Human rights lawyers are using the occasion of the Indonesian Military’s 66th anniversary today to highlight what they say is the need to reform the institution’s “untouchable” legal status.

The latest case of military inaction over the murder of a civilian by one of its own has again illustrated what is a longstanding problem, they say.

It has been four months since a member of the Indonesian Military (TNI) was accused of killing Pardamean Tampubolon, the manager of a cafe in Cibubur, East Jakarta. Yet there have been few if any steps taken to prosecute the case.

“[Military Police] have only identified one suspect, Chandra Sakti of the 17th Infantry Brigade, even though the victim was attacked by more than one person that night,” Saibun M., from the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), said on Tuesday.

The investigation by the military has not been transparent, he said, and the family has yet to receive any information on developments in the case.

“Meanwhile there are 10 TNI members that could be asked to give evidence about the murder that night,” he said.

Pardamean was stabbed in the heart outside the cafe he managed in June by a man he had asked not to smoke on the dance floor. He left behind a wife and 3-year-old child.

After the killing, Pardamean’s home was visited by a number of TNI officers who gave the family about Rp 7 million ($785) in “bereavement money.”

But when the victim’s brother, Yuli Edy, visited the Military Police office in Cijantung, also in East Jakarta, and spoke to the officer in charge, Capt. Nova, about the case, he received little information.

Frustrated by the military’s apparent inaction, the family on Monday took the case to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

This is not the first case of civilians running afoul of off-duty military personnel, according to the commission.

“The case of Pardamean Tampubolon is just the latest in a long list involving the TNI,” said Jhonny Simanjuntak, a Komnas HAM commissioner. Such cases can only be dealt with legally by the military itself, he added.

“Attempts at law enforcement against TNI members end in an impasse, and it is very difficult to hope for anything from the military justice system,” he said.

Even when crimes are committed by soldiers outside the context of their duties, they are not dealt with according to general norms of criminal law.

“Whenever a TNI member is involved in violence against civilians, the legal process takes place in a military court, where punishments are much lighter than in a regular court,” said Poengky Indarti, executive director of human rights watchdog Imparsial.

“For a serious crime, it is not uncommon for a soldier to get one to two years in jail, when criminal law recommends up to 10 years. Not to mention that cases take ages and often disappear completely without a clear resolution.”

The TNI needs to make itself more responsive to the needs of civil security, Jhonny said.

“This represents a challenge for military reform,” he said.

Some observers believe it is a challenge the military is not up to, and have asked the House of Representatives to step in and force change on the TNI.

Sri Suparyati, head of law and human rights at the nongovernmental Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said reform was needed to break the cycle of impunity that persists in disputes between civilians and the TNI.

The first step is to revise the 1997 Law on Military Justice, Sri said. A draft was debated last year, but talks ended in deadlock, apparently because of tensions between the TNI and the House, according to Sri.

Sri said the TNI had passed a number of internal regulations in recent years, but that real change was still elusive.

“For example, in 2010 there were new rules made specifically on the use of torture, however in reality the new policies are still unjust, especially toward civilians,” she said.

Civil society has to be more critical, Sri said, noting that there should be no body in the country that is beyond civilian control.

“We must not allow this phenomenon where the TNI is considered ‘untouchable.’ The people must be willing to come together to oppose injustices perpetrated by rogue TNI members,” she said.

Al-Araf, a researcher at Imparsial, also questioned the intentions of House Commission I, which oversees defense and foreign affairs, in debating the draft law on military justice.

“How could they finish debating the draft intelligence law so fast when they’ve had the military justice law under discussion since last year with no end in sight?” he said.