Bali needs facility for children involved in criminal cases

Five girls have been detained at Denpasar Police Station, Denpasar, for the past week for allegedly beating up their friends. They were identified as DP, 16; MO, 17; MV, 16; RA, 15, and AO, 17, members of Cewek Macho Performance (CMP), an exclusively female biker gang established in December 2010.

While waiting for the legal process, police have detained the girls in a small room at the police’s special unit for women and children. The room does not have adequate facilities to accommodate them.

“There is no bed in the room where they are being detained. We have no choice because of the limited facilities we have. However, that’s better than detaining them in the cells with adult prisoners,” Denpasar Police spokesman Adj. Comr. Ida Bagus Made Sarjana said.

Siti Sapurah, from the Bali Child Protection Agency (LPA Bali), a foundation working for child protection, deplored the conditions. As coordinator of the legal working group of LPA Bali, she urged the local government to immediately build a dedicated shelter for children being detained for alleged criminal activities. The children would be housed in this facility during the course of their trials.

“Bali needs a special shelter for children involved in criminal activity immediately, due to the increasing number of children who are suspects in various legal cases,” Sapurah said.

The shelter was particularly needed for child prisoners who were awaiting their trials.

“While waiting for their trials, children should be placed in a special shelter, not in a police station and certainly not in a penitentiary with adult prisoners. It’s against their rights as children,” Sapurah said.

Currently, there are a number of child prisoners locked up in the overcrowded adult prison of Kerobokan awaiting the results of their trials.

They are placed in the same cells as adult prisoners. The penitentiary, which has a maximum capacity of 300 prisoners, is now home to more than 1.000 prisoners.

“We are really disappointed because the government doesn’t seem to have any concern for children’s rights. We have been asking for the shelter since 2000, but to no avail,” she said.

The issue of a lack of facilities for children involved in criminal activity was raised last year by the Australian government when an underage Australian citizen was arrested and detained for illegal drug possession.

The boy was later transferred to the immigration detention facility, which boasts much better facilities.

Ni Made Sumiati from Bali Legislative Council promised to allocate money from the state and provincial budgets for the establishment of the shelter.

“We will try to find land in a strategic place in Denpasar for the shelter. We may use a provincial asset,” the politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said, after meeting the girls in Denpasar Police Station on Thursday.

Sumiati recognized that the room where the girls were detained was inadequate. “The place is not healthy for their physical and mental health,” she said.

Utami Dwi Suryadi of the Democrat Party agreed.

“We promise to encourage the provincial administration to build a shelter as soon as possible. It is really necessary,” she said.

“Actually, they are victims of their parents’ lack of affection. The legal process is not the only way forward. They need more help,” Utami added.

Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika said that he was considering building a shelter for children involved in criminal activities.

“We will see. We have to discuss it seriously, what exactly do they need,” Pastika said.

Pastika recognized that underage prisoners needed special treatment.

“They need more attention. We don’t want them to become victims of the violence that often takes place in the adult prison,” he added.

Data from the Bali Police shows that there were 162 criminal cases involving children in 2010. In 57 of the cases children were perpetrators and in the remaining 105 cases they were victims. Most of the cases involved sexual harassment, violence and theft.