Knowledge is solution to police torture

By Johannes Simbolon

JAKARTA (JP): Edi Sartono, 15, and Fajar Bawono, 16, will never forget the nightmare of being detained by police two years ago on charges of raping a primary school girl, a neighbor of theirs. The police in Bantul district, Yogyakarta, grabbed them without a warrant and then repeatedly beat and kicked them before forcing them to swallow burning cigarettes. Worst of all, they forced the teenagers to masturbate after covering their penises with hot balm.

The Bantul court recently acquitted Edi and Fajar of the rape charge because medical records stated that there was no sign of bruising on the girl's body and her hymen was intact. Both Edi and Fajar also proved their alibis.

Another headline grabbing case a few years ago was that of bus conductor Djoni Hutahayan. He was also charged with rape, and was also acquitted by the court. But his release came only after Hutahayan had his genitals rubbed with sandpaper and hot balm by the Cilandak, South Jakarta police. The law enforcers then put Hutahayan's testicles into a plastic bag filled with battery acid.

These are only two among the many episodes of torture that legal experts term "extra-procedural" cases.

"Such cases rarely happen. It is the press who love to blow them up when they do happen, so the public have the perception it happens often," National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. K. Ratta told The Jakarta Post.

The public, however, do believe ill-treatment is common and that only a small number of cases are ferreted out by the press.

"The Indonesian police don't need a lie detector, only a chair," a maxim runs. It refers to repeated accounts that in order to make the suspects "tell the truth", the investigators often put the suspect's toes under the leg of the chair and then sit on it.

These primitive, illegal and horrible interrogation techniques fuel public fear, especially the poor who lack the means -- connections, money or the right name -- to guarantee proper legal procedures.

"Those who have the right name won't be beaten. But commoners have every reason to be afraid of leaving police custody with broken teeth or ruined health even though they may not be guilty of anything," said philosopher Franz von Magnis Suseno.

Reasons

Frans Hendra Winarta from the Indonesian Barristers Association said police investigators torture suspects for a variety of reasons.

One reason, which some senior police officers confirm, is a lack of interrogation skills in the police force.

"Those who conduct physical abuse are mostly young officers. The seasoned investigators have all the techniques to persuade the suspects to confess, like serving the suspect with a cup of coffee during interrogation and talking about their hobbies," said a senior officer at the National Police Headquarters who asked for anonymity.

Another factor, Frans said, is the lack of knowledge about the law on the part of the police and the public. The public have no idea of their rights as suspects, and as such can't argue with the police when faced with "extra-procedural" treatment.

Police also do not fully understand the rights of the suspects, so they often lock up suspects without warrants or fail to inform the suspects of their rights.

Knowledge

The police's utter lack of legal knowledge is coupled with their wrong perception that a confession in a suspect's dossier is fundamental to the trial process. Investigators' ambition for promotion through quick confessions also plays a large part.

Frans explained that a suspect's confession is one of five types of evidence that can be used in a trial. The others are witnesses, weapons, written evidence and other objects used by the suspected criminal.

"As some cases have shown, judges can acquit defendants despite his or her confession to police," he said.

Officially, however, the police force says physical abuse is mainly a result of psychological factors.

"It may be because the investigators are people who easily lose control. Their anger can also be aroused by the obstinacy of the suspects who keep refusing to confess despite all the evidence. Police are also humans who can get angry," argued Ratta.

Chapter 422 of Indonesia's criminal code outlaws any forcible measures by law enforcers to get confessions from suspects. The punishment for torture is a maximum of four years in jail.

So far, however, it is rare to hear of a police officer being punished for violating the code.

The police deny that they rarely -- if ever -- punish officers for ill-treating suspects.

"Every year we announce the number of police officers who are punished for a variety of wrongdoings. One of the wrongs is ill- treatment of suspects," Ratta insisted.

In order to prevent torture, according to Frans, the police should develop its officer's interrogation skills. The public must be educated about law so they understand their rights.