Life is Healthy

Banten. Indonesia needs a more compassionate justice system that takes into account the circumstances of the poor, children and the elderly who are forced into breaking the law, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Tuesday.

“I’ve said that we need to present a form of justice that does not necessarily go along with the law,” he said during an impromptu visit to a juvenile detention center. “Though the law is supposed to embrace justice, there’s always a gap between the two and we need to improve it.”

His high-profile visit with ministers to the Tangerang Juvenile Boys Penitentiary comes amid rising political heat in the run-up to an expected conclusion of the probe into the bailout of Bank Century in 2008. The House of Representatives’ special committee report on the bailout was due on Monday but has been postponed until today.

Yudhoyono said treatment of juvenile prisoners should be different, and called for a more rehabilitative approach. “For example, the violation might be the same, such as stealing,” he said. “But we should consider whether stealing that is carried out by an adult and by a 12-year-old child is the same. The concept of justice should be different.

“We need to review the regulation that says prisoners have to serve half of their punishment before they can apply for probation and remission,” he said.

“Should this be the same for children and adults? I’m not deciding now, but I think it should be different.”

He cited the fact that as many as 70 percent of the more than 100 juvenile inmates in the Tangerang prison were sorry for what they had done and did not want to repeat their crimes.

The president said that especially for those under 15 years old, the concept of correction should be changed into special guidance and education to help them return to the right path.

He also cited people who steal to survive amid abject poverty, as opposed to thieves who steal for profit.

A light violation by an elderly person should be dealt with differently than a violation by a healthy adult, Yudhoyono said, in an apparent reference to the recent case of Minah, a 55-year-old illiterate grandmother arrested for stealing three cocoa pods.

“There should be fair sanction, justice for the weak and the marginalized who commit crimes.”

Yudhoyono said he would carry out a concrete effort to improve regulations, especially regarding juvenile prisoners. “Police, prosecutors and judges should have one mind in bringing justice for these children,” he said.

However, Adrianus Meliala, a criminologist at the University of Indonesia, said the president’s call was a political statement that was unlikely to result in change.

“The president has good rhetoric in his speech, but he has not had a strong willingness to turn it into reality,” Adrianus said.

He said that if Yudhoyono really wanted to introduce changes, he should revise the Criminal Code as well as laws and regulations related to the judicial system.

Seto Mulyadi, the chairman of the National Commission on Child Protection (Komnas Anak), said attention must be paid to the poor condition of children in most juvenile penitentiaries.

“I am very concerned with the condition of our children in juvenile penitentiaries as they are ill-treated by the system as well as their friends,” Seto said. “They are living in inhumane conditions as most of them have to share a cramped room with 20 other prisoners.”

He added that the children bullied each other because they were under stress from being incarcerated.

“They need to express themselves, they need education, and punishing them in jail is not the answer.”

Although he acknowledged that the Tangerang facility was better than other similar institutions, “jails are not the answer to juvenile crimes. The best place for children is in their home with their family.”

According to the State Ministry for Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, there are 5,760 children currently in jail.