Indonesia: National Police Reform

Brussels  |   20 Feb 2001

A common saying in Indonesia goes “If you report a chicken missing, you are likely to lose your cow.” Corruption and entrenched political patronage are endemic across the Indonesian public sector, but are perhaps most visible in its police force. As a result, the public has lost all confidence in the national law enforcement agency, attempts to introduce reform have been disappointing, while vigilante groups and private security firms have flourished, dishing out summary justice and further undermining respect for the rule of law. 

Continuing its detailed analysis of Indonesia’s difficult transition to democracy, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group today released its latest report Indonesia: National Police Reform. The report describes the disastrous effect of forty years of military control over the Indonesian National Police (INP), which shifted the ethos away from law enforcement towards protecting the interests of governments. In the absence of an effective taxation system, corruption also became an important source of funds for operations as well as for personal enrichment. Both the police and the military have substantial and poorly regulated business interests. 

In 1999 new laws formally separated the police from the military, but little has changed. ICG President Gareth Evans said “With the Wahid government now in survival mode, it is even less likely to institute reforms that might threaten the structures of power and patronage.”

But ICG argues that police reform is desperately needed to ensure Indonesia’s future prosperity. Today’s report provides detailed recommendations to both Indonesian decision-makers and the international community to encourage and promote change. It will be a difficult task and must be accompanied by reform of other institutions, especially the military (TNI) which for so long dominated police operations and resources.

The international community should encourage Indonesian politicians to take the lead on law reform. It can also assist by supporting the peaceful resolution of internal conflicts, providing funds for pro-reform NGO’s, funding post-graduate education of police, and expanding opportunities for Indonesian police to visit and study police methods in democratic countries.