RI SHOULD NOT REMAIN SILENT OVER MALAYSIA'S VIOLATIONS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Aug 24 (ANTARA) - An international law observer has reminded the government that Indonesia should not remain silent about violations of its territorial sovereignty committed by Malaysians.          "Indonesia should act firmly and not ignore any violations committed by Malaysians of its territorial sovereignty. The action of Indonesia's maritime patrol officers in arresting Malaysian fishermen poaching in Indonesian waters was already correct," Prof Dr Suhaidi, international law observer at the North Sumatra University, said on Tuesday.          However, Malaysian police did not respect the law in force in Indonesia as they came up to arrest the Indonesian maritime patrol officers. "Malaysia needs to respect the law which is in force in Indonesia," Suhaidi said.          He said that in fact Malaysia had no right to interfere in the arrest because the Malaysian fishermen had allegedly been poaching in Indonesian territorial waters. Ironically, the Malaysian police had even fired at the Indonesian marine petrol boat.          "Foreign police should not have interfered in the legal process carried out by the Indonesian patrol officers who arrested the Malaysian poachers," he said.          Malaysia's latest action was seen by a legislator as a deliberate provocation to test how far Indonesia would react.          "Malaysia did have the intention to create a disturbance in the border area as a test case," Rahadi Zakaria of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) faction in the House of Representatives (DPR) said.          He said that Malaysia had repeatedly created test cases to see how far Indonesia was able to protect its territorial waters. Moreover, the latest test case by Malaysia was marked by hostage taking of Indonesian maritime patrol officers.          The hostage taking of the Indonesian patrol officers was not a trivial matter but a serious problem which set a bad precedent,   something that would encourage Malaysia with the support of its international backers (its Commonwealth partners and US neo-colonialist network) to become more and more aggressive.          "It seems to me, after observing the repeated cases, Malaysia is becoming more and more daring. So, I think, Malaysia has the intention (to disturb) to create provocations in our waters, particularly in areas it thinks are rich in natural resources or commercially potential international lanes," Rahadi Zakaria said.          After all, Indonesia's negligence in settling its border problems has been used by Malaysia to stage its test cases. This comes after it was successful in winning the case of Sipadan and Ligitan islands in the international court.  Malaysia in the Sipadan and Ligitan case also began with provocations.          "This continues to encourage Malaysia to disturb us. It has the target to take control of natural wealth and commercially potential international lanes," Rahadi Zakaria said.          The question now was why the border conflict once again surfaces. "This is because they are trying to turn the case into an international issue even if it is trivial. They would even hope the matter could be brought to the International Court which is under the influence of the Commonwealth countries and the United States," he said.          He said that the entry into the Indonesian territorial area of seven Malaysian fishermen to poach in the waters of Riau Islands was part of Malaysia's grand scenario to continue its provocations, particularly because the area was a potential international lane (Malacca Strait).          "So, once again, I would like to stress that one can just consider this as a small case, yet there is a deliberate intention which is part of the grand scenario. This can be an initial test in an effort to gain control over the Malacca Strait, natural resources and hidden sunken ship treasures in the waters of the area," he said.          Fayakhun Andiradi of the House of Representatives (DPR)'s Commission I on defense affairs shared Rahadi Zakaria's opinion. Fayakhun believed that neighboring countries had often launched provocations in border areas.          In this regard, he suggested that the government fulfill the military's Minimum Essential Force (MEF) concept and realize it soon to defend the country's honor.          "If this continues to be ignored it will cause the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) to suffer from lack of armaments, low quality and quantity, particularly in the face of various provocations both from within and outside," he said.          He said the MEF concept was an urgent need, not something to that could be met six years from now. "This is a matter of the nation's honor which has been trampled on by neighboring countries," he said.          Fayakhun said there were many provocative maneuvers in the border areas but Indonesia was not able to respond to them with at least equally balanced maneuvers.          "This is because we feel we are outclassed in terms of armaments (MEF). In the Soekarno and Soeharto eras, we never experienced this and no one had the guts to snap at us," he said.***4*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/B003) 25-08-2010 00:27:4