Prisoners need more humane treatment: Experts<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Last week's rioting in a Surabaya high-security
\nprison has provoked fresh calls for the government to improve the
\ntreatment of inmates.<\/p>\n
Legal expert Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, social worker Ade
\nRostina Sitompul, former correctional institutional official
\nBaharuddin Lopa and academic Soetandyo Wignjosoebroto all urged a
\nmore humane attitude to prisoners' welfare.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of inmates and detainees at Medaeng prison ran amok
\nlast Wednesday, setting fire to the prison occupied by 575
\npeople. None escaped because the police surrounded the prison
\nsoon after the fire started. Twenty six people were detained for
\ncausing the trouble.<\/p>\n
Press reports said that the prisoners were unhappy with the
\nway prison officials treated different groups of inmates. While
\nmany prisoners sleep on mats, others were said to enjoy
\nprivileges such as sleeping on mattresses and being allowed to
\nwatch TV and use cellular phones.<\/p>\n
Harkristuti from the University of Indonesia said many wardens
\nstill held on to the old philosophy that prison is a place for
\nthe state to retaliate people for committing crimes.<\/p>\n
She pointed to the philosophy of the 1995 law on correctional
\ninstitutions that says prison is a place for the state to educate
\ninmates so they can become law-abiding citizens.<\/p>\n
\"The correctional philosophy should be changed so that their
\napproach toward prisoners is more humane,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Harkristuti said that prison officials should remember
\nprisoners retained basic rights that should be respected, such as
\naccess to adequate room, food, recreation facilities, reading
\nmaterials, and social interaction.<\/p>\n
She said the Medaeng prison riot was understandable given that
\nthe prison was overcrowded, which contributed to aggressiveness,
\nand that discrimination was commonplace.<\/p>\n
\"Under our legal system, segregation of inmates should be
\nbased on the category of their crime, not on -- say --
\nconsiderations of wealth,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Ade Rostina Sitompul said she believed that the humane
\napproach was the best way to prevent rioting in prisons as the
\nterm correctional institution indicates.<\/p>\n
Ade, who shared the 1995 Yap Thiam Hien Human Rights Award
\nwith East Java tobacco farmers, said prisoners should be provided
\nwith skills they could use to survive after being released.<\/p>\n
At present, she said, prisoners did not have enough activities
\nto occupy their time.<\/p>\n
\"I often see prisoners just hanging around in groups doing
\nnothing,\" Ade said, adding that insufficient activities generated
\nan atmosphere that could trigger a riot.<\/p>\n
She also said that she had seen some prisons had bad sanitary
\nfacilities and food. \"It is not a place for people to be
\n'tortured',\" said Ade, who dedicates her life to helping
\nprisoners.<\/p>\n
\"It's a long-standing situation which has not been properly
\naddressed,\" Ade added.<\/p>\n
Baharuddin Lopa called on prison officials to maintain a high
\nalert level because all prisoners had the drive to escape.<\/p>\n
\"Even though you give them martabak (Indian crepes) every
\nnight, it will not influence their wish to flee. Prisoners may
\nlook nice, but don't trust them 100 percent that they will not
\nescape,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Lopa, who is the secretary-general of the National Commission
\non Human Rights, said officials should refrain from treating
\nprisoners harshly or the inmates would be offended.<\/p>\n
\"We should remember that they are also human beings who
\ndeserve to have their basic needs met,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Soetandyo Wignjosoebroto, a professor of Sociology of Law at
\nthe state Airlangga University in Surabaya, East Java, also
\nemphasized the need to respect prisoners' basic rights.<\/p>\n
\"In Indonesia, prisoners' human rights have not been
\nadequately respected\" he said.<\/p>\n
The professor cited a lack of funds as the main reason for the
\nbad conditions in prisons. (05)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/prisoners-need-more-humane-treatment-experts-1447893297",
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