Shadow Puppets and Special Forces: Indonesia’s Fragile Democracy
TheDiplomat, 14 June 2013
Part 2 of 2
These were the shadows dancing on the walls of Cebongan Prison this March, causing many to fear a TNI counter attack. It came on the night of the 23rd when at least 11 men, dressed in black commando attire and equipped with state-of-the-art weapons and communications systems, forced their way into Cebongan Prison.
Initially denied entry when they claimed to be police wanting to interrogate the suspects, they then threatened to blow up the building with grenades. The fearful guards let them in, only to be beaten and tied up. As one attacker counted down the time, the rest of the team searched for the suspects. After another attacker executed the four suspects, reports claim that the other prisoners were then forced to applaud and thank the killer. On the way out, the team covered their tracks by destroying the CCTV system and removing the video surveillance footage. The whole event took less than 15 minutes. It did not take a background in military affairs to realize this was a very professional hit.
Graphic images of the bloodbath shocked Jogja and Indonesia as a whole. Who was the dalang, the puppet master, who ordered, organized, and funded the murders? Rumors and conspiracy theories were rampant, many thriving on Facebook and Twitter. Was it a preman gang war? Was it a drug scandal? Was it a merely a revenge killing or were people who knew too much being silenced? Would this lead to further TNI-POLRI hostilities? Military authorities denied that soldiers were involved. Law and Human Rights ministers visited the site and opened their own investigations. Cynics shrugged their shoulders and said this kind of thing happens all the time, the only difference is that the public found out about it on social media. The sultan opined that the whole tragedy was due to ethnic conflict and called for more multi-cultural boarding houses to better integrate the city. Newspaper reported attacks on young NTT in Jogja.
Then, on March 29, army chief of staff General Pramono Edhie Wibowo held a press conference on the normally quiet Good Friday holiday (Indonesia observes major Islamic, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, and Chinese holidays). In a stunning turn of events, the public got a glimpse behind the screen as the general reversed earlier TNI denials and stated that the killers were indeed active members of Kopassus.
To the disbelief of many, the general then went on to praise the men. Wibowo, the son of Sarwo Edhie – the Kopassus commander deemed most responsible for carrying out the anti-PKI massacres of 1965-66 – praised the men for avenging the death of their former leader. He held that they embodied the best elements of martial morality such as loyalty, unit cohesion, and discipline. He also announced that they had turned themselves into their superior officers and would thus face a military tribunal.
Held by the Diponegoro Division Military Police, little information about the suspects has been made public and none have been charged with the killing, only the attack. With vague official statements the local heads of the TNI and POLRI were transferred to other cities. As human rights observers and concerned citizens howled with frustration and both the American and Australian governments expressed deep concern about the affair, many wondered if they soldiers would truly face justice. Others argued that the army was placing itself above the law.
Social media also came alive with support for the killers. Hailing them as heroes who were saving the city from an alien criminal threat, many comments contained implicit and explicit anti-NTT racism. The Cebongan Prison murders were not unfavorably compared to the Petrus killings of the early 1980s (from the Indonesian acronym for “mysterious shooters,” penembak misterius), which saw the summary execution of thousands of suspected preman, whose bodies were dumped in public to terrorize their colleagues.
In opposition, street art criticizing the killers began appearing on the streets of Jogja this month. Here the city’s famous and much celebrated graffiti artists equated the Kopassus vigilantes with their preman victims, warning the rest of us to be careful of both groups of men with guns.
This March madness brought together many of the challenges to Indonesia’s domestic security and stability. These tensions will only heighten as the nation enters an election year with a deeply divided electorate and few political figures enjoying broad appeal. As usual, shadow puppet politics defied easy understanding and set many rumor mills into action. While several of the puppets are in custody on an army base, the dalang remain mysteriously hidden behind the screen, only letting us see the shadows they wish us to see.
Perhaps the most chilling shadow for this young democracy is that cast by over three decades of military rule and extralegal violence under the “Smiling General,” Suharto.
Michael G. Vann is an associate professor at the History Department of Sacramento State University.
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