General News
Go easy on kids, elderly, disabled, says Yudhoyono
Erwida Maulia
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called for lighter sentences for children, the elderly and the disabled, saying the punishment handed down to these โfeebleโ groups should be less stringent than for regular offenders.
The President made the call Tuesday during a visit to a juvenile penitentiary in Tangerang, home to more than 130 male inmates under the age of 19.
โMy visit here today is part of the governmentโs efforts to overhaul the system, policy and regulation for returning [juvenile offenders] to society,โ Yudhoyono said at a press conference after his inspection of the facility.
โAfter this visit and after studying various reports and suggestions on the matter, the government will in the near future launch concrete measures and perhaps make a fundamental change in the existing policies related to efforts to educate these punished children.โ
He also decried the notion that juvenile offenders be sentenced as adults.
He said different approaches should be used to cope with underage criminals, adding his Cabinet had placed extra attention on the issue of child protection.
โFor children, especially those under the age of 15, the concept [of punishment] should not be a strict prison, but rather a special kind of education, counseling and treatment to bring these lost children back on the right path,โ Yudhoyono said.
He added the โdifferent concept of justiceโ should also apply to other โfeeble and marginalizedโ groups, including the elderly and the disabled.
โThe same concept should extend to those who steal money in order to make ends meet, for instance, as opposed to those who steal in the absence of such a pressing burden,โ he said.
Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar, accompanying Yudhoyono on the visit, said his office would draw up a bill on a special judicial system for children, the elderly and the disabled.
Given the Presidentโs special attention on the matter, he said, the bill could be submitted to the House of Representatives by the end of the year for deliberation.
Patrialis added his office would make โa breakthroughโ by proposing clemency for juvenile offenders who had served out half of their prison sentences.
There are currently more than 5,100 juveniles in detention nationwide, 500 of whom will be eligible for the planned clemency, the minister said.
Yudhoyono spent two hours at the prison, touring the facilities and seeing how the inmates spent their time.
He was reported to have mostly asked them how they felt about their sentences, whether they regretted the crimes they had committed, and whether they missed their parents and friends.
Yudhoyono also encouraged them to reform and embrace a crime-free future.
โI guess what you did was a mistake,โ he was reported as saying to several groups of the juvenile
offenders. โEveryone makes mistakes. Whatโs important is that in the future you will all be nice, capable Indonesian kids.
โMy wife and I, the ministers, the governor and the mayor all pray that you will all be good kids and that your hopes for the future will come true,โ he added.
Additional Information
Country: Indonesia
Website: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/02/17/go-easy-kids-elderly-disabled-says-yudhoyono.html
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Source: Mail from: MORI, Soya
When: 22/2/2010
