NO NEED FOR PUBLIC ORDER OFFICERS TO CARRY FIREARMS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 7 (ANTARA) - The government has issued a ministerial decree to allow public order officers to be equipped with firearms in carrying out their duties but many quarters, including activists, youths, sociologists, observers and legislators have expressed strong objections to  the policy.          They said that the ministerial decree requiring Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP) personnel to carry firearms was irrelevant and wrongly issued, or not yet timely because it had the impression that violence might be met with violence.          Legal observer and social anthropologist Karolus Kopong of the Kupang-based University of Nusa Cendana East Nusa Tenggara said it was irrelevant to equip public order security officers with firearms.          "Satpol PP is not a primary institution which has the task to maintain public security and order so that the decree is irrelevant," he said commenting on the home affairs minister's decree Number 26 / 2010 on the use of firearms by Satpol PP.           He said that the government's policy could cause public order officers to become more anarchic in handling a case in the public. "Even without firearms they can act harsher than police officers in handling a case. What will happen if they have firearms, this would be very dangerous," he said.          For this reason, the Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI) for Ambon (Maluku province), is of the opinion that the decision to equip public order officers with guns is a wrong policy.          "The decision to issue the ministerial decree is a wrong decision that needs to be revised," KNPI chairman for Ambon, Madjid Latuconsina said.          He said Satpol PP public order officers had the task to protect people who wanted to openly raise their opinions. But the government decision could cause them to show arrogance in handling a case, he said.          Sociologist Syaifuddin Bantasyam of the Syiah Kuala University in Aceh said that it was not necessary for public order officers to be equipped with guns because they in most cases often faced the lower segment of the people who were not criminals.          "I am afraid that they could not control themselves if they carry firearms in a tense situation, particularly in facing residents who are being evicted," Bantasyam said.          He said that even the use of firearms in the police institution often caused problems because certain police individuals used it not in a proper situation. "Police personnel have been professionally trained to use firearms but still misuses are often found," he said.           After all, Satpol PP constitutes front guards in facing crowds when they enforce a bylaw. They are simply not yet ready physically to use firearms, he said.          In the meantime, House Speaker Marzuki Alie has also expressed disagreement with the government's policy in arming public order officers. He said it would create the impression of a violent instead of persuasive approach.          The House speaker said that the public now inclined to look negatively to Satpol PPs because their acts in carrying out their jobs so far often created problems. It is feared that it would create new problems if they were equipped with firearms.          "They should not be armed, let alone with a deadly weapon," said Marzuki, reminding that Satpol PPs should emphasize persuasive approaches and avoid violence in carrying out their duties.          Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said the use of firearms was regulated in Government Regulation No. 6 / 2010 concerning Satpol PP. It was followed up with a home affairs ministerial decree.  With the decree it is permissible to use a gun but not with live ammunition, he said.          Based on the ministerial decree, Satpol PPs are allowed to use firearms but their use is restricted to pistols, revolvers or rifles which could be shot with gas or dummy ammunition, tear gas or electric shock weapons.          Opposition to the decree also came to activists. The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras)  said it was strongly opposed to the ministerial decree.           Kontras coordinator Usman Hamid said that the issuance of the ministerial decree indicated the perception that civil service police officers were facing high threats of violence in carrying out their jobs. "This includes the threat of violence using firearms and if this happens they will also resort to violence in facing it," Hamid Usman said.          He admitted that in certain situation Satpol PPs could face a crowd who resorted to violence, but the solution to that problem should not be equipping public order officers with firearms. "They have to build dialogs with the people," he added.          Head of Jakarta's Satpol PP, Effendi Anas, said that they needed firearms to enforce bylaws which were often violated by residents. He said that the Jakarta residents did not yet weigh Satpol PPs so that when they carried out their tasks they often faced resistance from the locals.          "In enforcing the law in a large crowd they would not take heed of us if we do not carry guns. They often resist us because they are not afraid," he said.          Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fuazi said firearms would be provided for public order officers selectively and tightly. "They are not firearms with live ammunition, but guns with dummy and gas ammunition," the minister said.          Not only that, granting the use of weapons by the Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP) should also be based on consideration of the Police. "So, it is not automatic that all Satpol PPs will get it. You must not mistake it," the home affairs minister stressed.          The purpose of providing weapons for the Police Civil Service Unit, he said  was to support their task in enforcing bylaws and in guaranteeing public orderliness.          "Well ... in the enforcement of a bylaw they will face many people. But once again, the granting weapons for public security officers is not yet very urgent so that they would be provided with arms very selectively and restrictively and the weapons are not the same as military or police weapons," he said.***1*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/22:45/H-YH) 07-07-2010 21:51:1