Poorly trained and poorly paid, public order officers, better known as Satpol PP, at times commit acts of brutality, experts admit, but their services are still in demand.
“We need them as our society still does not understand rights and obligations, such as the use of unoccupied lands,” Henny Warsilah, a sociologist at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, told.
However, Henny agreed that Satpol PP should be trained not to use force.
“There should be reform of the Satpol PP’s training curriculum. They need to learn moral and social issues, as they are dealing with society,” she said.
Rights activists have repeatedly called on the government to break up all municipal public order agencies and review public order bylaws in light of repeated acts of violence by the officers.
“It is our view that human-rights violations by public order officers toward minority groups and the poor, including street vendors, buskers, transvestites, women and children, violate the Constitution,” Poltak Sinaga of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association said in a recent public discussion at the Legal Aid Institute Foundation .
Poltak cited 21 cases of alleged violence at the hands of public order officers dating back to 2004, some of them resulting in deaths.
Poltak said three teenage buskers died last month after being chased down by Satpol PP. In another case, Irfan Maulana, 14, died in January 2007 after being severely beaten by nine public order officers, but not a single officer was apprehended.
There was more violence at Tanjung Priok on Wednesday and Tangerang on Tuesday.
Allegations of abuse come from various parts of the country. Satpol PP was accused of being behind the deaths of five civilians in Pasuruan, East Java, over a land quarrel in Alas Progo in 2007, together with the Armed Forces. Satpol PP was blamed for injuring nine merchants in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, in a market raid last year.
“Human rights are violated when people die in their raids, and such cases need to be brought to the courts for justice,” Henny said.
But, she said, the repressive action Satpol PP used to maintain order was a reflection of the country’s decades under a militaristic regime.
“This is a sociopolitical phenomenon. We should look at our history. In the past, repressive actions were used by government authorities to control the public in order to maintain stability and help to develop the country,” she said.
“Those regimes saw society as their enemy, and this contributes to anarchy,” she said. “Militaristic characters need to be removed from the Satpol PP.”
However, Imam Prasodjo, a sociologist at the University of Indonesia, told that not all blame should fall on Satpol PP.
“They are just officials who do their jobs based on the orders of their superiors. They are just poor people who are forced to fight society. Who wants to be a Satpol PP? I do not think anyone will say yes,” he said.
Satpol PP officers are often poorly trained junior high school graduates who are paid Rp 300,000 ($33) a month.
“We need them as our society still does not understand rights and obligations, such as the use of unoccupied lands,” Henny Warsilah, a sociologist at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, told.
However, Henny agreed that Satpol PP should be trained not to use force.
“There should be reform of the Satpol PP’s training curriculum. They need to learn moral and social issues, as they are dealing with society,” she said.
Rights activists have repeatedly called on the government to break up all municipal public order agencies and review public order bylaws in light of repeated acts of violence by the officers.
“It is our view that human-rights violations by public order officers toward minority groups and the poor, including street vendors, buskers, transvestites, women and children, violate the Constitution,” Poltak Sinaga of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association said in a recent public discussion at the Legal Aid Institute Foundation .
Poltak cited 21 cases of alleged violence at the hands of public order officers dating back to 2004, some of them resulting in deaths.
Poltak said three teenage buskers died last month after being chased down by Satpol PP. In another case, Irfan Maulana, 14, died in January 2007 after being severely beaten by nine public order officers, but not a single officer was apprehended.
There was more violence at Tanjung Priok on Wednesday and Tangerang on Tuesday.
Allegations of abuse come from various parts of the country. Satpol PP was accused of being behind the deaths of five civilians in Pasuruan, East Java, over a land quarrel in Alas Progo in 2007, together with the Armed Forces. Satpol PP was blamed for injuring nine merchants in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, in a market raid last year.
“Human rights are violated when people die in their raids, and such cases need to be brought to the courts for justice,” Henny said.
But, she said, the repressive action Satpol PP used to maintain order was a reflection of the country’s decades under a militaristic regime.
“This is a sociopolitical phenomenon. We should look at our history. In the past, repressive actions were used by government authorities to control the public in order to maintain stability and help to develop the country,” she said.
“Those regimes saw society as their enemy, and this contributes to anarchy,” she said. “Militaristic characters need to be removed from the Satpol PP.”
However, Imam Prasodjo, a sociologist at the University of Indonesia, told that not all blame should fall on Satpol PP.
“They are just officials who do their jobs based on the orders of their superiors. They are just poor people who are forced to fight society. Who wants to be a Satpol PP? I do not think anyone will say yes,” he said.
Satpol PP officers are often poorly trained junior high school graduates who are paid Rp 300,000 ($33) a month.
