Convicted children need legal certainty: Activists
JAKARTA (JP): Activists have blasted the government and legislators for their failure in providing legal certainty for children involved in crime.
Arist Merdeka Sirait from the National Commission for Children's Protection (Komnas PA) pointed out that the current laws fail to protect their rights to education, health and growing up the same as other children.
He said that the commission had submitted a bill on the juvenile court system to the House of Representatives in May to fill the vacancy of legal certainty for young offenders, but it had yet to be deliberated.
"The legislators and the executive are more concerned with their political interests than children's issues," Sirait told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
The issue of juvenile justice as a provision of special protection for children has become the focus of this year's commemoration of National Children's Day, which falls on July 23.
The international convention on children's rights categorizes those who are under 18 years of age as children. Indonesia adopted the convention in 1999.
Arist revealed that Law No. 3/1997 on trying children in a court of law only regulates the procedures, while there should be a regulation on how to treat young offenders who need rehabilitation.
Arist further said the number of convicted youth had increased over the past five years. Currently, there are about 4,000 young offenders in correctional institutions throughout the country.
He said that the institutions are in poor condition and are often overcrowded as there is not enough room for the large number of young offenders. The correctional institutions also cannot provide health and educational facilities.
He said there were 400 young offenders at correctional institutions in Tangerang, while the capacity is only one quarter of that total.
Worse, there are no psychologists available at the institutions.
Fund raising
Lily A. Rilantono from the Indonesian Children's Welfare Foundation (YKAI), who is also the chairwoman of the National Children's Day commemoration, said that a goal in observance of the event was to raise funds to renovate the Tangerang correctional institution.
In the program, State Minister of the Empowerment of Women Khofifah Indar Parawansa is scheduled to visit at least one trial of a child in Jakarta, she said.
"We want to curb the number of children violating the law. This is an issue which has been neglected for a long time," she told the Post on Sunday.
In observance of Children's Day, President Abdurrahman Wahid is scheduled to receive a number of child laborers at the State Palace. In the afternoon, several other children will meet Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri at Gedung Sapta Pesona in Central Jakarta. (bby)