Please, protect the tourists!

Please, protect the tourists!

A few friends of mine from New Zealand and Malaysia came to
visit me in Jakarta in January. Before they came, they were
rather worried about their safety here. As I have been an expat
living here for nearly one year, I reassured them that it was
pretty safe and that Indonesia was improving itself. After much
persuasion they decided to come. Unfortunately, all that I had
promised them about the change and safety in Indonesia crashed in
my face.

On Jan. 31, 1997, at about midnight, near the Hard Rock Cafe
area, my friends and several other tourists, or non-Indonesians,
were harassed and treated badly by the police. There was a road
block and police demanded to see everyone's identification papers
but when they came to my friends, who were non-Indonesian
residents, they refused to accept their Malaysian IDs or drivers
licenses. They demanded to see their passports, otherwise they
had to pay the police a certain amount of money for each person
in order not to be taken to the police precinct in a truck.

My friends did not carry their passports because it was not
safe to do so. They offered that one of their Indonesian friends
collect them from the hotel's safety box for the police to
inspect, but they refused. They demanded the money. My friends
had spent their cash so they had very little left. The police
didn't believe them and threatened to lock them up in jail. What
crimes had my friends committed, excuse me?

Apparently, a few other tourists there were also treated the
same. Some paid but those who didn't have the money were dragged
into the truck.

Finally, the police officer managed to collect Rp 50,000 from
my friends; all they had left between them. What was intended as
a fun-filled evening turned into a nightmare. Please, tell us,
who do we call when we are faced with such a situation?

Name and address

known to the editor