Internal Affairs

By Phil Zabriskie Monday, Mar. 10, 2003

Indonesia's police and military forces should be working together to subdue insurgencies, combat crime and crack down on terrorism. Last week, however, for the 15th time in the last two years, they battled each other. Some 60 air force personnel attacked a police station in East Jakarta, killing one policeman and wounding two others as they ransacked the office.

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The clash began on March 2 after Air Force First Sergeant Budianto was arrested following a fight with a civilian. His colleagues came to the station demanding his release and, in an attempt to avoid a confrontation, the police assented. But when the air force crew returned two days later to retrieve Budianto's military ID card, they found it was in the possession of one of the civilians who filed the initial complaint. Furious with the police for not returning the ID, air force soldiers attacked the station later that night, fatally stabbing a police officer.

Under Suharto, the military oversaw the police. The two forces were split in 1999 and ever since have jockeyed for jurisdiction, influence and the extra income they earn through unofficial?and sometimes illegal?sidelines. (Military and police officers have been accused of involvement in unlicensed logging, prostitution and drug dealing.) "Many military personnel," says Peter van Tuijl, an adviser on police reform for the Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia, "cannot accept being told what to do by the police." Last week's attacks suggest they haven't faced off for the last time.

Of the rivalry, van Tuijl says: "It's about power, control and money." Thus far, it's hard to call a winner, but the losers are clearly Indonesians hoping their security forces will actually provide security.