Family Asks for Mass Amnesty for Victims Killed in Tangerang Prison Fire

Kadek Melda Luxiana – detikNews
Thursday, October 28th, 2021 20:03 WIB

Jakarta Detik.com - A number of families of victims of the Tangerang prison fire came to The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM). They complained about alleged human rights violations in the deadly fire incident at the Tangerang prison.
They came accompanied by the Fire Victims Advocacy Team (TAKK) consisting of LBH Masyarakat (LBHM), LBH Jakarta, Imparsial, and LPBH NU Tangerang. Of the nine families who complained to them, seven of them asked for legal assistance.

"From the statement of the victim's family, there are at least seven findings that were found from the post-Tangerang prison fire response process that was submitted to Komnas HAM," said Ma'ruf Bajammal's Advocacy Team for Fire Victims at Komnas HAM, Thursday (28/10/2021).

Ma'ruf said there was no clear identification of the body of the deceased. The second finding, he said, was an alleged non-disclosure of the delivery of the body to the family.

"In fact, until the last time the deceased was buried, there was no accurate information showing on what basis the victim's body could really be identified. That at the time of handing over the victim's body to the family, the body was put in a coffin that had been tightly closed so that it was not possible for the family to open it themselves," he said.

Ma'ruf said there were also findings of the alleged inadequacy of the coffins of the dead. He said the family of the deceased had bought the coffin by themselves.

"Based on the information from the victim's family who took the victim's body, the body was put into a coffin with the names of each victim written on it with paper attached to the coffin. The coffin is made of ordinary plywood which is not suitable for use as a coffin," he said.

"Therefore, there are families of victims who even buy their own coffin so that it can be placed in a proper coffin," he continued.

Ma'ruf said his party also found allegations of intimidation against the family during the signing of administrative documents and taking the bodies of the victims. Fifth, he said, there was an alleged attempt to silence the victim's family.

"That at the time of signing the documents, the location of the signing and the location of the placement of the bodies in different locations. The location of the bodies on the first floor, while the signing on the second floor. The victim's family was then taken up the stairs to the second floor to enter a room that the victim's family felt was not suitable for signing documents. At the time of the signing, the victim's family was asked to sign in a hurry, surrounded by many people," he explained.

"At the time of signing the documents at the time of handing over the victim's body with conditions that indicated intimidation, there was a statement given to the victim's family to be signed, which contained a statement that there would be no demands to the prison and other sides in the future," he continued.

He also said that there was no continuous psychological assistance to the victim's family after the handover of the victim's body. Finally, he said, the government gave them 30 million IDR which was deemed not helpful.

"The government after the handover of the bodies seems to have let go and does not provide psychological assistance to the victim's family who at least need medical assistance from the trauma after the Tangerang prison fire incident. Based on information from the victim's family, the government gave at least Rp. 30 million. The money is said to be a form of money from the government for the Tangerang prison fire," he said.

The Fire Victims Advocacy Team (TAKK) submitted a number of demands to the government:

1. We demand that the government restore the status of the dead by granting mass amnesty to the dead.
2. We demand that the Government has good intentions to provide appropriate compensation according to the needs of each victim's family.
3. We demand that the National Human Rights Commission of the Republic of Indonesia to follow up on reports of alleged human rights violations over the Tangerang prison fire incident.

The deadly fire at the Tangerang Class I Prison occurred in the early hours of Wednesday (8/9). As a result of the fire, as many as 49 inmates were burned to death at the location and dozens of others were injured.