Youth groups urge death penalty for drug offenses

Youth groups urge death penalty for drug offenses

JAKARTA (JP): Describing themselves as future leaders of the
nation, heads of youth organizations declared on Saturday their
full backing of an all-out war on drugs.

The chairman of the Indonesian Youth National Committee
(KNPI), Adhyaksa, said the government should immediately
institute the death penalty for convicted drug producers and
traffickers, as well as strict sentencing of users.

"Indonesia is not only a consumer nation, but also a producer
of drugs. The nation is already in a dangerous position," he told
a media conference announcing an antidrug declaration by the New
Millennium Youth Forum (FMMB), held at the KNPI building on Jl.
H.R. Rasuna Said in Kuningan subdistrict, South Jakarta.

The forum, which derives its main support from KNPI, is
working on an action program to pressure the government and
legislative bodies to make Indonesia a "death-sentence area" for
drug producers and traffickers.

It, in cooperation with other youth and non-governmental
organizations, plans to mobilize students and young people in
nine major cities -- Jakarta, Medan in North Sumatra, Bandung in
West Java, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Balikpapan in East
Kalimantan, Manado in North Sulawesi and Makassar in South
Sulawesi.

FMMB chairman Jeffrey Rawis said they would soon organize
activities to pressure the government to try law enforcement
officers implicated in cases of drug abuse.

Adhyaksa added that a KNPI special team identified 18 cases of
drug abuse involving law enforcers in four cities.

"We'll disclose all the officers' drug abuse cases, but first
we have to complete the evidence," he said.

Adhyaksa challenged the National Commission on Human Rights to
put drug cases at the top of its agenda.

"Drug abuse is already a national concern, and the commission
should not only focus on political or military matters.

"Drug problems are far more crucial to solve."

He added that widespread drug abuse was threatening the
country's future by destroying the younger generation.

"The human rights commission must have the courage to
investigate and reveal the big names behind all the drug
producing and trafficking here, and take them to court."

Adhyaksa said antidrug movements should be simultaneously
conducted and well coordinated between the youth groups,
society, the government and other concerned parties.

"Each antidrug movement will work individually, but move in
unison to form a 'national movement'," he said.

A presidium member of the Indonesian Nationalist Students
Movement (GMNI), Arif Fadillah, separately told The Jakarta Post
that his group paid serious attention to the nationwide campaign
against drugs, but focused on strengthening young people's
resistance to taking drugs.

"People who are trapped by drug abuse are usually those who
couldn't find the right way or place to express themselves," Arif
said.

"So, we are thinking of establishing an organization to
provide an umbrella for their creativity and interests.

"We'll reestablish the Indonesian Nationalist High School
Students Movement (GSNI), which is expected to stimulate their
interest in organizational activities or environmental concern."

He urged the government to provide the legal instruments,
including strict regulations and principled law enforcement
officers.

"There are still many loopholes in Indonesia's legal system,"
Arif said. (01)