Most juvenile prisoners involved in stealing
JAKARTA (JP): Michael Jackson was belting out his new song Scream in a 20-square-meter room packed with boys and decorated with posters of Indonesian rock star Iwan Fals and American group Metallica.
The music, which echoed in the other three rooms in the building, was abruptly silenced when we entered and stood in the hallway of the building. Suddenly there was complete silence. All the boys jumped onto their long wooden plank beds. They sat on two parallel rows of beds, one facing another.
It was the serene atmosphere which allowed us to observe each room attentively. There were posters of Jesus, potted plants, a wooden bed covered with a clean white cloth, a clock on a wall and a small tape recorder. One corner of each room served as a bathroom.
Some of the boys looked confused, some were indifferent, some looked at each other and others just stared at us.
Welcome to Pondok Bambu Detention Center in East Jakarta, the home of juvenile delinquents. There are 33 male juvenile delinquents of less than 16 years old, 81 others who are between 17 to 21 years old, six girls under 16 years old and 11 older female prisoners spending their time behind the bars in the one- hectare area.
"The trial process of some male juvenile delinquents is still going on, while others have been sentenced by the court to one year jail terms or less," said Pudjiono, the warden.
Those sentenced to more than one year jail terms are transferred to the Correctional Institution for male juvenile delinquents in Tangerang, West Java, soon after the verdict is handed down.
They are transferred from Pondok Bambu because it does not have adequate facilities to "reform" them, while the Tangerang correctional institution not only has primary and secondary schools, but also offers training courses for those who do not go to school.
Some boys are moved to Tangerang for their own safety.
"For example, if they have ..well, an enemy here, it's better for them to be moved," Pudjiono said, adding fights among inmates are unavoidable sometimes.
Conditions at Pondok Bambu detention center are shocking and discouraging.
Dudung, a 18-year old boy who had been detained in a special room for newcomers called the "quarantine room" for a fortnight, said he could not forget what he had been through, even though he had since been moved to another room.
Leader
"In my quarantine room in Pondok Bambu, there was a boy who became the leader in the room. He was supported by some kind of bodyguards called brengos. They asked for the money and food we received from people who visited us," Dudung said, adding that newcomers and vulnerable detainees were their prey.
Pudjiono said inmates are always encouraged to report any problems, which the officers are always ready to solve.
"But, we have only 10 officers, including those who are in charge of guarding the gate," he said.
There are three 20-square-meter quarantine rooms in Pondok Bambu with about 20 people in each room.
"It smelled bad all the time because the toilet, which was located at the end of the room, did not work well and it was very dirty," Dudung told The Jakarta Post, adding that some of his ex- roommates coughed all night long.
One of the reasons newcomers are put in the "quarantine rooms" is because some of them have skin diseases.
"Some of them are street children who do not know about hygiene. So we put them in a quarantine room while we teach them about sanitary," said Pudjiono.
He added that a physician comes twice or three times a week.
In the rainy season, water usually inundates the cells as high as 25 centimeters and there are a lot of insects, he said.
Stealing
Stealing is the most common crime committed by both male and female juvenile offenders. Girls who break the law are sent to a correctional institution which is also located in Tangerang, not far from the one for boys.
There are only four girls and a boy, in the female correctional institution. Jumino was put there because he was considered too young to go to the other institution. Jumino is 11 while the youngest detainee in the institution for boys is 13 years old.
"No one will take care of him there, because there are so many inmates in the institution. Here, he is treated with mother-like care because most of officers are women," said Sri Mulatsih, an officer of the institution.
There are 104 residents in the boys' institution with 121 officers to take care of them, while the girls' institution has just the five inmates and 58 officers.
Jumino, who looks younger than 11, is from Lampung, southern Sumatra. He was sent to Tangerang weeks ago because there is no juvenile correctional institution in Lampung.
His offense was stealing a chicken.
"He stole it and was arrested before having a chance to sell it," Mulatsih said, adding that poverty had forced Jumino to steal.
The Lampung court found him guilty but Jumino did not receive any sentence term as the judges decided that he should be sent to a government institution, where he should be "guided" onto the right track. Jumino, who is called "a state child", will be released when he has shown that he can behave well.
The girls' correctional institution is implementing a system called "pavilion system", which allows the officers to pay more attention to the girls. According to the system, there is no prison cells. Rooms for the offenders are located in five blocks. In each block, there is a house, where an officer and his or her family live. The house is attached to a dormitory which can accommodate 20 offenders. Under the system, the girls can socialize with the officer's family and play with the children.
"Some girls learn how to do household chores and how to take care of babies here," Sri Mulatsih said.
Since there is no psychologist in the girls' institution, the officers become the ones the girls turn to.
Parents who can't handle their children can ask for court approval to send them to juvenile correctional institutions. These children are called "civil children." In the boys' correctional institution in Tangerang, the "civil children" are put in separate rooms which, thanks to the Dutch architecture, are big and have good ventilation.
"It will be better if the government can entrust them to ordinary families' care. But, it is difficult to find a family who is willing to do so," said Ginting, head of the Correctional Institution for boys.
Both correctional institutions for boys and girls have schools which are affiliated to state-owned schools. "Civil children" are required to pay school fees. The school fees at the girls' institution is Rp 31,000 (US$13.90) per month.
The school teachers are officers of the institutions who have been provided with teaching skills.
However, Ginting said the number of teachers is still not adequate.
Other types of training are provided at both institutions, such as carpentry, sewing, patchwork, etc. The boys' institution also organizes boy scout activities. They have participated in a National Boyscout Jamboree and cooperated with the Indonesian Boyscout Movement. Sport facilities are provided as well.
Television is available too.
"But, we don't want them to see film series featuring martial arts as we are afraid they will be influenced. It will be safe to watch state-owned television, TVRI," Ginting said. (als)