Life is Healthy

Jakarta Globe, Made Arya Kencana | December 23, 2010

Teenagers locked up in a youth prison in Tangerang. Child welfare advocates say law enforcement should be focused on rehabilitating young offenders. JG Photo/YC Kurniantoro

Sutarti Sudewo , deputy minister for women’s empowerment and child protection, said the problem came down to a simple lack of space. She said Indonesia had 16 juvenile detention centers, which were only able to hold 2,357 of the country’s 6,273 registered young offenders.

Papua. Indonesia is often hailed as the country with the greatest freedom of speech in Asia. But while antigovernment protests are a weekly and colorful norm in Jakarta, it’s a different story in the country’s far eastern tip of Papua.

Free access for foreign journalists is restricted, antigovernment protests are silenced by heavy-handed police and political dissenters are being abused behind bars.

Ferdinand Pakage is one such prisoner, serving his sentence in the Abepura penitentiary in Jayapura. He is blind in his right eye, which he said happened after one of the guards hit him there.

“Two years ago I was hit with a set of keys and I went blind in one eye. Now I get terrible headaches that I have never experienced before and I can only see out of my left eye,” he said.

Pakage is serving 15 years in jail for a murder he says he never committed. He was arrested during antigovernment protests in Abepura. Pakage is now losing his memory and staggers when he walks or stands up.

Despite demands for a full investigation from US-based watchdog Human Rights Watch, the guard, Herbert Toam, accused of carrying out the beating, still works at the prison. And while the prison doctor has recommended Pakage be treated in Jakarta, he has not been allowed to travel.

Cosmos Yual also needs medical attention. He lay shivering on a mat on the floor of his cell in the Doyo prison with just a thin piece of material covering his body.

“I’m in the second stage of tropical malaria. The doctor has just been to see me for the first time since I feel ill,” he said.

Yual said he had been shivering for the last four days. His face was pale, his eyes yellow and he still had a high fever. There was a foul smell his room, apparently emanating from the toilet just one step away from where he lay. He shares his 5-by-7-meter room with six other inmates.

“When I fell sick they didn’t take me to the hospital straight away. They shouldn’t have left me but they did. They don’t care about us,” he said.

While Yual described his treatment, the prison warden and two guards stood watch.

From his occasional glances at the warden it was clear Yual was choosing his words carefully.

“We don’t want violence here. We just want fair treatment. If they [prison guards] have personal problems, they shouldn’t take it out on us,” he said.

Yual was arrested while protesting against the US-owned Freeport mine in Papua, which has been a frequent source of unrest in the province. He was charged with assault and provocation and is now serving six years in prison.

Political dissent is not taken lightly in Papua; those who dare to raise the Morning Star independence flag face up to 20 years in prison.

That’s what happened to Filep Karma. He is serving 15 years at Abepura and has been put on par with Burmese human rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi by Amnesty International because he has consistently employed non-violence to promote his cause.

He has been suffering from a bladder infection, but the only help he received was being told by prison officers to lift his legs to ease the pain. He has been waiting for almost a year to be treated in Jakarta, but recommendations for the treatment from the prison’s doctor have so far gone ignored.

The head warden of the Abepura prison, Antonius Ayorbaba, said he didn’t have the funds to send political prisoners to Jakarta for health care.

When these allegations of abuse and neglect reached government officials in Jakarta, however, the reaction was one of shock and denial.

Ridha Saleh, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights, (Komnas HAM), said he was furious.

“I will immediately request information from the head of the Abepura and Doyo prisons and demand they give us full access,” he said.

Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar also said he was shocked by the claims.

“We have not received any reports about any of this,” he said. “In which part of Papua did this happen? Thank you for the information; I will check and recheck it.”

But the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) indicated the neglect and abuse of political prisoners was no accident.

Syamsul Alam investigates violence in Papuan prisons for the group.

“Why hasn’t the government taken any effective steps to fulfil the health rights of prisoners? If they don’t give them the permission to have health treatments and leave them to suffer, then I strongly suspect it is intentional,” he said.

Following a KBR68H radio interview with Patrialis, Antonius was transferred to another prison in what the government said was a routine move.

