RI's children rights neglected
Our children are the future of the country. But do they receive the treatment which befits this honorable position in a nation which has committed itself to upholding the rights of minors? In conjunction with National Children's Day of July 23, The Jakarta Post team of Benget Simbolon Tnb, Budiman Moerdijat, Devi M. Asmarani, Ida Indawati Khouw, Primastuti Handayani, Reiner Simanjuntak, Sugianto Tandra and photographer P.J. Leo explore the issue here together with Gin Kurniawan and Sumanto in Yogyakarta.
JAKARTA (JP): "Your child is not your possession," proclaims a sticker on the back of a car.
This statement is self-evident and is at the core of what is known as children's rights.
Children's rights?
"Come on, do we really want to stuff our youngsters full of those sort of ideas?" Novie, a working mother, said.
"What next, more time to play?" she sneered.
Novie possess an attitude which prevails in many countries like Indonesia, namely that the concept of children's rights is a lofty idealistic proposal supported only by a handful of elite groups and non-governmental organizations.
But acknowledging children's rights is not a new thing for the country.
In January 1990, the government ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The convention guarantees that every child -- any person below 18 years old -- has the right to live and grow in a safe and healthy environment. The government must ensure this if parents or guardians cannot.
In a nutshell, the convention states that all actions which affect children must take full account of their best interests, without exception.
What has happened since then? Has there been progress towards strengthening children's rights in the country? Has the government fulfilled its commitments as a signatory to the convention? Has it promoted a society where the rights of children are regarded as equal to the basic human rights of adults?
"Far from it," says Damanhuri Rosadi, the Head of the Forum of Communication for Children's Cultivation and Development.
"Our adults still neglect to recognize the value and dignity of their children," Damanhuri said.
Examples of violations of children's rights are evident throughout our society, from highly publicized cases of physical and sexual abuse down to subtle examples of abuse in the home such as neglecting a child's right to express his or her opinion, an entitlement clearly stated in the convention.
One of the most overlooked rights is the entitlement to a name and nationality which is institutionalized through the issuance of a birth certificate.
According to a recently published Unicef study, no more than 60 percent of children in Indonesia have birth certificates.
In Indonesia a birth certificate is required to obtain an official identity card, enroll a child in school, obtain a passport, and in some cases to get a job.
A child without a birth certificate is automatically robbed of the possibility of obtaining an official name and nationality and the services which his or her country and society can offer.
The convention also requires the state to protect the civil rights of the child.
However, in practice there is one obvious type of discrimination taking place which is perpetrated both by the government and society at large.
Girls
Girls are still blatantly discriminated against.
In rural villages girls are still often educated to a lower level than boys. In some cases, girls are used as a vehicle out of poverty through forced unions with partners from more affluent backgrounds.
Unicef reported that 17 percent of Indonesia's female children aged between 15 and 19 years old were either married or living in cohabitation, compared to only 2 percent of male children in the same age group.
This results in 58,000 babies being born to mothers of those ages every year and has been linked to high infant and maternal mortality rates in many areas.
Young girls are also often the victims of abuse and exploitation.
The Indonesian Children's Welfare Foundation (YKAI) reported that young girls made up 87 percent of the victims in the 538 cases of sexual abuse which were recorded in the country between 1994 to 1997.
Sadly, the majority of the perpetrators were either members of the victims' families or those close to them, such as their teachers.
Girls are also often the victims of exploitative enterprises such as child prostitution. It is not uncommon for people to earn large amounts of money by selling the virginity of girls in their early teens.
This practice does not go unnoticed by the authorities, but instead of protecting the children, local police and village authorities often take a cut from the sordid business.
Brutality
In many cases, not only do the authorities fail to protect children, it is them who deprive them of their rights.
Catholic priest Sandyawan Sumardi says the authorities often force street children to do unthinkable things when they have them in their power.
"They shave their heads, or force them to lick the floor before they kick them out of train stations," said Sandyawan, who chairs the Jakarta Social Institute which works to help the urban poor. Street children often go on to imitate this brutality in their harsh lives, he added.
Sandyawan said street children who witnessed the violence of the recent May riots were badly affected.
"At the recent jamboree for street children they yelled 'loot... burn!' while they played. Some even yelled 'rape!'" Sandyawan said.
Unicef recorded at least 50,000 street children in the country prior to the economic crisis which started in the middle of last year. Reports have said that the number has grown since then, clearly indicating the government's failure to resolve yet another major problem.
Children are vulnerable to physical abuse because the country lacks both a law or the awareness to prevent minors from falling victim to domestic violence.
"If someone sees their neighbor physically abusing their child, he or she will most likely not report it to the authorities," Damanhuri said.
Indonesian children's rights have very weak legal protection according to Arist Merdeka Sirait, a child rights activist from the Indonesian Committee for the Creative Education of Child Labor Foundation.
"Indonesia has no special law for child protection.. (nor for) health. How can you provide protection and welfare for children when you don't even have these basic laws?" he said.
Currently laws pertaining to children are scattered across many different acts, with the exception of the 1979 law on children's welfare, which is considered by many to be inadequate.
Children's rights are included in the labor law, marriage law, and the child court law, which was issued last year. These laws contradict one another, even in simple matters such as defining the age up to which an individual is considered to be a minor in the eyes of the court.
The child welfare law states that a child is an individual who is under 21 and not married. The labor law rules that children below the age of 15 are not allowed to work. The minimum age at which boys and girls can legally marry are different under the marriage law, and the criminal legal system basically treats juvenile offenders as adults.
"There are many laws, but not a comprehensive one that guarantees that child's rights will be observed and that those who neglect, abuse, and exploit children will be punished," Damanhuri said. He argued that parents, companies, the military, police and the government must all be made liable for any abuse of children's rights which they are found guilty of perpetrating. (team)