H

uman rights watchdogs have called on President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo to continue pursuing military reform in spite of his move to break from the tradition of rotating the leadership of the Indonesian Military (TNI).

Jokowi has proposed Army chief of staff Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo to succeed Gen. Moeldoko, who is slated to retire in August. By doing so, he has broken with the tradition of allowing the Army, Navy and Air Force to take turns in assuming the leadership of the TNI.

'€œThe rotation system is stipulated in Article 13 paragraph 4 of the Law on the TNI and is aimed at blocking the domination of the Army, which had utter domination during the New Order era. The Army was consistently used by former president Soeharto to back up his power,'€ Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) executive director Poengky Indarti told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Moeldoko of the Army, succeeded the Navy'€™s Adm. Agus Suhartono in 2013. The baton should have been passed to Air Force chief of staff Air Chief Marshall Agus Supriatna if Jokowi had opted to continue with the tradition of rotation.

Critics have warned that the appointment of Gatot could be a setback to attempts at reforming the military, which have been ongoing since the end of the New Order in 1998, as it could allow the Army to become a dominant force once again.

'€œThe Indonesian military is already synonymous with the Army because the mindset of [past] leaders was that threats came by land, which was the reason they strengthened the Army,'€ Poengky said.

Besides the nomination of another Army chief, there are other indications that the Army is already bolstering its position, such as its sizable personnel, its increased budget and the involvement of several Army generals in politics.

Poengky said she was concerned that some of the military reform agenda, including the elimination of the territorial commands [Koter] at the local level and the revision to the Military Tribunal Law, would be put at risk. '€œThe existence of the Koter must be reformed so that the TNI can only play the role of defending the country,'€ she said.

The Koter system was frequently abused by the New Order regime to spy on and influence the population at a local level, and it has been argued that the Koter should be ditched to prevent military personnel or retired officers using its network to garner grassroots political support.

Also on the agenda for military reform is the amendment of the Military Tribunal Law, which would allow military personnel suspected of criminal acts to be brought before a civilian court, rather than a military tribunal, as the latter usually hands out administrative penalties rather than deterrent sentences.

To ensure that the TNI reforms continue, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has called on the House of Representatives to involve the public in assessing the track record of Gatot.

Komnas HAM said the public had to make sure that Gatot had no record of human rights violations, let alone in serious cases, and was committed to promoting human rights particularly within the military institution.

'€œThe new TNI chief must be committed to continuing the ongoing efforts to reform the institution. He must also be committed to solving cases of gross human rights abuse in the past,'€ Komnas HAM chairman Nur Kholis said.

The House of Representatives Commission I overseeing foreign affairs and defense, is expected to hold a confirmation hearing on Gatot in the next few weeks, during which the House normally involves Komnas HAM.

Nur Kholis, however, said that his office had yet to receive a letter from Commission I asking for Komnas HAM'€™s assessment of Gatot.

'€œWe will conduct the process as soon as we are invited,'€ he said.