Meanwhile, the ban against protesting remains in place in Papua.

This article was first broadcast on “Asia Calling,” a regional current affairs program produced by Indonesia’s independent radio news agency KBR68H

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Jakarta Globe, Nivell Rayda, May 06, 2010

The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights on Wednesday began investigating a prison riot in Papua during which 18 inmates escaped.

Bambang Winahyo, the ministry’s inspector general, said four investigators began interviewing officials from Abepura Prison and the ministry’s Papua office.

New prison warden Liberthy Sitinjak and Nazaruddin Burnas, head of the Papua office, were among those interviewed.

On Monday, after Liberthy was sworn in, outgoing warden Antonius Ayorbaba, prison officers and some civilians protested Antonius’s transfer.

The mob reportedly attacked the host of the inauguration ceremony, Jack Wanane, and chased Liberthy and Nazaruddin away.

The mob later trashed the prison office and broke its windows. Amid the chaos, 15 convicts and three detainees escaped by breaking through the ceilings of their cells and scaling a 5-meter wall.

Untung Sugiono, the ministry’s director general of penitentiary affairs, said Antonius had refused to be transferred to a prison in Bengkulu. “The decision was made three months ago and Antonius requested more time so we gave it to him,” Untung said.

“Antonius is a prominent figure in the area and has lots of supporters. This is a routine transfer so we consider his refusal insubordination. With this incident, not only do we feel there is an indication of misconduct but also a criminal offense.”

Numerous human rights allegations had been leveled against Antonius since he took office in 2008. Prominent human rights groups said at least 20 cases of beatings and inhumane treatment of prisoners had been linked to Antonius. Untung said the transfer was not related to the allegations.

The Jayapura Police are also holding an inquiry. “There is an indication the officials allowed the inmates and detainees to escape,” said Jayapura Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Imam Setiawan.

He said the prisoners escaped from an unguarded corner of the facility. Five of the guards who were supposed to be monitoring them had joined the protest.

Officials adopting an unusual approach to destroying ecstasy during a recent news conference in the capital. Jakarta Police on Friday launched a major drugs bust resulting in the closure of an ecstasy factory. (Antara Photo/Fanny Octavianus)

In yet another major blow to the credibility of the Indonesian prison system, Jakarta Police have busted two prisoners operating a major ecstasy supply ring.

The involvement of the prisoners was discovered during the raid on ecstasy factory in East Pluit, North Jakarta, on Friday.

Chief Comr. Anjan Pramuka Putra, head of the Jakarta Police's narcotics division, said factory produced 1,000 ecstasy pills a day generating Rp 6 billion ($665,000) a month.

He said the alleged owner of the factory, YM, was arrested along with three accomplices, identified as AP, IW and AN.

“We are still investigating if they are part of a drug ring,” Anjan told SCTV.

Anjan said police machine used in the manufacture of the popular drug, as well as 46,000 pills and the raw materials used to produce them, including methamphetamine.

He said the pills had been ordered by two inmates at Salemba Penitentiary in Central Jakarta.

Comr. Kristian Siagian, head of the narcotic division with West Jakarta Police, told the Jakarta Globe that the imates used cellphones to order the pills and relied on a courier to deliver them. The courier is still at large. The prisoner were not identified.

“The Salemba inmates would buy the pills and sell it outside the penitentiary, not inside,” he said.

There have been a string of recent cases involving crimes being committeed from behind the bars of the nation's notoriously poor prisons, often with the use of cellphones.

Last week, Surabaya Police discovered an inmate has been running a syndicate of counterfeiters from his cell.

Last month, terrorist Iwan Dharmawan, also known as Rois Abu Syaukat, was found to have had eight cellphones with him while an inmate at Jakarta’s Cipinang Prison, which he had used to communicate with a terrorist network in Aceh.

Last year, Jet Lie Chandra, a death row convict in Pondok Bambu Penitentiary in East Jakarta, was found to have been running a drug-distribution business from behind bars.

The country’s overcrowded prisons, where inmates vastly outnumber prison guards, are known to be plagued by corruption, drug abuse and trafficking, and human rights violations by both guards and inmates.

