Power and the Military in Responding to the Pandemic: Evidence from the Field
This report summarizes several main findings from the analysis of laws and policies implemented in Indonesia to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, for the period March 2020 to May 2021. The focus includes issues related to guaranteeing the protection of the right to health in the policy for handling Covid-19, as well as the use of military force to implement these policies in the field.
Power and the Military in Responding to the Pandemic: Evidence from the Field
Indonesia is the country with the largest number of deaths and new cases of Covid-19 in Southeast Asia in mid-2021. But the test rate is the lowest. The absence of strict restrictions has caused Indonesia to consistently experience an increase in daily positive cases. This report summarizes several main findings from the analysis of laws and policies implemented in Indonesia to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, for the period March 2020 to May 2021. The focus includes issues related to guaranteeing the protection of the right to health in the policy for handling Covid-19, as well as the use of military force to implement these policies in the field.
Legal Framework for Handling the Pandemic
The right to health is the most basic thing and must be the main foundation of every response to handling the pandemic. This is also protected by Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Then strengthened by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (KIHESB); where Article 12 paragraph (2) letter c also clearly states that the right to health requires the government to take steps to prevent, treat and control pandemics, endemics, work stress and other diseases.
In Indonesia, the people's right to health is guaranteed by the constitution based on Article 28H of the 1945 Constitution, as well as Law 39/1999 concerning Human Rights. Indonesia has also ratified KIHESB through Law 11/2005. In emergency situations, the right to equitable access to health is also guaranteed by Law 36/2009 concerning Health, Law 4/1984 concerning Infectious Disease Outbreaks, and Law 6/2018 concerning Health Quarantine.
To tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, the Indonesian Government has issued 131 regulations. Some of them contain clauses that have the potential to hamper the realization of the right to health. For example, Minister of Health Decree 413/2020 concerning Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Covid-19 Chapter III states that close contacts without symptoms are not given a PCR test by health facilities. This is inconsistent with WHO recommendations, and leads to ignoring the high risk of infection.
Ineffective and Unequal Covid-19 Response
One of the causes of poor control of Covid-19 in Indonesia is the lack of data transparency, including national epidemiological statistical data. Egocentric and overlapping data ownership makes it difficult for the central government to integrate and verify Covid-19 data. As a result, the gap in death data reported by the central and provincial governments is getting bigger. Specifically, LaporCovid19 has found that the number of positive Covid-19 deaths was 47,642 people, as of April 28 2021. Meanwhile, the central government only reported 45,116 deaths on the same date. This means that there are at least 2,526 differences in deaths recorded by the regional government and the central government. Moreover, public health infrastructure in Indonesia is inadequate and this is further exacerbated by the low capacity for testing, tracing and treatment. In fact, this is the main strategy to control the chain of disease infection.
Vaccination Inequality and Sanctions for Refusal of Vaccines
The Indonesian government seems to have paid little attention to vaccine equality when compiling them and implementing vaccination plans. As a result, priority groups (health workers, the elderly, people with comorbidities) are at risk of not getting the vaccine. Meanwhile, groups who are not vulnerable are actually vaccinated. Until the end of May 2021, the elderly were still experiencing difficulties in receiving information and accessing vaccines. The reason is that they don't have devices to register, there are technical problems with registration, and the health facilities are running out of vaccines. During November 2020-May 2021, LaporCovid-19 has received 50 reports from residents regarding vaccinations which include problems with poor data collection and registration, giving vaccines to non-priority groups, and others. Another vaccine inequality problem is the government's decision to allow the private sector to vaccinate employees and their family members. Meanwhile, at the same time, many health workers and the elderly have not been vaccinated.
In addition, the government is implementing sanctions for those who refuse to be vaccinated, based on Presidential Regulation 14/2021. This includes: termination of the provision of social assistance, administrative services, and/or fines, as well as criminal penalties. This sanction is contrary to basic rights regarding social security and identity cards. This should not be applied to someone who refuses to be vaccinated. The problem of doubts about vaccination cannot be resolved by implementing sanctions.
