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View all search resultsTroop deployments stoke fear of return to hard tactics
The government’s decision to deploy hundreds of thousands of Indonesian Military (TNI) officers to help enforce pandemic health protocols has drawn criticism among defense analysts and human rights experts for its nod to past military practices.
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Marchio Irfan Gorbiano
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The government’s decision to deploy hundreds of thousands of Indonesian Military (TNI) officers to help enforce pandemic health protocols has drawn criticism among defense analysts and human rights experts for its nod to past military practices.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced last week that the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police would work together to guard crowded places in preparation for the so-called “new normal” of living alongside COVID-19.
As many as 340,000 troops have been deployed across more than two dozen cities to oversee enforcement of measures aimed at curbing transmission of the disease, as the country gears up for the eventual easing of restrictions on movement and travel.
But the move risks inviting people to rise up against a possible “hard” security approach to compliance, said security expert Anton Aliabbas, as the economy fumbles and incomes dissipate as a result of the viral outbreak and the ensuing restrictions.
“The problem is whether ‘disciplining’ the public requires the TNI [to step in]. If people refuse to obey, will [troops] become coercive?” asked Anton, who is a researcher from security reforms and human rights watchdog Imparsial.
