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Institutional culpability
The tragedy, as in many other police scandals, is a result of their entrenched problem: the persistent culture of impunity.
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Toxic clouds: Tear gas rises over the stands at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, East Java, after the match between home team Arema FC and rival Persebaya Surabaya on Oct. 1, 2022. (Kompas.com/Suci Rahayu)
T
he fact-finding team tasked with investigating the deadly stampede in the East Java town of Malang on Oct. 1 has confirmed what many have suggested shortly after the tragedy occurred: It was mainly triggered by an unwarranted use of tear gas by the police force.
It was perhaps a foregone conclusion. Independent investigations by human rights organizations and media outlets such as The Washington Post, DetikX and NarasiTV have released damning visual evidence showing the culpability of the security personnel in the incident. They are suspected of firing between 40 and 80 rounds of tear gas into the stand, triggering a panic response from the Arema FC supporters that led to a crush and eventually the death of more than 130 people, including 33 children.
While the police are clearly aware of their mistake by charging two of its officials for ordering the use of tear gas in the stadium, which it is aware is against the FIFA regulation, they are hell-bent on playing down their role in the tragedy.
The police initially blamed the hooliganism of the soccer fans for the tragedy, framing it as a deadly riot, not a stampede. In their defense, the Arema FC supporters said they only wanted to show their support for their team, highlighting the fact that rival Persebaya supporters were barred from entering the Kanjuruhan stadium to watch the match. They then blamed the organizers for refusing their suggestion not to hold the match in the evening, before eventually pointing their finger to locked doors as the main culprit.
This is not to say that none of those things played any role in the tragedy — they did. The key issue here is the police’s denial that tear gas was even a factor. Only recently, police spokesman Insp. Gen. Deddy Prasetyo argued that tear gas “is not deadly” and all experts said that not a single victim died because of exposure to tear gas. “The main cause of death was suffocation,” Deddy said, adding that there was a stampede at Gate 3, Gate 11, Gate 13 and Gate 14. His statement is nothing but a poor attempt at deflecting responsibility, as he clearly failed to highlight the fact that it was the use of tear gas that triggered the stampede. His claim that tear gas is not deadly is also under scrutiny after he admitted that the tear gas in question had expired.
This has to stop — they cannot resort to gaslighting the people with empty rhetoric, half-truths and lies every time they are implicated in damaging scandals.
The tragedy, as in many other police scandals, is a result of their entrenched problem: the persistent culture of impunity. For decades, they have denied institutional responsibility but shifted the blame on some bad apples or external factors, like “violent protesters” or “rowdy soccer fans” as in the Kanjuruhan incident.
As they fail to own their mistakes, they are condemned to repeat them. It is high time for the National Police leadership, as the Malang police precinct offices did, to kneel down before the people, accept blame and apologize for the stadium tragedy.
