Doubts linger over Indonesian army's crackdown on its own
Michael Bachelard
Indonesia correspondent for Fairfax Media
AFP
On the night of March 23, nine Indonesian soldiers stormed into the Cebongan prison about two hours drive from their base, dragged four remand prisoners out of their cells and shot them dead with an army issue weapon.
On their way out, the soldiers from the notorious and highly trained special forces unit Kopassus removed security footage of the incident.
Ever since it's been assumed that the normal culture of impunity when it comes to the army - particularly Kopassus - would apply and the perpetrators never found.
But late on Thursday, an investigative team led by Brigadier-General Untung Yudhoyono apparently confounded that assumption. Kopassus soldiers, from Group 2 Kartosuro, had mounted the attack, he declared, and they would face a court martial for murder.
He also confirmed widespread suspicion that the raid was in retaliation for the street murder four days earlier of a sergeant from the soldiers' unit. Those killed in prison were being investigated for that murder.
Kopassus, the ''red berets'', are well known to Australians as the unit most likely to be involved in human rights abuses in East Timor, Papua, Aceh, and anywhere else that separatist sentiment emerged in Indonesia.
So seriously did Australia take those abuses that in 1999 military joint exercises with Kopassus were ceased, only to resume in 2005.
Defence Minister Stephen Smith, who was in Jakarta this week, was concerned enough to ask for a briefing on the subject from his Indonesian counterpart.
Kopassus' impunity in the past has been astonishing. The murder in 2001 of Papuan activist Theys Eluay led to seven being found guilty of murder. Their sentences ranged from two to 3½ years. It's uncertain if all served full sentences, but all seven were later promoted.
The openness about the recent killings has been hailed in some quarters as a sign that the military has turned over a new leaf.
''I hope that the commitment shown will help counter the pessimism and scepticism from some quarters that this case would never be fully resolved,'' said Djoko Suyanto, the Co-ordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs.
But there are signs that already the soldiers' actions are being excused.
General Untung said the perpetrators had ''bravely admitted'' to the crime, which was based on an excess of ''esprit de corps''. The sergeant whose ''brutal and sadistic'' death they were avenging had once saved the life of the leader of the pack, U, who was named as the trigger-man in all four killings.
Indonesian security scholar Yohanes Sulaiman said the army might still be more interested in public relations than justice.
''They knew that people were pointing the finger at them, so it was better to take ownership of the problem so it doesn't get worse,'' he said.
''Also, they have an expectation of the [military] courts that they will find, 'We didn't do anything wrong, we only killed four thugs.'''
Heru, the sergeant whose death triggered the prison raid, was killed in a nightclub by bouncers. Army personnel are often hired out for profit by their superiors as security guards (Satpam).
''This is likely a signal to the competition that the army will come at you, saying, 'Don't think we're getting soft','' one analyst said.
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