Upswing in violent crimes

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BY INTERNATIONAL standards, Indonesian society is not particularly violent. In fact, statistics on the subject released by the World Health Organisation in April suggest that deaths involving violence (excluding war and insurgency) are no higher in Indonesia than in most other South-east Asian nations.

The Indonesian capital also compares well with other major cities. Jakarta police reported 78 murders in 2008. This compares with 126 in London, 471 in New York and a staggering 554 in New Delhi. These are impressive comparisons, the more so because murder rates are generally regarded as one of the more reliable indicators of the general level of violence in a society. Unlike robbery or rape, for example, the statistics are less likely to be subject to under-reporting.

Unfortunately, recent developments have reinforced the growing perception that this relatively benign security situation may be about to change. Problems have been allowed to fester to the point where gang warfare and lawlessness have become almost common.

A rising number of churches in Jakarta and its environs have been attacked, while Ahmadiyya (a minority Islamic sect) has come under increased pressure.

Many mainstream Muslim clerics accuse adherents of the latter of denying that Muhammad was the final prophet, thus violating a central tenet of Islam. Hundreds of properties belonging to Ahmadiyya members across Java have been attacked by extremists in recent years, but the perpetrators have rarely been brought to justice.

On July 28, 12 members of a mob that attacked Ahmadiyya followers earlier this year, killing three of them, received sentences of between three to six months in jail. Prosecutors did not pursue murder charges, opting instead to charge the 12 with incitement, assault and torture.

Recent weeks have also seen an upsurge in street brawls. One took place on July 2 between two large groups of residents in South Jakarta. During the melee, a Transjakarta Busway shelter was damaged as both sides pelted each other with bottles and rocks. Observers said that police officers at the scene were unable to break up the fight, which lasted until the early hours of the following morning.

In the first seven months of this year, police recorded at least 35 fights in Greater Jakarta: 20 in the city proper and 15 in the satellite city of Bekasi. Some brawls have involved Muslim militants, while others have simply been vicious street battles between students from rival schools. Last year, there were a total of 74 cases, a jump from just 16 in 2009.

On Aug 1, members of two of the country’s most notorious gangs marked the beginning of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan with a violent clash on the outskirts of the capital. Reports say dozens of members of the Betawi Brotherhood Forum clashed with Pemuda Pancasila on Jalan Margonda Raya, which bisects South Jakarta and Depok, another of Jakarta’s satellite cities.

Police have attempted to deal with the deteriorating security situation by roping in community leaders in an effort to persuade citizens to use non-violent means to settle their differences.

They have also announced that they will step up security measures in crime-prone locations across the capital during the fasting month. This includes conducting raids and confiscating firearms and sharp weapons. The Jakarta Satpol PP (the city’s public order agency) also intends to assist the police by stepping up patrols.

Neither move, however, is likely to produce anything more than a temporary improvement.

In the past, police have not attempted to disband any of the major groups responsible for the violence. And despite Satpol’s apparent eagerness to get involved – Jakarta police did not ask for their assistance – the organisation seems likely to avoid dealing with the real problem. One of the ways Satpol intends to tackle the situation, said a spokesman, is to conduct street-sweeping operations to round up people with “social problems”. The term usually refers to sex workers, beggars, street children and the homeless. Few of these have been responsible for the recent street violence.

Meanwhile, those with genuine grievances are unlikely to be easily convinced of the need to gain redress by peaceful means. Thanks partly to judgments such as those handed down in the Ahmadiyya case, public faith in the ability of both the politicians and the criminal justice system to punish wrongdoers or settle disputes impartially remains low.

The level of politically motivated violence in distant provinces decreased markedly several years ago after Jakarta employed a combination of peace agreements (Aceh) and strong action against militants (Poso and Ambon) to improve security.

The sort of official determination that was exercised in these areas is now badly needed in the capital.

Copyright © 2011 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd

Key Political Risks

The inability of the government led by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to bridge the deep divisions between her populist government and its royalist opponents in the military and bureaucracy remains a major concern.

Prime Minister Yingluck has selected a competent economic team, but it is difficult for these technocrats to deliver on the new government's campaign promises without triggering inflation or hurting business. 

The government has also been unable to resolve the ongoing insurgency involving ethnic Malay Muslim rebels in the south.

 

WATCH OUT FOR:

  1. Attempts by the government to amend the constitution. The proposed rewrite is aimed removing legal measures initiated by the royalist generals who overthrew former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the current prime minister's elder brother, in 2006.
  2. Ballooning government debt as officials seek to finance government programmes aimed at subsidising rice prices in order to retain the support of farmers.
  3. The relationship between Prime Minister Yingluck and senior generals. Coups have been a common means of regime change in Thai history, and any attempt by the government to purge royalist elements in the top brass could trigger yet another. Thailand

About Me

My name is Dr Bruce Gale and I am a senior writer with the Singapore Straits Times. I studied at  LaTrobe University (BA Hons) in Melbourne and later at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Monash University (MA). My PhD thesis, which focussed on Malaysian political economy, was completed at the Malaysian National University (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) in 1987.

From 1988 to 2003 I was Singapore Regional Manager for the Hong Kong based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC). 

I have written several books and articles on Southeast Asian affairs, including Political Risk and International Business: Case Studies in Southeast Asia (Pelanduk Publications, 2007). Books on language include Mastering Indonesian: a guide to reading Indonesian language newspapers (Pelanduk Publications, 2008)

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