Analysis: Illegal Activities Thriving on Weak Law Enforcement

The Jakarta Globe, September 25, 2013.


Weak law enforcement by the police has become one of the main reasons why militant groups, thugs and gangsters have dared to take the law in their own hands while at the same time illegal guns can circulate freely across the country, activists and analysts have said.

They said that such failure to take tough action, has led people to believe that the police have been condoning acts of violence and intolerance.

On Sunday, hundreds of people wearing white shirts and thawbs (traditional Muslim wardrobe), rallied in front of property where Saint Bernadet parishioners in Ciledug, South Tangerang plan to build a Catholic church.

It had taken 23 years for the Catholic community to be granted a permit to build.

They may have to wait another 23 years before services resume, after a group of hardline Muslim protesters shuttered the proposed site on Sunday before even a stone had been laid.

While threats to commit violence against the congregation members were made, police officers arrived late to the site.

The police admitted that the protesters had not informed local officers of the action.

Under law, all protesters must inform the police, and by failing to do that the police could charge them with disrupting public order, which punishable by a jail term.

The police later disbanded the group but no one was arrested.

“A group of people, calling themselves ‘residents,’ rallied against the church construction,” Paulus Dalu Lubur, a community priest, told the Jakarta Globe on Monday. “I believe the majority of the protesters … are not local residents,” Paulus said. “We’re supported by some religious figures in our area.”

Antonius Benny Susetyo, secretary of the interfaith commission of the Indonesian Bishop Council, told the Globe that the parish had obtained a building permit for the church on Sept. 11 and that construction had been about to commence.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy director of the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, told the Globe that those promoting intolerance were mobile, opportunist groups that in this instance had traveled to the site and were not drawn from the local community.

Bonar said the problem was the result of the failures of police and local government to take action against such intolerant groups.

The number of churches that face disruption continue to rise from year to year.

“Disruptions rose in 2011 to 64 cases, in 2012 to 76 cases, or an increase of 8 percent,” said Theophilus Bela, chairman of the Jakarta Christian Communication Forum (FKKJ) on Sunday.

He said that the disruptions come in various forms such as intimidation and forced closure of churches and mosques.

“The police have never jailed members of the groups. So, they will keep coming,” he said.

The National Police have denied claims that the police condone acts of intolerance.

Thugs and hostage takers

Thuggery also remains remains a serious issue, with two recent examples of lack of police intervention, criminologist Yogo Tri Hendarto said.

In one instance two people were recently held hostage and tortured in a shop in West Jakarta by a security company after they failed to pay their debts.

In another incident, the building of the Depok District Court in West Java was attacked by members of a mass organization.

Hundreds of members of Pemuda Pancasila, an organization notorious for its thuggery, attacked the site last week, threatening the chairman of the court over a disputed land case.

The members, dressed in the organization’s military-style uniforms, rammed motorbikes into the court’s glass entry door, smashing their way into the building as they headed to chairman Prim Haryadi’s office.

The police were again late to arrive to prevent the vandalism.

Yogo said that the police must begin to get tough on these gangsters, and bring them to justice to create a deterrent effect and prevent similar action in the future.

However, he agreed that thuggery was not just the police’s concern, but everyone’s.

“Everyone must get involved [to overcome the problem], from the government to the public,” he said.

Yogo attributed the rampant thuggery practice to a lack of job opportunities. He said that there were barriers in Indonesia in which only educated people can get jobs.

“If you are not an und e rgraduate you have difficulties to finding a job,” he said.

The police’s weak management of thuggery was also to blame, he said. Yogo said that the police tend to take actions after an event instead of taking a preventive measure. He added that the shooting of police officers demonstrated that criminals no longer consider the police a threat.

Yogo also called on the police to supervise companies that provide security services, saying that they could be a mask or a modus to extort or to support certain institutions.

Illegal weapons

The Indonesia Police Watch (IPW) blames the police and government for their lack of seriousness in tackling illegal weapons distribution. That contributed to the rising number of civilians possessing illegal guns and threatening others over small matters, thus leading to an increase in armed robberies and terrorist attacks.

IPW chairman Neta S. Pane attributed the condition to the government’s policy to easily allow civilians to own weapons by paying non-tax state income.

He said that police must quickly stop the circulation of illegal guns, and when they could arrest those involved in the making and distribution of the guns, they must be tough on them.

Many civilians who buy guns illegally tend to show them off and threaten other people, while a number of police officers have been shot to death using illegal guns in the past several months.



*