Tragedy in prison

Tragedy in prison

Although the controversy over last month's death of Tjetje
Tadjudin in police custody has not died down, the nation is now
shocked by the death of Lambertus Lele Koban at Pondok Bambu
Penitentiary in Jakarta. The circumstances of the two deaths are
different. All signs suggest that Tjetje died of torture. While
there are no such indications in the death of 13-year-old
Lambertus, it is nevertheless a tragedy that a youngster died
while supposedly under the care of the state.

Preliminary investigations, including an autopsy, say he died
of a respiratory problem. His family suspects that the illness
was caused by poor facilities at the penitentiary, and has asked
a lawyer to explore the possibility of a lawsuit.

Pending the official investigation and the possible court
trial, Lambertus' death calls for a review of the condition of
our prisons.

There have been many reports about inadequate facilities in
the country's prisons. Some were in written form, or related by
former inmates. Others we learned of the violent way, such as the
mutiny in Tanjung Kusta Prison in Medan last March in which six
people were burnt alive by fellow inmates, or the prison riot in
Dili, East Timor in January, in which one inmate was killed.

News of prison deaths, violence and mutinies would probably
make effective deterrents in an authoritarian state. But
Indonesia is not one. In fact, only last year, the House of
Representatives enacted an improved law on correctional
institutions. The 1995 law states the function of a correctional
facility is exactly what the words imply: to correct or reform a
person, a process to prepare someone for their return to society.
A correctional facility is not, and should not be seen as, a
place of punishment.

Those who are sent to correctional facilities are under the
care of the state. Whatever befalls the inmates, the state is
responsible. The conditions of the prisons, therefore, must meet
some basic standards. We are not suggesting that rooms, the
sanitation and the food must be like that found in hotels, but
they must meet some minimum requirements.

Reports abound about the poor water quality, not only its
shortage, in prisons. Some of the illnesses befalling the inmates
may have been caused by poor sanitation and water. The reports
that some inmates enjoyed hotel-standard facilities -- like the
widely publicized case of convicted businessman Edi Tansil,
shortly before his escape in May -- have also surfaced now and
then, but these are likely to be exceptions to the rule.

There is also the question of the safety of prisoners from
possible torture by fellow inmates. The Tanjung Kusta mutiny was
a real-life drama of something many of us thought only happened
in Hollywood film studios. Then there are the reports of rampant
bribery by wardens, such as illegal fees imposed on inmates, and
on their relatives during visiting days.

The unannounced visit by a senior official of the National
Development Planning Board to the Cipinang Penitentiary
yesterday, as reported by Antara, gave him, and the public, some
idea about the poor conditions in what is supposed to be one of
the country's best-run prisons. But what the planning board
official saw in such a short visit was a glimpse of a bigger
picture about the sorry state of our prisons. His promise to seek
more government funding to improve the conditions is a welcome
gesture, but let's hope the government's effort does not stop
there.

Lambertus' death, and the mutinies we saw in Medan and Dili
this year call into question the overall conditions of our
correctional facilities. An independent investigation is
certainly merited now. The National Commission on Human Rights
could probably take up the initiative.