The latest drug bust is the first this month. On March 23, Jakarta Police announced that they had confiscated about $22 million worth of narcotics from an ecstasy and methamphetamine laboratory in what they are calling the biggest drug raid in the capital this year.

The raid was carried out on Monday at a house in the Citra Housing Complex in Kalideres, West Jakarta, following a two-month surveillance operation.

Police displayed 50,000 ecstasy pills, 60 kilograms of ecstasy ingredients, 200 kg of methamphetamine and 30 kg of methamphetamine ingredients along with acetone and methanol — just some of the evidence collected from the house that is estimated to be worth Rp 200 billion.

In February, Police raided a home in Lippo Karawaci, Tangerang, discovering a methamphetamine factory allegedly run by a family. The raid took place at Villa Permata Lippo Karawaci on Jalan Taman Parahyangan. Police confiscated 200 grams of ready-to-sell methamphetamine.

Narcotics are a major problem in Indonesia, particularly Jakarta.

Jakarta Globe, Made Arya Kencana, April 12, 2010

Convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby has taken the necessary legal steps to formally appeal to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for clemency and release from prison or for a reduction of her sentence for humanitarian reasons because she is mentally ill.

Corby’s appeal claims that she has become insane during her time at Kerobokan Prison in Bali.

The former beauty therapist, an Australian citizen, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after she was arrested at Denpasar’s Ngurah Rai Airport in October 2004 carrying 4.1 kilograms of marijuana.

“The papers have been sent off [to the Supreme Court] on March 31,” said Gede Ketut Rantam, a court clerk at the Denpasar District Court.

He said the Supreme Court would forward the documentation to Yudhoyono.

“Considering that there is a formal criminal sentence, the convict has requested clemency from the Indonesian president in the form of a reduction in sentence, or release from jail,” said the appeal, which was forwarded by Corby through her lawyer, Iskandar Nawing. Last August, a psychiatrist reported that Corby’s mental health was deteriorating.

A decision from Yudhoyono could take many months.

Aside from documentation of rulings issued in the case, letters from two separate psychiatrists, one from Denny Thong, who examined Corby for a five-day period last May, were attached to the request for clemency.

Denny’s letter states that Corby is suffering from severe depression and is showing symptoms of psychosis, and recommends that she be moved to an environment which could provide her with proper, regulated medication in order to deal with her condition. Another psychiatric examination by Jonathan Phillips was conducted on Aug. 13, 2009.

Phillips again evaluated Corby during a visit to her prison in Bali this month and warned that her mental health was rapidly deteriorating.

“She is lost in her own bewildering world where fantasy, hallucinations and bizarre ideas dominate her mind,” Phillips said, according to a report in New Idea magazine.

Phillips, a former president of the Psychiatrist’s Guild of Australia and New Zealand, said Corby was “hanging by a thread” and needed to be moved.

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Fri, 04/09/2010 11:18 PM

A survey conducted by the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YBHI) recently found that about 80 percent of detainees in the country suffered from acts of violence under police investigation.

"Based on our survey, about 70 to 80 percent of detainees suffered from violence while under police detention," YLBHI chairman Patra M Zen said on Friday.

He said marginalized groups who did not understand the law and did not obtain proper legal aid were prone to the act of violence.

Therefore, he suggested that the bill on legal aid, which was being deliberated at the House of Representatives, accommodate legal aid for poor people.

The rights group also asked the President to allocate funds and facilities for legal aid and consultation at all state detention houses and penitentiaries.

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang | Tue, 04/06/2010 8:28 PM

Seven inmates at Tangerang youth detention center have received remissions, with three allowed to leave the prison on Tuesday.

The government on Tuesday announced sentence cuts for 42 youths across the country.

Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar sent home three child inmates, Shella Fatmawati, 17, Handika Hadi Widakdo, 17, and Aditia Parawangsa, 17, from the prison.

“As soon as you arrive home, bow and thank God and kiss the hands of your parents. From now on you have to able to take care of yourselves. The state loves you all,” Patrialis told the freed inmates.

The minister also said the President had turned down remission requests of other youths because they were repeat offenders.

Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 04/06/2010 8:19 PM

The Supreme Court has cut the jail term of businesswoman Artalyta Suryani by six months, only three months after an anti-judicial corruption taskforce found she enjoyed luxurious facilities inside her prison.

Supreme Court justice Hatta Ali said the revision was granted over “humanity reasons” in response to Artalyta’s case review request.

“Bribery convict Artalyta did not profit from the case,” Hatta said Tuesday, adding that she was only a broker.

“Besides, he is a woman. We cut her jail term based on humanity consideration.”

The Supreme Court upheld last year a five-year jail term for Artalyta after finding her guilty of giving US$660,000 in bribe to state prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan, who was then leading a team investigating the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support (BLBI) cases implicating tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim.

The Corruption Court sentenced Urip to 20 years in jail for accepting the bribe.

In January the presidential task force discovered Artalyta, graft convict Darmawati Dareho and drug abuse convict Liem "Aling" Marita receive exclusive facilities at the Pondok Bambu women prison. The three were moved to Tangerang prison later on.

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SBY orders task force to 'look back' into BLBI case

Eny Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 04/01/2010 11:17 PM

The South Jakarta District Court on Thursday suspended detention Susandhi bin Sukatma aka Aan, a defendant in an drug possession case, citing reasonable assurance from his lawyers that his client will not flee.

Presiding Judge Artha Theresia said the decision took into effect since April 1 until the court issued its verdict over the case.

“We grant the lawyer's request to delay the detention while keep on asking for the defendant to attend all court sessions, Artha said.

One of the considerations, she said, was that the defendant had undergone torture during a preliminary questioning session from officers of the Maluku Regional Police Office on Dec. 14, 2009.

“I can only say alhamdulilah (thank God). I thank to my lawyers [over the suspension of the detention],” Aan said after the trial.

Aan's lawyer Edwin Partogi said he was expecting the delay of the detention would become an input for the prosecutors for not being hesitant to demand his client be acquitted from all of the charges.

Today's trial was supposedly scheduled to hear demand from state prosecutors for the second time against Aan. However, prosecutor Sri Haryanto said he had yet to be ready to read the demand without giving any clear reasons.

The court will resume next Thursday to hear the demand.

Aan was arrested by the Jakarta Police on Dec. 14 at the Artha Graha building of South Jakarta after the police found 0.1427 grams of drugs in his wallet. He was detained at the Cipinang Penitentiary one day after the arrest.

Antara News, Tuesday, March 16, 2010 20:02 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - A total of 344 inmates throughout the country were granted a special sentence reduction on the occasion of the Hindu Day of Seclusion and New Year 1932, an official said.

"The special remissions for inmates are granted on the occasion of the Hindu Day of Seclusion for 433 inmates throughout the country," Chief Spokesman of the Directorate General of Penitentiary of the Ministry of Legal and Human Rights Affairs, Chandran Lestyono said here on Tuesday.

The special sentence reduction consisted of special remission I and special remission II.

Remission I sentence reduction is given to those who still have to spend remaining jail terms while Remission II is given to inmates who, with the remission, have completed all of their jail terms.

Of the 344 remission recipients, 333 were granted the special remission I, with a sentence reduction ranging from 15 days to two months.

The other 11 inmates were granted remission II with a sentence reduction ranging from 15 days to two months.

This year, most of the remission recipients were inmates in Bali, accounting for 226 inmates.

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.

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 02/02/2010 9:48 PM

Two vehicle theft convicts broke out of Kraksaan penitentiary in Probolinggo, Central Java, on Tuesday, using a sarong.

The prisoners, Kasim and Sarito of Paiton subdistrict, used the sarong to climb down a wall on the west side of the prison, at 3.30 a.m..

Kraksaan pentitentiary chief Krismono said he was amazed by the incident, tempointeraktif.com reported Tuesday.

“Kasim and Sarito were in fact due to complete their terms in a half month and one month,” Krismono said.

Sarito was probably afraid of being punished for another vehicle theft, while Kasim had just assisted his best friend to escape, he said.

Should they be arrested both fugitives will relinquish their remissions, he said. (nkn)