Handling of corruption
According to a July 8 report in The Jakarta Post, the special post office box (PO Box 0008) recently established to handle complaints from the public about official corruption has been effective. Most of the complaints have been about demands for payoffs by government officials. However, Deputy Governor Abdul Khafi has said that results of investigations against officials will not be made public because the officials should not be exposed.
Protecting privacy rights of an accused official during an investigation before proof of wrongdoing has been established is understandable. But once a public official is found guilty of having abused his or her public trust and victimizing members of the public, isn't the public entitled to know that? Mr. Khafi has said that what is important is to investigate the allegations and impose the proper sanctions on those who are found guilty. But if the results of an investigation are not disclosed, how can the public know that the proper sanctions have been imposed? With all due respect to Mr. Khafi and other senior officials who handle corruption complaints, if the investigation system is not more transparent, if guilty officials are protected by secret proceedings, then the integrity of investigations and of the officials handling them will be questioned. Corruption is a crime in Indonesia. Other criminals are publicly exposed once their crimes have been proven; why not corrupt officials?
Indonesians speak of cronyism, while expatriates speak of the "old boys' network". Both terms refer to an unofficial system or culture which protects people close to those in power, even when they are guilty of wrongdoing. If a superior official protects a corrupt subordinate, this leads to suspicion that the superior and the subordinate have colluded in doing wrong. If a corrupt official collects unofficial fees and passes some of this money along to his or her superior in the form of cash or gifts, how can the superior later discipline the subordinate for corruption? This may be the key obstacle to eradicating corruption.
DONNA K. WOODWARD
Medan, North Sumatra