Indonesia gets failing grade for juvenile justice system

The juvenile justice system in Indonesia is continuing to fail underage offenders, according to those concerned with the issue. Critics of the system point to the number of underage children in the country who are tried in regular criminal court and detained in adult prisons.

One of the most well-known recent examples of this was the case of Muhammad “”Raju”” Azwar, who was tried for assault stemming from a fight with a schoolmate in Langkat regency, North Sumatra, after being detained for several months in an adult prison.

Santi Kusumaningrum of the United Nations Children’s Fund, or UNICEF, said many of the underage children caught up in the justice system in Indonesia ended up being victimized. A UNICEF survey in 2005 found that 3,110 underage children had stood trial and were being detained in adult prisons.

Most of these children, according to Santi, were the victims of abuse in prison.

She said these figures painted a damning picture of juvenile justice in Indonesia.

She said underage children should never be treated like adults by the justice system.

There are laws, she said, which promise special treatment for youthful offenders, from investigation through prosecution and detainment.

However, these laws are routinely ignored, mostly because the state is still unable to provide the required facilities, such as juvenile detention centers.

The trial and detention of underage children like adults violates the 1997 law on children’s courts, the 2003 law on child protection, the 1999 law on human rights and the UN Convention on Child Rights, of which Indonesia is a signatory.

According to the law on children’s courts, children under the age of eight cannot be prosecuted. The law also requires that cases involving underage offenders be handled by special investigators, prosecutors and judges who are specially trained to handle children’s cases.

The law says judges specializing in juvenile cases will be appointed to handle juvenile cases. It says judges are not to wear their robes when hearing the cases, and court proceedings are to be closed to the public until the final session, when the verdict is announced.

Deputy chairman of the National Commission on Children, Muhammad Joni, said the limited number of juvenile detention centers was to blame for the large number of children being held in adult prisons.

He said several years ago the commission approached the government about putting in place a policy on remissions for child convicts, in an effort to cut the number of children being held with adults.

However, the proposal received no response from the government.

“”It’s been four years since the commission made the proposal to the government to regulate special remissions for child convicts.

“”The aim (of the proposal) was to deal with overcapacity in prisons since it is not humane to mix child convicts with adult prisoners. Surprisingly, the proposal has never been responded to,”” Muhammad Joni told The Jakarta Post during a break in a seminar on the juvenile justice system, held Wednesday in Medan, North Sumatra.

The commission also has encouraged legal enforcers and communities to work together to deal with child convicts.

He said rehabilitation should be the main goal for children caught up in the legal system, with punishment being the last option.

Judge Pinta Nauli of the Medan District Court, who took part in the seminar, said this goal would be difficult to realize because many parents failed to attend court sessions for their children.

She said most of the children who had come before her in court were involved in drug-related crimes, and many of them were street children without legal guardians.

“”Honestly, when dealing with cases involving children, I want to take the (rehabilitation) approach, but the reality is harder because many parents are not active at the trials,”” she said. source : The Jakarta Post