Solders Lack Restraint
From police officers assaulting their own to the beating and injuring of innocent civilians, our so-called disciplined forces are anything but a picture of proper conduct. But they will need to be if they are to win the public’s trust and confidence over the coming weeks.
Still, we see the very people who are trained to serve, protect and defend us are prone to violence when it would be better for the law to take its course. The latest incident occurred at the 5-Mile settlement in Port Moresby last Sunday morning. A group of PNG Defence Force soldiers from Taurama Barracks arrived unannounced and set about assaulting residents and damaging property. Shell-shocked families said afterwards that the act was apparently in retaliation to an incident the previous Saturday where a soldier from the aforementioned barracks was attacked during an altercation.
The fact that this retaliatory strike took place seven days after the initial incident tells us that it was planned and not done on the spur of the moment. It also says a lot about the lack of discipline rife in the ranks of the defence force. PNGDF chief of staff Alois Tom Urr, when contacted, trundled out the same line about being unaware of the incident. Fair enough, but what is the force doing about wayward soldiers who pose a threat to the public?
Only last year, soldiers from the same barracks went on a rampage at another location in the city. Manu Autoport service station had its fuel pumps damaged, shop windows smashed and employees bashed by a truckload of rogue soldiers, again in retaliation for an earlier assault on one of their men.
Hundreds of thousands of kina worth of property and equipment were destroyed and, although the police were involved, up to this point no action that we know of has been taken against the perpetrators.
No one has been identified nor has any formal charge been laid or an investigation conducted. Perhaps we can assume that the latest episode will end in similar circumstances. This kind of reaction seems to be the default for members of the armed forces located in that barracks.
One of their members gets into a spot of bother in the city and they mobilise and go and seek retribution.
So much for the rule of law.
So much for being considered as part of the disciplined forces.
We condemn this for what it is – a cowardly and immature response.
What is the PNGDF hierarchy doing about this?
Is management in Taurama so lax that any soldier from private to general can take whatever action to resolve something that took place outside its bounds?
And soldiers are not the only servicemen meeting out their brand of justice on a helpless public these days. It seems police officers are also getting in on the act.
We cringe to think what kind of mindset these police and army personnel will carry into the election period.
If they can be easily inflamed then the potential for strife in the highlands region is high.
With an arms build-up in pockets of the highlands region, the area is a powder keg waiting for a spark to set it off. A belligerent attitude exhibited by our security personnel in this volatile atmosphere could prove disastrous.
But we must take the issue of soldier discipline back to the administration of the force. There seems to be scant regard for the public’s welfare in instances where a soldier or police officer has been wronged in some way. Is there a law for different sections of society now? Not only must we the public contend with politicians who seem to act with impunity but now the people who uphold and police the laws are also immune from its precepts.
We hardly hear of soldiers and police personnel who break their code of ethics and step outside the bounds of duty being dealt with in a prompt manner. Normally the wheels of justice turn slower for them.
Making them more accountable for their actions is the first step to ensuring better discipline – and a disciplined force (army or police) is one of the bedrocks of a strong nation.
OP/ED
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