January 8, 2025
JAKARTA – The alleged involvement of a Navy officer in a recent shooting in Tangerang, Banten, that resulted in the death of a civilian has sparked fresh concerns about the misuse of firearms and a culture of impunity in the Indonesian Military (TNI).
A 48-year-old owner of a car rental business, identified as IA, was killed last week after First Sgt. AA, a Navy noncommissioned officer, allegedly opened fire in a dispute at the kilometer 45 rest stop of the Tangerang-Merak toll road.
Two low-ranking Navy members who were present at the scene and a civilian were also arrested as suspects.
According to the Banten Police, the incident started when the civilian suspect, identified as AS, rented a car from IA under a fake identity with the intention of stealing the car and selling it.
A deal was eventually struck for the car to be sold for Rp 40 million (US$2,477) to AA, although it remains unclear what, if anything, the first sergeant knew about the car-stealing operation.
IA, meanwhile, grew suspicious that his car was being stolen when two GPS trackers in it went offline. But he managed to track the car to the rest stop because a third tracker was still active.
“That was where the rental owner tried to forcefully take back the car, but the situation escalated and that was when the shooting happened,” Banten Police chief Insp. Gen. Suyudi Ario Seto told a press conference on Monday.
Indonesian Fleet commanding officer Vice Adm. Denih Hendrata said AA had fired his weapon in self-defense because he was surrounded by 15 unidentified individuals.
“All three [Navy suspects] are undergoing an investigation at the Naval Military Police Command Headquarters [Puspomal],” Denih added.
Read also: Police identify four suspects in KM 45 Tangerang toll road shooting incident
Military expert Khairul Fahmi said the incident reflected a larger trend of TNI members having a disregard for the law.
“The Navy officer tried to defend himself in a situation where he was clearly in the wrong to begin with,” Khairul said on Thursday. “Regardless of whether he was a part of the illegal car-selling operation, he should not have bought a car illegally in the first place.”
Khairul said that even if AA fired his weapon in self-defense in the ensuing scuffle, it would constitute excessive violence.
“It is difficult to restrict military personnel’s access to firearms. So the more important aspect to strengthen is supervision in the use of firearms by commanding officers,” Khairul added.
Military impunity
Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said excessive violence and extrajudicial killings by TNI personnel continued to occur because such cases rarely resulted in serious punishment.
Usman called on the government and the House of Representatives to revise the 1997 Military Tribunal Law to ensure that TNI personnel be tried for such crimes in civilian rather than military courts, as mandated in the 2004 Military Law.
“Only with this step can we ensure real justice for the victims and end the long-standing impunity,” he added.
Hans Yosua of rights group the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said political inaction among lawmakers on a revision to the 1997 law exacerbated the culture of impunity in the TNI. He said trials in military courts often lacked transparency and resulted in lighter sentences.
“The light sentence makes it seem like the TNI is permissive of the excessive violence done by its members,” Yosua said.
Past cases
The Tangerang rest stop shooting was the latest in a string of extrajudicial killings by members of the TNI and police in recent months.
Read also: 25 soldiers named suspects in North Sumatra village attack case
In late November, a civilian was killed and several others were injured after dozens of soldiers stormed a village in Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra, following an earlier squabble between a soldier and a resident of the village.
The military police named 25 soldiers from an Army battalion in nearby Medan city as suspects in the case.
In December, an officer from the Palangkaraya Police in Central Kalimantan was named a suspect in a murder-robbery case that took place in the city on Nov. 27.
In the same month, an officer from the Semarang Police in Central Java was dishonorably discharged for firing multiple shots at three high school students on a road on Nov. 24 at midnight. One of the teenagers died in a hospital a few hours after the incident.