R

iding her motorcycle, the 35-year-old Luh Tuti was heading to Kerobokan prison near Kuta to visit her two teenage boys, Made and Gede. Bringing her sons' favorite food and decent clothes for their court session, Tuti looked sad.

"I cannot believe that my two boys were stealing others' property. "They used to be good boys," the mother said.

Made, 13, and his older brother Gede, 16, were arrested by the police whenthey were caught stealing at a vacant house on Jalan Drupadi, Renon, home to affluent people living in Bali.

Made and his brother are in Kerobokan prison as they wait for their trials. "Every day, I visit my sons and bring them breakfast," Tuti said.

A problem arose when she was told she had to pay an "entry fee," at Rp 10,000 (US$1) per day to an official at the prison.

"It is burdensome for people with not much money, such as myself.

"I earn little money, around Rp 20,000 to Rp 50,000 a day as a house maid," she said. Made and Gede were allegedly involved in petty crimes by accident. "We met a number of boys while we were running at Renon Park," recalled Gede, a second year student at a private high school in Denpasar.

The boys asked the two brothers to steal mangoes. Later they insisted the brothers break into a house and steal valuables. "We did not know the boys.

"We regret our actions," added Made, who is in junior high school.

Living in a crowded prison room shared by eight more boys was a horrible experience for the two boys, they said. They said they did not enjoy sleeping on the floor.

"The bathroom dirty and smelly," said Gede adding they suffer from serious skin problems. "There is no flush system. If we want to defecate, we have to have a plastic bag." Every morning, the children sweep and clean the prison halls. They work outside of their prison room from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"After that we are locked up in our cells," Made said.

In addition to poor health conditions, these young people also face abuse from inmates.

"There are many fights. The younger prisoners are bullied the worst," he said. Luh Putu Anggraeni, deputy chairwoman of the Bali Commission for Child Protection was so concerned about the prison's poor condition.

"There are many children involve in petty to serious crimes," Anggareni said.

However, treatment and punishment for young people must differ from adults, she said.

"Children and teenagers should not be held in prison while they wait for judicial processes," she said.

Kerobokan and other prisons in Indonesia lack proper facilities for young people. "Children and teenagers are in a period of transition," she said. "They are emotionally and physically vulnerable.

Locking them in prison will cause traumatic effects that can last for a long time," she said.

Kerobokan prison chief Suswanto admitted that facilities for young inmates were far from ideal, due to limited funding.

"I promise to improve the condition, but we need to determine where we can receive funding," Suswanto pointed out.

Bali Police chief Insp. Gen Sutisna shared a similar view, saying that in the past, only a few criminal cases involved children and teenagers.

"Therefore, we did not pay too much attention to the issue," he said.

The commission, Anggraeni said, annually receives at least 65 cases of crimes involving young people.