Imparsial

Over Capacity of Prisons, Government Accused of Violating Human Rights

CNN Indonesia | Monday, 13/09/2021 05:30 WIB

Jakarta, CNN Indonesia — A number of civil society organizations consider the problem of overcapacity in prisons as a violation of human rights or human rights.
The Advocacy Division of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) Chikita Edrini Marpaung stated that the overcapacity condition of prisons is a real form of the government committing human rights violations.

“Can the government be suspected of committing human rights violations? Certain. Because earlier, human rights violations were clearly in front of us,” said Chikita in a virtual discussion, Sunday (12/9).

Furthermore, according to Chikita, overcapacity in prisons is inhumane. He gave an example, with these conditions, in one cell can be inhabited up to 20-30 inmates.

"For example, when we talk about human rights standards, normatively, in the Correctional Law, when we talk about the size of the room, the conditions are very inappropriate and must be huddled together," he said.

With these conditions, other impacts arise such as the inmates' health conditions, inadequate sanitation conditions, to the condition of health services in prisons that are not optimal.

"So when we talk about the basic principles of human rights in the penitentiary system, we know this, the prisoner must be treated as they are human beings," said Chikita.

Similarly, Imparsial researcher Hussein Ahmad said that the overcapacity condition of the prison was a violation of the rights of prisoners. According to him, inmates can still get their rights like humans.

“At the very least this is an inhumane treatment systematically carried out by the country. It already knows the problem, yet still getting ignored" said Hussein.

Hussein said that overcapacity in prisons is a recurring problem that has never been solved. Based on the March 2020 Judicial Monitoring Coalition report, there are currently 270,466 inmates in prisons in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the total capacity of prisons in Indonesia can only accommodate 132,335 people. This means that the burden borne by the prison building is 204 percent.

In detail, based on records by PBHI, there are at least five prisons in Indonesia that are over capacity by more than 200 percent. First, the Bagan Ready-api Prison currently has 893 occupants, while its capacity is only 98 people, or 811 percent over capacity.

Then, in the Class IIB IDI Prison with the number of occupants as many as 447 people. In fact, the prison's capacity is only 63 people, which means that the prison's capacity is over 610 percent.

Furthermore, the Class II Kerobokan Prison has 1,229 occupants, while the total capacity is only 323 people. This means that prisons have an excess of 329 percent.

Next is the Class IIB Tasikmalaya prison with a total occupant of 381 people, with a capacity of only 88 people. This means that the prison is overcapacity by up to 333 percent.

Finally, the Class IA Tangerang prison has 2,060 residents, while the total capacity is only able to accommodate 600 people. This means that the prison exceeds 243 percent of its original capacity.

The problem of overcapacity in prisons has resurfaced after the fire incident at the Tangerang Class I Prison, Wednesday morning. As a result of the incident, at least 45 people died.

A total of 40 people died at the site of the fire, one person died when they were about to be taken to the hospital, while four others died after being treated.

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