Teuku Kemal Fasya

The action of these three TNI officers have done is unacceptable, but it also represents the worst image of the youth who are supposed to be the hope of the nation.

The three of them were perpetrators who were directly involved in the kidnapping, torture and forced disappearance of Imam Masykur, a Bireuen boy who decided to migrate to the capital city in order to better his life. Unfortunately, his fate was not good and he died tragically.

Praka RM is not an ordinary soldier. He is a member of the Presidential Security Service (Paspampres). Every day he works at the State Protocol Guard Battalion. Praka HS works at the Topography Directorate of the Indonesian Army. Meanwhile, J is a member of the Iskandar Muda Regional Military Command. What unites them and the victims is that they are all from Aceh! ("Prabowo said about the case of Paspampres and TNI AD members who beat Imam Masykur to death", Kompas.com, August 31, 2023).

The three murderers who killed a man they did not know had no revenge and no personal issue. Masykur can be as a dream and fulfillment as the hope of his parents and his lover, who can change lives through migration. He was tortured, killed and thrown into the river like useless waste. This case has given a bad image to the TNI institution as the backbone of the nation's security and defense.

The viral video of the fatal torture sparked public outrage, especially in Aceh. Acehnese described the case as a horror story related to traumatic experiences during the conflict. In addition, it was eventually discovered that young Acehnese migrants in Jabodetabek were indeed targeting victims of kidnapping and torture.

Not an isolated case

The case of Imam Maskur was not isolated. It was discovered that the three perpetrators had tortured and extorted a number of Acehnese youths in Jakarta. They did it under police cover.

In fact, according to the post-New Order transformation chart, the TNI is one-step ahead of the police. After the reform, the redefinition, repositioning and re-actualization of the TNI underwent numerous adjustments. The role of the military is no longer part of the civil order, especially in the security aspect.

According to Law No. 34 of 2004, Article 7, Paragraph 1, the TNI's mission is to "uphold the sovereignty of the state, defend the territorial integrity of the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia based on Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, and protect the entire nation and all Indonesians from threats and disturbances to the integrity of the nation and the state. This means that in the democratic era, the military is no longer required to use police action to intimidate civil society.

However, the actions of these three TNI youths broke the Sapta Marga Crystal Oath. "We are Indonesian knights who are devoted to God Almighty and who defend honesty, truth and justice". The patriotic oath has no influence on their minds and consciousness. The transformation of the People's Security Army (TKR) should protect the people in safety and free from fear.

Instead, an explosion of terror during the conflict, when Acehnese youth who left the area were suspected of being separatists or security troublemakers and therefore deserving to be interrogated until proven otherwise. During the conflict, this method of defamation was carried out through torture and enforced disappearance to create a marker for the rest of the Acehnese public. However, the coercive methods of these youths are completely devoid of ideology. They only collected profits, which are said to be up to IDR 900 million.

The video shows that the torture inflicted on the Acehnese youths resembles 19^th century African-American slavery as depicted in the film 12 Years a Slave (2013). They were arrested on charges of illegal drug trafficking, and therefore deserved to be blackmailed and tortured.

Masykur was tortured the most until he died. Meanwhile, the surviving victims kept the pain to themselves. Now, one by one, they are beginning to confess, although there is a tingling feeling that their confessions will make them suspects, especially in the trafficking of illegal drugs such as tramadol.

This complex situation is not favorable for the people of Aceh, especially the migrants. The accusation that all illegal drug sellers in Jabodetabek are Acehnese, as stated by former Soleman Ponto (Serambinews.com, September 1, 2023), has not only placed the people of Aceh in the same insinuating space as the deductive statement "all Papuan youth must be rioters". The statement contains the seeds of racism and ethnocentrism that live in the mind of the accuser.

Instead of accusing all Acehnese of being involved in illegal businesses, it is better to focus on improving the treatment of TNI personnel who commit crimes. Therefore, the disclosure of this case to the public has had a tectonic effect on the TNI. It is their responsibility to clean up their act.

It is also important not to hide an inch of facts that could lead to other structural causes, if they exist. The extortion money, which has so far accumulated to hundreds of millions of rupiah, must also be investigated, whether only these three robbers or whether there are services for other “extortionists” enjoy it.

The fairest court

This case led to sympathy for the victim. On the other hand, the public also demanded that these three stubborn young men be punished to the maximum. There is no attitude of forgiving extortion and murder.

TNI Commander Yudo Margono expressed his anger at the behavior of these soldiers. Their actions ignore the TNI's hard work to present a positive and humane image to the public. This includes not tolerating any form of ethical violations, let alone crimes committed by its members. He even stated that he did not rule out the possibility that the three would be punished to the maximum.

Amnesty International, which has been monitoring the case, has called for judges of integrity and for the investigation to be conducted through the ordinary courts (Kompas.com, August 28, 2023). It is feared that this case will be manipulated into a light sentence, thereby undermining the public's sense of justice as reflected in the Sambo's case.

In fact, military justice is one of the recognized courts in this country. Although it is based on the Dutch judicial model - as is the civilian judiciary in Indonesia - it also plays the role of procedural law to investigate and adjudicate cases involving members of the military. Previously, military courts were allowed to punish civilians working in military institutions under Law No. 31 of 1997. However, since Law No. 34 of 2004, civilians such as the police are tried by the general courts.

The fear that military justice is not fair is also premature. If you look at the Nagrek case with the perpetrator Colonel Inf Priyanto, who covered up the case of beating two teenagers, and the case of methamphetamine and ecstasy trafficking by Sergeant Yalpin Tarzun, both were given the maximum punishment, namely life imprisonment. This means that military justice also has a strong credibility.

The public should also not be confused by the Connection Court in the Tgk Bantaqiyah massacre case, which was full of misleading procedures and tended to legalize impunity in 2000. The trial at that time was still driven by the attitude of defending the corps and was conducted before the post-reform TNI law.

The commander's statement to me is the promise of a patriotic soldier. If the judicial process leads to strong and convincing evidence, then there is no appropriate punishment for the three stubborn young men, except the maximum punishment: shot to death!

Teuku Kemal Fasya, The Anthropologist of Universitas Malikussaleh.

First published on Serambi Indonesia, September 6, 2023.

The article was translated by Sisca Olivia