buku kontras 1.pmd

MAIN REPORTS
A PORTRAIT OF “BRUTALITY” OF POLICE,
THE PEOPLE’S DEFENDER
A police troop complete with their attributes (guns and cudgels), raided a home. After rummaging it, turning everything in the house
inside out, a young man was caught hiding under his bed. Without reading the right to arrest the young man and asking whether he
had indeed committed a crime, the adolescent received an endless stream of punches, kicks, hits and abuse/shouts. They were done
not only by one policeman, but also by other police members present at the location. Given no chance to answer, the youth could only
resignedly receive all of the blows lashed out at him. He meekly followed them to a car that would take him to a police station. He
was also submissive when he had to endure violence on the way to the station as well as during the interrogation process.
The description above can be easily seen on almost
all television channels, which broadcast criminal Reality
shows, keen on showing scenes of violence committed
by police officers
toward the public
when they were on
duty in the field.
This is a
berita 3 description Kontra s about No. 8/Vlll/2003
the face of our
police force that has
continued to be in
the spotlight. The
various violence
and other
irregularities
committed have
continued to create
grim pictures about
the police force. On
the other hand, it is
ironic when one
hears them (the
Police and demonstration
Doc : Media
National Police or POLRI) shouting slogans “Police
Reformation”, “Separation of POLRI from TNI (the
Indonesian National Army)”, “We are putting things in
order”. The slogans have become meaningless and gone
with the wind, with so many wrongdoings kept being
committed by the brown-uniformed unit called the Police
Force.
Separating from TNI
POLRI itself has a long story of development. One
of the points in their history began on August 25, 1967,
when the Indonesian Police became a part of the
Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI), together with the Army
(AD), the Air Force (AU) and the Navy (AL). To confirm
the fusion of POLRI and TNI, the POLRI Academy was
also merged with the ABRI Academy (AKABRI).
The unification of
TNI and POLRI had
lasted for 43 years
(1947-2000). Only
in 2000, through its
Annual Session, the
P e o p l e ’ s
Consultative
Assembly (MPR)
produced MPR
Decree No. IV - on
Separation of TNI
and POLRI - and
MPR Decree No. VII
- on the Roles of
TNI and POLRI.
Article 6 of MPR
Decree No. VII Year
2002 on the Roles
of TNI and POLRI states that:
(1)POLRI is the state apparatus whose roles are
maintaining security and public order, enforcing the
law, providing protection and services to the public.
(2)In performing its role, POLRI shall be required to be
fair and to posses professional skills.
In 2002, to follow up the above MPR Decree, Law
No. 2 Year 2002 on POLRI was passed. One of the
objectives of Law No. 2 Year 2002 is to improve the old
law (Law No. 28 Year 1997 on POLRI; at that time POLRI
was still under one roof with ABRI). According to article
No.03/V-VI/2004