In countries that I have seen protests, and that includes Australia , protesters in Indonesia are probably the most well-behaved of all except of course until authorities step in and try to rout them.
During the Soeharto regime the police were fond of using rubber bullets with the odd live bullet in there as well. And now, the National Police announced new crowd control guidelines that would allow officers to fire real bullets to halt riots.
This new procedure will wipe out doubts for officers about whether they are allowed to use real bullets when facing chaotic crowds. The use of real bullets was the last resort for police and would be allowed only when situations became highly dangerous threatening their lives and the lives of others.
Police have identified three stages of a protest rally. The first, called the green stage, is when protesters demonstrate in an orderly manner. Officers are not allowed to use any weapons at this stage.
The second, or yellow stage, is when protesters start to use physical force such as kicking and hitting officers. Police may use clubs to subdue them.
The third stage involves violence that could be life-threatening such as burning buildings and throwing stones. In this situation officers are allowed to use bullets starting with firing blanks into the air three times as a warning, then progressing to rubber bullets and then to live ones.
In Jakarta the director of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, Usman Hamid, said the new crowd control procedures did not mark a radical departure from previous policies.
The co-chair of the ASEAN regional team on human rights mechanisms, Marzuki Darusman, said from a human rights point of view the procedures protected the lives of officers as well as the public during violent protests.
Reminds me of a 10CC song!.
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