Indonesia inmates are most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS

By Triagus S. Siswowihardjo

JAKARTA (JP): Boxer Tommy Morrison enjoyed sudden worldwide media attention in the middle of February not because he just beat George Foreman and once felled Mike Tyson, or because he had signed a film contract. No, Tommy Morrison, the WBO heavy-weight champion of 1993, had just announced to the press that he was HIV positive.

Tommy Morrison is the fourth well-known athlete to admit having the virus. Tennis star Arthur Ashe, now dead, basketball legend Earvin 'Magic' Johnson, and diver Greg Louganis had all went public before him. The virus has killed celebrities like Freddy Mercury, the lead vocalist of the rock group Queen, and movie idol Rock Hudson.

Don't expect to hear a famous Indonesian announce that he or she is HIV positive. Although the virus has taken its toll here, it is still considered improper to talk about the virus or the people it infects. The HIV/AIDS taboo hits prisoners in Indonesian jails the hardest. The are not educated about the danger of AIDS, and, because of their less than low profile, they are frequently ignored or forgotten.

Only a little better informed than the prisoners, the average Indonesian is forced to make do with frequent updates on the number of HIV and AIDS cases in the country.

By the end of February this year, 376 HIV/AIDS cases were recorded in Indonesia. Last week the Director-General of Contagious Disease, Hadi Abednego, announced that 10 more Indonesians were infected with HIV between February and March, bringing the number of people carrying the virus near 390. Of these people, 56 have died. The people come from very different social and educational backgrounds.

Anyone can get HIV, regardless of sex, religion, race, age, education or profession. The virus is spread by sexual contact, blood transfusions and unsterile needles, or transferred by an HIV infected mother.

Highly-mobile people and those confined to one place, like prisoners, share the same chances of getting the virus. It has been proven that prisoners are just as vulnerable to AIDS as those living life in freedom.

Indonesian penitentiaries have no HIV/AIDS prevention programs. The overcrowding and poor conditions propagates the problem.

The Salemba penitentiary in Central Jakarta, for example, was built to hold 750 prisoners. Today it houses between 950 and 1,100 inmates. The Cipinang penitentiary in East Jakarta is meant to hold 2,800 people but is crammed with 3,000 prisoners. Three prisoners live in a cell measuring 1.5 by 2 metres.

The shortage of space is aggravated by a lack of disciplined warders. Such horrendous conditions and the restricted social environment often leads to behavioral changes.

In prisons, HIV is mainly transferred by homosexual and heterosexual relations. The use of dirty needles for drug taking and tattooing is the secondary cause of the spread.

Prisoners who have had sexual intercourse with sex workers before being jailed pose a serious threat to other inmates. Unscrupulous warders also allow prostitutes to visit prisoners.

At the Cipinang penitentiary ,for example, affluent prisoners are known to be able to get a call girl for as little as Rp200,000. Mintardjo, the warden, denied this was possible.

It is common knowledge that prisoners can order almost anything if they can pay the price.

At the Pondok Bambu penitentiary in East Jakarta, teenage boys and girls are free to mingle during visiting hours. Socializing can be extended into evening for Rp75,000. If the couple pay Rp100,000, they can have sex in a private room. A point of concern is that about half of the female inmates in Pondok Bambu have been booked for commercial sex.

Homosexual practices in prison happen throughout the world. Unfulfilled sex drives frequently push heterosexual inmates to have sex with males. Young boys and rapists are in for a very unpleasant time when jailed. Young inmates are all too often victimized by homosexual prisoners. The bill on young offenders being prepared by the House of Representatives will be too little and too late.

Many young convicts lie about their age to avoid being sent to Pondok Bambu, which is notorious for its homosexuals. They prefer the Salemba or Cipinang penitentiaries. The two jails, however, also have their share of pimps waiting for the young offenders. Rapists are physically abused by cell mates, usually sodomized and forced to perform oral sex. Prisoners deemed effeminate are in for the same treatment.

Although prison records indicate that sexual contact accounts for 95.7 percent of the reported HIV/AIDS cases in prisons, with 62.6 percent being heterosexual contact and 33.1 percent being homosexual contact, another cause of the spread of the virus is the use of unsterile needles for blood transfusions, drug taking and tattooing.

Tattooing, common in all prisons, is a likely way to spread HIV. Aside from tattoos, inmates also crave what is called tasbih.

A tasbih is a small plastic object. The stem of a toothbrush is filed down to the size of a capsule and then implanted close to the top of the penis. The implant is said to give immense pleasure to the sex partner. As the knife used to make the tasbih and slice the penis is most likely unsterile, an HIV positive inmate using a tasbih may infect his partner.

Syringes smuggled in for drug addicted inmates are also a likely way of spreading the virus. On record are cases of prohibited pills being found in a prison in Denpasar. A strong indication that prisons are fertile grounds for free sex and consequently HIV and AIDS.

Indonesian prisoners generally know little about AIDS, and what they do know depends n where they are incarcerated. A recent survey conducted by the National Networks of Epidemics found Jakarta prisoners know more about the virus than their counterparts in Yogyakarta.

The government is responsible for disseminating information on AIDS to all prison wardens and inmates.

In Italy, the government passed a special bill in July 1993, forbidding inmates with full-blown AIDS from being jailed. Italy has 29,030 registered AIDS carriers. The law requires that prisoners with AIDS be kept in special cells. Because the Italian government is unable to provide the cells, so for it has sent 3,000 of the 4,600 prisoners with AIDS home. Indonesia should avoid this situation because the former prisoners may commit more crimes and spread the virus.

It is time the Indonesian government paid more attention to the fate of Indonesian prisoners, and protect them from HIV and AIDS. They are citizens with the same right to learn about the prevention of HIV and AIDS.