A collection of scratches depicting the nuances of “totalitarianism” (repressive actions of state stakeholders tend to be authoritarian) and “radicalism” (civil society groups that rebel against the authoritarian system through deep understanding and hard actions) are still etched in the minds of the nation’s children.
In 1955, September was the holding of voting in selecting members of the DPR in the first general election in Indonesia, which was attended by 29 political parties and individuals. Where the election left a sad one, the general election committee was kidnapped and killed. The tragedy of the massacre in 1965-1966, the Tanjung Priok incident in 1984, the Semanggi II incident in 1999, the murder of Munir in 2004, to the brutality of the apparatus in the “Corruption Reformasi” action in 2019 yesterday caused one of my friends in the struggle who was a student at Halu Oleo University to be shot dead by the police. in action.
All of the above events took place in September, which the author calls “September Mourning”. The historical record has shown that from time to time the civilization of the Indonesian State has not yet ended with problems that pose a great risk, especially regarding the loss of life. This collection of tragedies in September demonstrates an understanding that what happened was an act of desertion.
Desertion, usually used in the military world with the aim of describing the conditions for the defection of soldiers from unitary discipline. But in this article, the author contextualizes desertion to express defection to the constitution. This means that any conscious action intended to straddle the constitution is defiance. Both the perpetrators from civil society, the military, and even the president, must be brought to justice!
In Indonesia, constitutional deserters often occur, ranging from murder, kidnapping, corruption, selling state assets, and other actions that are detrimental to the state. However, in this discussion, the constitutional desertion that the author wants to discuss is the constitutional position for deserters between civil society and the government which can control the civil apparatus.
Many civil society groups were declared by the government as deserters to the constitution until they were disbanded. For example, HTI organizations, FPI, and others. And there are even civil society groups declared as deserters of the constitution which were then massacred to the max. For example, civilians who were victims of the struggle between the military and the PKI during the Old Order had claimed millions of lives.
Civil society who deserted the constitution in the midst of conflicting elite interests was faced with a dilemma. Although they may have strong complaints about the survival and sustainability of their generation, they face the problem of the government’s incompetence in managing the country, so they choose to fight ideas and ideas against the resistance movement.
This dilemma arises because of the extreme risks associated with the desertion process on the one hand and the fact that the relationship between deserters is dominated by mistrust on the other. The first problem makes the potential cost of desertion very high because civil society is certain to face a credible threat of punishment. Second, the potential rewards of desertion are uncertain because deserters have reason to believe that rebellion is the last resort for their ideas to be accepted by the State even though lives are at stake. The second problem implies that the perpetrators of desertion from the regime’s instructions will be very difficult to be punished fairly by the constitution.
But what is clear is that the constitutional position for deserters from civil society has always been made firm. It is even permissible to carry out massacres by simply using the term “in order to maintain the integrity and sovereignty of the State” as happened in 1965-1966. The death toll against innocent civilians and civil servants is not treated fairly by the State. The State should apologize for the incident, but not apologize to the PKI or to the military.
However, the regime’s uncompromising attitude and violent strategy of arrogance have led to further escalation of the conflict and caused increased anxiety at the level of civil society. A repressive ruling elite, a regime that often relies on military forces creates harsh and deteriorating conditions. Such as the kidnapping and murder of the election committee in 1955, the 1984 Tanjung Priok incident, and the 1999 Semanggi II incident.
Likewise with the murder of Munir in 2004, in fact it is a form of victimindividual desertion which later grew into a phenomenon of anger as well as mass fear. This is due to the unfair positioning of the constitution to punish deserters from the regime.
It is as if the regime’s position is higher than the constitution and interprets it at will. In almost every regime in this country, the constitution is weak and fails to bring the deserters entrusted by the regime to be punished fairly. This means that the impunity of desertion to the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia is sweeping freely. This issue is a serious homework that must be realized as soon as possible by all elements of the State to make improvements.
We must position the constitution as forming a harmonious life order for the nation and state. By him forming all elements of the State as nationalists who forbid massacre, become humanists with basic principles, socialists without restraining society, and capitalists who prioritize the welfare of the people.
