Communal conflict in Indonesia can be seen as a symptom of poor performance of the security sector that has handicapped progress towards security sector reform (SSR). This paper, published by the Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management, examines conflict in the city of Ambon to illustrate the linkage between security sector reform and communal violence. Future violence could be used as a military justification to return to its old function as an internal security force, rather than a national defence institution.
From 1966 until 1998, the military, bureaucracy and the military-sponsored political party constituted the backbone of General Suharto’s authoritarian ‘New Order’. Subsequent political reforms under the ‘New Paradigm’ generated SSR, including, inter alia, separation of the police from the military, reduction of military representation in parliament, military neutrality in elections and revision of military doctrines according to the spirit of reform.
Indonesia’s transition to democracy was marked by the emergence of communal riots throughout the country. The religious conflict in Ambon has been one of the longest and most severe in terms of casualties and damage to public and private property.
The spread of social conflict during Indonesia’s transition period can be linked with issues of governance and SSR. Communal violence in the city of Ambon in particular exhibited the following linkages with SSR:
- Structural causes of conflict – In Ambon, security forces, particularly the police, reflected community religious differences. Since most members of local security forces were Christian, Moslem citizens saw the police as biased against them.
- The security sector as a trigger factor – Security forces either responded to the riots in Ambon with unnecessary violence or performed a trigger role by siding with their co-religionists.
- The security sector as a perpetuating factor – Cooperation between a group of Christian militia and army special forces exacerbated fundamental issues of the conflict.
- Reform setback – The SSR priority of withdrawal of the armed forces from internal security tasks was contradicted when the military replaced the police in providing an internal security function in order to quell Ambon’s riots.
The relationship between communal violence and SSR can be formulated as follows:
- In part, communal violence is a consequence of the poor performance of the security sector and a symptom of the need for SSR.
- Such violence is likely to handicap SSR implementation.
- Continued communal violence will become a (new) military justification to support the police in handling riots and hasten its return to its ‘old’ function as an internal security, rather than a defence, force.
- While the above phenomena occurred within the context of early stages of the democratic transition period, they also indicate that SSR in Indonesia will continue to be a long process.
