Wherever they occur, the violations by government forces show a remarkable uniformity. That uniformity stems from certain basic features of the Indonesian political system. The armed forces, and particularly military intelligence and counter-insurgency units, have enormous influence. Counter-insurgency strategies in Indonesia entail both deliberate and unintended violations of human rights. The President and the executive have virtually absolute power which is used arbitrarily, without any effective domestic check.
Ideological conformity is enforced at gunpoint.
The legal system reflects and reinforces executive and military power, and the judiciary is neither independent nor impartial. Those responsible for human rights violations are almost never brought to justice. These are the principal factors behind the pattern of human rights violations in Indonesia and East Timor. The violations are not isolated occurrences, nor are they the work of a handful of poorly disciplined soldiers, as the government has sometimes claimed. They are the product of a network of institutions, standard operating procedures and ideological assumptions which underpin the government's response to expressions of dissent or signs of disorder.