Protection against torture

Protection against torture

The uproar over the death of Tjetje in police detention has
done some good. Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman yesterday said
that Indonesia would shortly ratify the Convention Against
Torture. This is an international convention which seeks to
guarantee to all individuals -- even the biggest criminals -- the
right not to be tortured.

Indonesia actually already signed this convention a long time
ago -- to be precise on Oct.23, 1985, together with 80 other
countries. By that act the Indonesian state acknowledged to the
international community its moral obligation to protect any
person in areas under Indonesian jurisdiction against the threat
of torture in whatever form. For reasons unclarified, however,
Indonesia has still not ratified the document.

However, it must be remembered that a ratification of the
convention does not necessarily mean that there will be no more
cases of torture by officials. This must be underlined because
our problem is often not that laws are lacking. Rather, it is the
fact that existing laws are often not properly implemented. Take
for example the protection which our present code of criminal law
procedures (KUHAP) affords crime suspects. Apart from the
shortcomings which this code may contain, a faithful
implementation of its stipulations would have prevented torture
such as that endured by Tjetje from happening.

Our main problem, actually, concerns the extent to which we
are willing to faithfully implement existing laws and
regulations. Any regulation and any document is easily enough
violated as long as we lack the moral conscience and moral
commitment that are necessary for them to be effective.

-- Republika, Jakarta