Street justice gaining popularity<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The continuing series of brutal mob killings of
\nsuspected criminals by residents in the capital has stunned many
\npeople.<\/p>\n
Many condemn the frenzied behavior of the residents, while
\nothers understand the anger that causes people to deal out their
\nown justice to those found committing crimes in their
\nneighborhoods.<\/p>\n
The forensic department of state-owned Cipto Mangunkusumo
\nGeneral Hospital, the only institution permitted to receive dead
\nbodies of suspected criminals for post-mortem examinations, says
\nit has received at least 73 bodies of alleged criminals killed by
\nmobs so far this year.<\/p>\n
Twenty-two were recorded in January, 11 in February, 16 in
\nMarch, 11 in April, and five in May, said a report released last
\nweek.<\/p>\n
So far this month, the hospital has received eight bodies said
\nto be victims of angry mobs.<\/p>\n
There is no record of the number of people injured in such mob
\nattacks, but one could speculate that the number would be much
\nhigher than those killed.<\/p>\n
What is apparent though is that the frequency of mob killings
\nhas continued to grow, as has the cruelty of the mobs.<\/p>\n
One of the most common ways for mobs in the capital to kill
\npeople allegedly caught committing crimes in their areas is to
\nburn them alive.<\/p>\n
\"I rarely saw this practice until this year, but it has
\nincreased nowadays,\" Mardiyono, head of the hospital's morgue,
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
In the past, he said, suspected criminals caught by residents
\nwould be severely beaten by residents but then handed over to
\npolice.<\/p>\n
One of the most tragic incidents took place at midnight on
\nSunday in West Jakarta, where an 18-year-old high school student
\nwas burned to death by angry residents at a local makeshift
\nmarket on Jl. Daan Mogot, Rawa Buaya.<\/p>\n
The young man, Indra Yulhelmi, alias Atang, was reportedly
\nspotted by the locals attempting to remove the side mirror of a
\ncar parked in the residential area.<\/p>\n
Witness Mamad, alias Endut, an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver
\ntold the Post on Wednesday at the site: \"The locals first
\nclobbered the boy with anything available until a person showered
\nhim with kerosene and set him on fire.\"<\/p>\n
A few hours later on that same night, another alleged thief in
\nDepok, south of Jakarta, was attacked and killed by a mob of
\nlocals after being found breaking into a neighbor's house.<\/p>\n
Such a merciless attitude has appeared among residents in many
\ncorners of the capital, particularly in densely populated
\nresidential areas.<\/p>\n
When asked to comment, people expressed vastly different views
\non the issue.<\/p>\n
Some urged the police force to improve its image to avoid the
\noccurrence of people taking the law into their own hands.<\/p>\n
No for police<\/p>\n
Many city residents cannot rely on the police to provide
\nsecurity in their areas and take criminals to court, thus they
\nseek their own form of justice on the streets.<\/p>\n
Others lashed out at the bad tempers of the residents, saying
\nthey had no sense of humanity.<\/p>\n
Still other people expressed support for the militant locals
\nfor taking the law into their own hands, saying such efforts
\nwould be a good lesson to other criminals.<\/p>\n
\"It's natural, because people here have been so irritated by
\ncrimes taking place endlessly,\" commented a Rawa Buaya resident.<\/p>\n
\"If you had experienced being robbed, you would do the same
\nthing to release your vengeance,\" he said, adding, \"It's also
\nuseful to scare away other criminals.\"<\/p>\n
Such actions also give the police problems in their endeavors
\nto impose the law.<\/p>\n
In most cases, police failed to bring people to court for the
\nmurders.<\/p>\n
The officers repeatedly used the same excuse: that the
\nincidents were spontaneous and involved large numbers of people.<\/p>\n
But many residents, including expatriates, consider it
\nimportant for police to use their authority to bring an immediate
\nstop to the spread of this \"social disease\".<\/p>\n
\"People would have their own trials if they did not trust the
\nlaw authority anymore,\" commented S.H. Norbert Barlocher-
\nCaflisch, first secretary for economic and legal affairs at the
\nSwiss Embassy here.<\/p>\n
Mikiko Nihei, an employee in the information department at the
\nJapanese Embassy, added: \"People should trust that police will
\ntreat criminals in line with the law. So that when people catch
\ncriminals red-handed, they will deliver them to police without
\npunishing them on the spot,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Sociologist Sardjono Djatiman, from the University of
\nIndonesia, supported these arguments.<\/p>\n
He said that the city's law enforcers, such as the police,
\njudges and prosecutors, should work to improve their tarnished
\nreputations.<\/p>\n
\"By enhancing the performance of the police and the courts in
\nhandling such cases, the social disease could be checked,\" he
\nsaid on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"People are still irritated by the poor performance of police.
\nA criminal arrested today is often released by them on the
\nfollowing day without a trial,\" Djatiman said.<\/p>\n
Atang's mother, Yulita Anita, expressed the hope that no one
\nelse would ever have to experience the horrible end her son
\nfaced.<\/p>\n
\"If my boy is guilty, he deserves to receive his fate. But, if
\nhe is not, I'll let God make His own judgment (on those who
\nkilled Atang) on Judgment Day,\" she told the Post in tears. (asa)<\/p>",
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