Most juvenile prisoners involved in stealing

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)