Team finds further violence at STPDN

Team finds further violence at STPDN

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

Efforts by the government to stop violence at the Public
Administration Institute (STPDN) in Sumedang, West Java, may only
be rhetoric after the recent killing of a junior student, which
sparked public outcry against the school.

An independent team investigating violence in the school said
on Monday that it found three new cases of attacks by older
students last month.

But the school management, which has been taken over by the
Ministry of Home Affairs, has not punished the perpetrators, even
though they had vowed to end violence there, team chairman Farid
R. Faqih said.

He said that based on Decree No. 15/2002 on the STPDN
management issued by the ministry, any student found guilty of
committing violent acts in the school must be expelled.

"We are concerned because the violence on the campus is well
organized. Senior and junior students cover up for each other.
They claim they were just acting playfully. The school
administrators should be firmer in handling the cases," he said.

The three new cases of violence took place on Oct. 5, Oct. 23
and Oct. 28, 2003, in incidents where senior students beat their
juniors.

Faid said that in the Oct. 5 incident, an older student beat a
junior student and this was immediately reported to STPDN chief I
Nyoman Sumardi.

However, Sumardi decided not to take any action after both
sides claimed they were just fooling around, he added.

In the second case, at least 11 seniors bullied four juniors
on Oct. 23, while five days later another older student beat a
younger student in a similar incident.

Farid expressed doubt over the administrators' seriousness in
putting a halt to the violence in their school.

Sumardi confirmed his office could take legal action against
the suspects and victims as they all denied beating or even being
beaten.

The STPDN made headlines recently after the death of Wahyu
Hidayat, 20, who was allegedly tortured by his seniors. It was
not the first incident of its kind at the institute.

Three years ago, Erie Rakhman died after also being beaten by
older students. Seven students were charged in the death of Erie
and were sentenced to prison by the Sumedang District Court.

The investigation into Wahyu's death last July revealed that
the culture of violence was deeply rooted in the institute, which
is expected to produce future bureaucrats.

Sumedang Police have completed the dossiers of the suspects in
Wahyu's death and handed them over to prosecutors.