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.