Excessive Role of the Military in Handling the Pandemic
In Indonesia, the TNI and Polri are involved in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. At least there is The 16 emergency regulations enable the TNI to carry out high-level decision making. The involvement of the TNI and Polri at the highest policy-making level of Task Force I Covid-19 is clearly visible from the regulatory umbrella for handling COVID-19. This includes commissioning the military to carry out contact tracing, but there is no evidence to show the effectiveness of their involvement in increasing testing. In fact, the police are still perceived by many civilians as a frightening institution, having the authority to carry out coercive, harsh actions, and causing many people to avoid contact with them.
Corporal Punishment and Dwarfing of Civil Space
The TNI's role in controlling the implementation of health protocols is considered ineffective. As for example, from July 2020 to April 2021, LaporCovid-19 still received at least 1,096 reports of non-compliance with health protocols despite deployment from the commander in chief military. Applications for violators of health protocols include physical sanctions (such as forcing people to sleep in coffins and doing push-ups), beatings, using water cannons to disperse crowds, and ill-treatment. Moreover, during the pandemic, the military and police often arrested demonstrators under the pretext of social restrictions and health protocols. Those arrested were stripped naked at the police station and gathered in a closed room without implementing social distancing protocols.
For the sake of the economy, ignoring public health
The Indonesian government has never implemented full regional quarantine as an option to control the spread of COVID-19. The reason is that the lockdown will have a negative impact on the economy. The government's main focus on the economy rather than health recovery can also be seen in the new structure of the Covid-19 Task Force. Three of the four key leadership positions in the Task Force are people from the Ministry of Economy. This shows that Indonesia has shifted policy attention too far from the health crisis towards economic recovery.
Social Safety Net
The government announced six Social Safety Net (JPS) programs to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on marginalized groups. However, due to confusion in collecting beneficiary data, social assistance was not distributed on time to all eligible recipients. The presence of fictitious beneficiaries, poor data collection, corrupt social assistance practices, collusion and nepotism (KKN) were also identified as problems.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Indonesia is now facing a new wave of infections and deaths due to COVID-19, but the government has failed to implement effective and centralized measures. Based on the findings above, we provide recommendations for improvements that must be made by the government, including the following:
- Prioritize public health and focus on human rights to respond to the pandemic, including by limiting the role of law enforcement and military institutions in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic;
- Policy reforms that tend to violate the right to health, such as Minister of Health Decree 14/2021 which provides a legal basis for vaccinating non-priority groups, without a strong and transparent process;
- Change vaccination policies according to WHO recommendations regarding Covid-19. Ensure equity, equality and accessibility of health services, including vaccine medical services in accordance with WHO recommendations and based on ethical principles of public health;
- Ensure transparency and accountability of Covid-19 data which includes easy access, integration, and regular and accurate information updates that reflect the actual pandemic situation. There is an urgent need to significantly improve national Covid-19 data collection and distribution systems to ensure the formulation of effective pandemic control policies; Ensure that all affected communities receive their rights to social assistance, based on the mandate of the Health Quarantine Law which requires the government to provide basic needs for all during a public health crisis. The government must provide an open, integrated and up-to-date data system for the public to track and monitor the distribution of social assistance to ensure transparency and accountability; And
- Strengthen Primary Health Facilities to play a strategic role in tracing, testing, isolation, patient monitoring and education to prevent transmission in the community.
COMPILED BY:
Report Covid-19
Formed by a group of individuals who are concerned about citizens' human rights and health issues community regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. This coalition was formed in early March 2020, when the COVID-19 case broke out and was officially discovered. ( https://laporcovid19.org/about-kami )
SUPPORTED BY:
Harm Reduction International
A leading NGO dedicated to reducing the negative health, social, and legal impacts of drug use and drug policy. We promote the rights of people who use drugs and their communities through research and advocacy to achieve a world where drug policies and laws contribute to healthier and safer communities. This organization is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. (https://www.hri.global/what-is-harm-reduction )
For further information, contact us
Email:[email protected]
Twitter : @laporcovid
Instagram : @laporcovid19
Facebook : Citizens' Coalition to Report Covid-19
Web : https://laporcovid19.org/
A summary of this study can be downloaded via the following link.
