Culture of violence deeply rooted in STPDN: LIPI

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung, West Java

A culture of violence and the poor quality of caretakers at the Public Administration Institute (STPDN) has led to violent hazing that killed at least two of its students, a team of researchers has found.

Alfitra Salamn, the head of the independent team from the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI), said on Monday that the culture of violence existed since STPDN was established in 1991.

The culture began, as the students learned the system of corporal punishment from soldiers, he said.

The soldiers, who were hired by the STPDN management to train students using military-style discipline in the early years of STPDN, often hit students to make sure they obeyed the rules, he said.

The system of corporal punishment was then inherited by the students after the soldiers left the institute a few years later, he said.

The situation worsened, as corporal punishment administered by seniors on their juniors went unchecked due to poor supervision by the institute's caretakers, resulting in a deep-rooted culture of violence among the students, he said.

The problem was exacerbated by the poorly trained and poorly educated post-military caretakers.

"The recruitment of the caretakers was not done properly. They were recruited on the basis of nepotism. Some of them were even former security guards and drivers," said Alfitra.

The LIPI team was hired by the Ministry of Home Affairs to study and investigate the rampant violent hazing in the institute that has killed at least two of its students namely Eri Rakhman and Wahyu Hidayat. The team was expected to provide a solution in order to end the violent practices in the institute.

On Monday, the LIPI team questioned nine of some 180 caretakers and lecturers in the institute.

It is unknown how long the investigation will last.

The finding was the second after another study last year that concluded that 37 percent of STPDN students were aggressive. The results of last year's study were revealed by a senior lecturer at STPDN, following the death of Wahyu Hidayat recently, an STPDN student.

The senior lecturer joined a team of psychologists conducting psychological tests on 806 STPDN students.

Meanwhile, the Sumedang Police precinct began questioning on Monday six of 25 people who were seen in film footage screened by private television station SCTV.

The footage, screened following the death of Wahyu Hidayat recently, showed students being beaten during an initiation rite in the institute in June, which drew public outrage. "The six were questioned for assaulting their juniors," said Sumedang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Yoyok Subagiono.

Yoyok said that the police had not named any suspects out of the 25 students who appeared in the television footage, saying that the investigation was ongoing.

Currently, the Sumedang Police are also investigating the assault of Jurinata, an STPDN student from Central Kalimantan, who was beaten by a senior student in May this year.

Meanwhile, in order to improve the tainted image of STPDN, students and the management of STPDN held a religious gathering and helped in community service projects in the area around the campus on Sunday.