]. It carries the same implications and therefore the presidential instruction is contradictory to a series of laws that were made as a bid to reform the security sector,” the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker said on Monday.
She said the government should have learned from similar presidential instructions issued during the New Order regime.
Aside from being unconstitutional, she said, they also led to excessive use of violence, which resulted in widespread human rights violations.
“This could intensify conflicts and open room for foreign intervention as in the case of East Timor and Aceh. The same thing could just happen in Papua.” Eva said.
She added that the presidential instruction contradicted an earlier statement by the president that the country’s security was under control and that the government would adopt a welfare approach in addressing security issues.
“The government should have learned from Malaysia, which revoked its internal security act ahead of its general election that is slated to take place in March,” Eva said.
Meanwhile, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said that communal conflicts occurred because there were no guarantees of public service, legal protection, social justice and respect for civil rights.
Kontras coordinator Haris Azhar said the issuance of the presidential instruction resulted from a police and regional government failure to prevent conflicts and violence.
He said the government needed to confront the problems’ root causes.
“Such a situation is more than just a security problem,” Haris said.
Kontras said that the government often incorrectly handled civil rights problems by taking a heavy-handed approach.
“Land disputes, terrorism and violent conflicts against minorities are triggered by injustice and other conflicts are handled through big deployment of armed officers. Just take a look at the handling of Aceh, Poso [Central Sulawesi], Papua and East Timor, which started with something excessive,” Haris said.
Meanwhile, spiritual leaders say religious-based clashes in Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, have highlighted the inability of the government to address the root causes of conflicts that have plagued the country in recent years.
At least 3,000 people — most of them ethnic Balinese Hindus — fled their homes following mass fighting in Sumbawa Besar last Tuesday. Many buildings, vehicles and public facilities were damaged in the ensuing riots.
In a seminar held by the Center for Dialogue and Cooperation Among Civilizations (CDCC) on Sunday, leaders agreed that weak law enforcement was behind recurring clashes, saying those who perpetrated violence often went unpunished.
Romo Benny Susetyo of the Indonesia Bishops Conference said that as well as being illegal, violence was contrary to the principles of justice and human rights.