The Guardian, Friday December 12, 2003
UN finds 3,000 children in Indonesian adult jails
John Aglionby in Jakarta
Three thousand Indonesian children are suffering in "horrific" conditions in adult jails, a
United Nations study revealed yesterday.
Abuse, overcrowding and illness are rife, and education is poor in the facilities where
many of Indonesia's child criminals are imprisoned. Some 90% of children who appear
in court are jailed but there are fewer than 10 juvenile detention centres to house
them.
Unicef said Indonesia should enforce a recent law that stipulates that arrest, criminal
prosecution and detention should be measures of last resort for child offenders.
Julie Lebegue, the report's co-author, said 70% of children detained in adult prisons
reoffended.
Many countries had changed their approach, but "Indonesia is only just starting to
become sensitive to the issue," she said.
Commander General Erwin Mappaseng, Indonesia's most senior detective, admitted
many of the children were suffering at the hands of law enforcement officers as much
as other inmates.
"Children in jail are often abused by adult prisoners or even the police," he said. "They
learn how to become real, hardened adult criminals."
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003
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