Petition launched rejecting return of dwi-fungsi through TNI Law revisions

Detik News – March 17, 2025
Civil Society Coalition reading out petition at YLBHI offices in Jakarta – March 17, 2025 (Detik)

Maulani Mulianingsih, Jakarta – The Civil Society Coalition has launched a petition "Reject the Return of Dwi-Fungsi through Revisions to the TNI Law" in which it expressed its opposition to revisions to the Indonesian Military Law (UU TNI) that will allow active military officers to occupy civilian positions and will weaken the fight against militarism.

On Monday March 17 at the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) offices in Central Jakarta, various civil society networks took turns in reading the contents of the petition.

The civil network consist of the YLBHI, Free Women (Perempuan Mahardika), Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial), the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), Greenpeace Indonesia, the political education group Choose Wisely (Bijak Memilih), the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Labour Movement with the People (Gebrak), the Legal Aid Institute for the Press (LBH Pers), Transparency International Indonesia (TII), Amnesty International Indonesia (AII), the Sentra Inisiatif and others.

The contents of the petition relates to articles in the TNI Law that are being revised based on the problem inventory list (DIM) submitted by the government. The Coalition says the revisions to the TNI bill lack urgency and will not take the TNI in a direction that is more professional.

"There are articles that will restore militarism (the TNI's dwi-fungsi or dual function) in Indonesia. We consider the agenda of revising the TNI Law to have no urgency in transforming the TNI towards a professional direction. It will actually weaken the professionalism of the military", said University of Indonesia (UI) Lecturer Sulistyowati Irianto in reading out the petition.

The petition also states that the TNI is prepared and trained for war, not to fill civilian positions in the government. The Coalition is asking active TNI officers to immediately resign if they hold civilian positions.

"As a tool of national defence, the TNI is trained, educated and prepared for war. Not for non-defence functions such as occupying civilian positions", said Sulistyowati.

"We urge active TNI members who hold civilian positions outside those regulated in Article 47 Paragraph 2 of the [current] TNI Law to immediately resign (take early retirement)", he added.

The petition also states that the TNI Law does not have to be revised. The Coalition is instead urging the government to immediately revise Law Number 31/1997 on Military Justice.

The Coalition considers revisions related to military justice to be more important because of the state's constitutional obligation to implement the principle of legal equality for all citizens. Not only that, they said that military justice reforms are mandated under People's Consultative Assembly Decree (TAP MPR) Number VII of 2000 and Law Number 34/2004 on the TNI.

"In the context of security sector reform, the government and the DPR [House of Representatives] should push the agenda of military justice reform through revisions to Law Number 31/1997 on Military Justice. The agenda of revising this law is more important than the TNI bill", said Sulistyowati.

"This agenda represents the state's constitutional obligation to implement the principle of equality before the law for all citizens, without exception. Military justice reform is a mandate of TAP MPR Number VII of 2000 and Law Number 34/2004 on the TNI", he concluded.

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Koalisi Masyarakat Sipil Keluarkan Petisi Tolak RUU TNI".]

Source: https://news.detik.com/berita/d-7827638/koalisi-masyarakat-sipil-keluarkan-petisi-tolak-ruu-tni