Child imprisonment in Indonesia rampant

[News_Editor]

Child imprisonment in Indonesia rampant

2011-03-17 01:55:10 GMT+7 (ICT)

MAGELANG, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- The Indonesian Commission for Child Protection said on Wednesday that nearly 7,000 minors face criminal trials in Indonesian courtrooms each year, the Jakarta Globe reported.

The commission, also known as the KPAI, said that 90 percent of them, about 6,300 minors, end up incarcerated alongside adult suspects, as there are no special holding cells for children.



"Some of them are detained over minor offenses such as petty theft of food and clothing," Apong Herlina, a KPAI commissioner, told reporters at a workshop on child delinquents and restorative justice.

"They need guidance and supervision at home, not undergoing trials in court and spending time in jail," the commissioner added, as cited by the Jakarta Globe.

Akbar Hadi, spokesman for the Directorate General of Correctional Institutions, however, questioned the validity of the information since his office had never released figures to the KPAI.



"We will not speak outside of what we have on record. We have 16 correctional institutions across Indonesia," he said. "Up to January 2011, the number of minors incarcerated was 3,384. Not all of them are in these institutions for crimes. A small percentage of these children are those of parents who are unable to care for them and therefore hand them over to the state, through a court ruling."



On February 24, the Constitutional Court of Indonesia partially revised a law governing how juvenile offenders should be tried in court. The court only approved changes to two of six articles, effectively raising from 8 to 12 the minimum age at which a minor may face criminal charges. Chief Justice Mahfud M.D. said this reform was in line with international laws governing child rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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