Incarceration in Indonesia

Written by Nikki Edwards

Category:Edition 113: Jul-Sep 2013

Published:Jul 23, 2013

Tagged under

 Editorial
 Justice System

Overcrowded and corrupt

The inhabitants of Indonesia’s gaols are primarily convicted criminals. These people often
come from the most marginalised parts of society. Once incarcerated, in a country where the
social services budget is never enough go around, it is all too easy for those in gaol to bear
the brunt of inadequate funding. Leopold Sudaryono sets the scene, writing about
Indonesia’s overflowing prisons and the failure of government reform initiatives to improve
the situation. His article calls for radical reform, contending that conditions are almost
unbearable. Tim Mann’s article, by contrast, shows how the situation is not so bad for
everyone. In an article which weaves in stories of the rich and famous, Mann contends that
those with wealth often get off lightly, thus bringing into question the retributive function of
prison.

Not all the stories about imprisonment of criminals included here are negative. Julie
Chernov Hwang presents a close study of the disengagement of a Posonese jihadi while in
prison. She argues that prison time can provide the space to disengage from terrorist
ideology, although incarceration is just one of many possible factors that contribute to
disengagement. Josh Stenberg and Ad Akbar finish this first cluster of articles on an even
brighter note, describing a prisoner-organised theatre performance in a Bandung gaol. Their
piece outlines how Indonesian’s love of singing and performance is able to find expression
even in gaol, where having a creative outlet helps prisoners manage their emotions during
their incarceration and reintegrate into society upon release.

Justice denied
While the conditions in which criminals are incarcerated is an important human rights issue,
the imprisonment of individuals who are not ‘criminals’ at all raises broader concerns about
power and injustice. Over the years the Indonesian government has imprisoned many people
whose actions would not be considered criminal in other countries. This category includes
prisoners whose crimes can be described as ‘political’ and asylum seekers. Antje
Missbach and Frieda Sinanu describe the practice of imprisoning asylum seekers when they
have committed no crime, and neither rehabilitation nor retribution is sought. In an article
which describes the appalling conditions in Indonesian detention centres, they contend that
the expansion of Indonesia’s immigration detention network is primarily driven by
international demands that the Indonesian government make transiting through the country
more difficult.
While the detention of asylum seekers is increasing, there are now far fewer political
prisoners that there were during the Suharto era. Journalist Eko Maryadi describes his
incarceration for violating press regulations, concluding with an upbeat description of the
improvement in press freedom since 1998 and the parallel rise of his own career.

This does not mean, however, that politically motivated incarceration has stopped. Yap
Inyerop’s article traces the stories of several Papuans who have been gaoled for their alleged
support of West Papuan independence. Yap contends that freedom of political expression
continues to be tightly limited in Papua, with many Papuans – both those who have
deliberately challenged Indonesian law and those who are accidentally caught up in the
struggle – still locked in gaols for what can be described as political crimes.

Balancing the scales

Overall, the articles in this edition demonstrates that if incarceration is taken as microcosm
for the assessment of human rights protection, then Indonesia still has a long way to go.
Certainly things have progressed significantly since the Suharto era. Yet political prisoners
still remain and – as in other countries throughout the world – more and more asylum seekers
are being held as if they were criminals.

Most of those who are imprisoned, regardless of the reason, are held in very poor conditions,
except those who can use the corrupt system to buy a better standard of living even behind
bars. This injustice within the criminal justice system needs to be addressed for there to be
any possibility of prisons performing the rehabilitative function for which they are so often
justified.

Although the news of the North Sumatra gaol riot will soon fade from public memory, it is
vital that both domestic and international audiences keep a watchful eye on Indonesian gaols
into the future, to encourage the development of greater human rights protection in this area.

Nikki Edwards (nedw8099@uni.sydney.edu.au) completed Honours in Indonesian Studies at

the University of Sydney and is now a Juris Doctor candidate at the University of New South
Wales.

Inside Indonesia 113: Jul-Sep 2013