The Authority Of The TNI To Educate For General Crimes Has The Potential To Damage The Criminal System

Photo caption: Petition contains an invitation to reject the revision of the Criminal Procedure Code on the change.or (Ist) page

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairperson of YLBHI, Arif Maulana, revealed that the Civil Society Coalition for Renewal of the Criminal Procedure Code found a number of problematic points in the draft revision of the Criminal Procedure Code (RKUHAP).

One of them is related to articles that indicate giving authority to TNI personnel to become investigators in criminal cases. Indications of this authority are stated in Article 7 paragraph (5), Article 87 paragraph (4), Article 92 paragraph (4) of the draft RKUHP.

According to Arif, the criminal law system in Indonesia will be damaged if the TNI is given the authority to investigate criminal cases. In the Reformation era, the TNI was only tasked with maintaining the defense and sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia, while the public security sector became the domain of the Police.

If ratified, it will be very dangerous. This restores the practice of ABRI's duality and will disrupt our criminal justice system. There will be a dualism of investigations that will have an impact on overlapping authority, later there will be no guarantee of legal certainty and protection of human rights for the community," he explained, Sunday, July 20, 2025.

He considered that the involvement of the TNI as a criminal case investigator has the potential to normalize the arbitrariness of law enforcement officers which leads to human rights violations in matters of arrest, detention, confiscation, search, determination of suspects.

"In addition, the design of the TNI institution is clearly not a law enforcement agency, but a defense institution. Our state administration design places the TNI as a state defense tool that is educated to go to war, not upholding laws and human rights," said Arif.

He emphasized that the TNI should not be given space to become investigators in general criminal cases, it is enough to be given the authority as investigators in criminal cases involving the military. He said that the draft of the Criminal Procedure Code should stand on the principles of the old Criminal Procedure Code known as connectivity, where investigators from the army can only investigate criminal acts committed by soldiers who commit crimes committed by civilians to be submitted in connection courts.

"Therefore, the TNI is not allowed to play a role in handling cases in the civil realm. If this happens, it can damage the criminal law enforcement mechanism that has been in effect in Indonesia," said Arif.