Three thousand Indonesian children are suffering in ”horrific” conditions in adult jails, a United Nations study revealed on Thursday.
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 Â