Indonesian National Police Discipline Finalize Use of Force

UNCLAS JAKARTA 000472 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, S/CT, DS, INL, OES/ENRC DOJ FOR CTS THORNTON INL FOR BOULDIN, DOJ AAG SWARTZ, ICITAP AD ASIA BARR NSC FOR E. PHU E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER SNAR ID SUBJECT: Indonesian National Police Discipline Finalize Use of Force Policy for National Socialization JAKARTA ¶1. (U) This message is Sensitive but Unclassified -- Please handle accordingly. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: the Indonesian National Police (INP) has approved their Use of Force Policy (UOF) and Use of Force Continuum Policy for nationwide socialization. The new policy is inclusive a UOF Report that requires police supervisors to report use of force incidents to track data where police officers responded to a threat using non-lethal or lethal force. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (SBU) POLICIES AND ACCOUNTABILITY: A central focus of Chief General Sutanto's vision was to increase organizational transparency, accountability, and responsiveness of the INP to the Indonesian public. Human rights violations by police were recognized as a major issue that had to be immediately addressed. In 2005 the Indonesian National Police (INP) and DOJ/ICITAP worked collaboratively to develop a national Use of Force Policy (UOF) for the police that was signed into decree in September 2005. The second collaboration involved the development of an accompanying Use of Force Continuum that articulates the appropriate use of non-lethal and lethal responses to physical threats presented police under the color of their authority in the performance of their official duties. The purpose of the development of the parallel policies is to establish consistent, actionable, published, and enforceable regulations, procedures, and training for INP personnel to reduce human rights violations commensurate with internationally accepted standards and practices. ¶4. (SBU) A MAJOR STEP FORWARD -THE INP USE OF FORCE REPORT The INP and DOJ/ICITAP worked for months through a cross-representational working group on the acceptance, development and implementation of a standardized Use of Force Report and policy. The policy requires that in incidents where an officer has to use force beyond passive resistance, a report is generated on the nature of the threat presented and the officer's response to the threat. The report is evaluated for violations of law and the INP Code of Ethics and Disciplinary Code. If required an internal investigation into the officers conduct is initiated. In all cases the UOF Report data will be collated in a central repository. ¶5. (SBU) NATIONAL UOF POLICY SOCIALIZATION: The INP and DOJ ICITAP developed a scenario-based VDC, student manual, student tests, and instructor workbook to socialize the parallel policies to be delivered by an instructor cadre to train police throughout Indonesia. The national socialization is expected to take approximately six (6) months. ¶6. (SBU) A NEW LEVEL OF TRANSFORMATION: The development and implementation of a UOF Policy and UOF Report is foundational to building a responsive, accountable, and transparent law enforcement organization. Human rights violations will not be significantly impacted without the institutionalization of these polices, regulations and training that govern the behavior and response of police officers facing threatening situations and reacting appropriately. General Sutanto's INP has reached a new level of democratization with few peers in Asia. HUME