Police and Military Officers' Brutality

VIOLENCE by police officers and military personnel continues. They have become increasingly sadistic in the way they deal with problems in the field. They torture people to death, even if they are still in their youths.

The police and the Indonesian military (TNI) must stop using savage methods when dealing with problems in the field. They are obliged to adhere to the United Nations convention that opposes torture and other acts or punishment that are cruel, inhumane or an affront to human dignity. The government has ratified this convention through Law No. 5/1998. This law forbids public officials from using physical or mental torture along with other punishments that are cruel, inhumane, or an affront to human dignity.

The latest incident where police officers use barbaric ways to handle criminal cases has been revealed by the Padang Legal Aid Institute (LBH). They accused dozens of local police officers of torturing seven males, five of them children, by beating them with rattan canes, ramming them with motorbikes, burning them with cigarettes, and giving them electric shocks. The police had arrested them along with 11 other people, accusing them of planning a brawl at Kuranji Bridge, Padang, West Sumatra, in the early hours of Sunday June 9.

The death of one of the victims, Alif Maulana, it is believed to be the result of police brutality that early morning. The junior high school student was an associate of the 18 people who were arrested. A few hours after his arrest, Alif’s body was found floating in the river under Kuranji Bridge. The body of the 13-year-old youth was covered with bruises. His lips were blue. An autopsy at the West Padang Bhayangkara hospital found that he died as a result of six broken ribs.

The condition of Alif’s body refutes the statement by West Sumatra Police Chief Insp. Gen. Suharyono, who said that Alif was not a victim of police brutality. Suharyono should not have been too hasty in his denial. He should push for a comprehensive and transparent investigation into Alif’s death.

But what he did instead was to threaten to pursue the people who spread the video about Alif’s death. This response from the West Sumatra Police chief is typical of that in response to police brutality in the field.

There was also sadism by Second Sergeant Adan Aryan Marsal at the Military Police Central Maintenance and Order Section at the Nias Naval Base, North Sumatra. Adan killed South Nias resident Iwan Sutrisman Telaumbanua, 21.

The December 2022 killing only came to light at the end of March this year. Before killing Iwan, Adan promised him he would become a Navy non-commision officer or NCO. He went then lied to the victim’s family, telling them that Iwan had become an NCO and was undergoing training. For 15 months after the murder, Adan frequently asked for money from the victim’s family, and he eventually received more than Rp200 million.

These two cases are part of a comprehensive reports compiled by all LBH branches across Indonesia as well as the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation. They recorded a total of 294 victims of torture from 2022 to 2023, and 24 extrajudicial killings in detention from 2020 to 2023. Most of the perpetrators were police officers and military personnel.

These facts are a strong enough reason for immediate and comprehensive reforms to the police and the TNI. Soldiers must return to barracks and the police should really concentrate on their main responsibility, namely maintaining public security and order.