tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4084526185388158224.post1405328020614644460..comments2016-11-28T04:15:08.424-08:00Comments on Crazy Day$ In Jakarta : Vivre en Indonésie par des expatriés français à Jakarta: La peau lisse (par DG)The Jakarta Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16844574658788279228noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4084526185388158224.post-74724343112408426132012-03-09T16:07:00.829-08:002012-03-09T16:07:00.829-08:00Aucun respect. C'est pas votre pays et la mani...Aucun respect. C'est pas votre pays et la manière dont vous en parlé j'aurai honte. Faut retourner en France avec des paragraphe pareil. Le pire c'est le mariage.je sais pas comment voir osez parler comme ça. Bref, hein heureusement que yen à très peu des commes vous.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4084526185388158224.post-71764154999453296102007-09-14T01:02:00.000-07:002007-09-14T01:02:00.000-07:00Commentary: Police should prevent, not perpetrate ...Commentary: Police should prevent, not perpetrate crime <BR/><BR/><BR/>By PHILIP SETUNGA <BR/><BR/><BR/>HONG KONG -- Who is the most important protector in a country <BR/>for any citizen? Who saves the public from anarchy? Who can <BR/>people rely on when chaos seems to reign, when crimes are <BR/>uprooting the country and social stability and trust disappear? <BR/>The police! They can maintain order, ensure security and provide <BR/>a social environment without fear. <BR/><BR/><BR/>Far away from this dream are the realities in Indonesia. One <BR/>example of the numerous victims of police oppression is <BR/>Suherman, who was killed by police officers of the Medan <BR/>District on April 11, 2007. The chain of events surrounding his <BR/>case illustrates the reckless attitude of many Indonesian <BR/>policemen -- an attitude that results from the absence of any <BR/>checks on the behavior of police officers. <BR/><BR/><BR/>Suherman's tragedy began at 3:30 a.m. on April 11, when 30 <BR/>policemen in civilian clothes entered the house of his sister. <BR/>Overwhelmed and shocked by the mob trying to enter her home, she <BR/>explained that the person they were looking for -- Suherman -- <BR/>was not in the house. <BR/><BR/><BR/>How would one expect a policeman to react in this situation? Had <BR/>they produced a search warrant, one would expect an <BR/>investigation of the premises to follow. <BR/><BR/><BR/>However, the practice of police work in Indonesia is different. <BR/>The men pointed their guns at Suherman's sister, even though she <BR/>did not present any threat. The message conveyed by the <BR/>officers' reckless behavior is reminiscent of a bad action <BR/>movie: "Tell us where your brother is, or we will kill you." <BR/><BR/><BR/>Obviously, Suherman's sister was intimidated. What other <BR/>violence would be possible if a large group of men could force <BR/>entry into her house in the middle of the night? She led the <BR/>group to her brother's house, where he was found and taken away. <BR/>He was not the only thing that disappeared that night, however. <BR/><BR/><BR/>One would expect police to make a careful investigation of the <BR/>house in search of evidence against an arrested suspect. <BR/>However, neither was Suherman charged nor did any investigation <BR/>take place. Instead, the police robbed the house of virtually <BR/>all its valuables, including 100 million rupiah (US$11,000), <BR/>watches, handbags, ATM cards, a car and more. <BR/><BR/><BR/>While Suherman's wife and family were taken to a nearby police <BR/>station, the victim was taken in another direction and never <BR/>returned alive. The police are supposed to investigate murders, <BR/>not commit them. However, hours later in the morning Suherman's <BR/>desperate wife was informed that her husband's dead body had <BR/>been found. Police procedures require officers to allow her to <BR/>identify the corpse immediately, but that too only took place <BR/>one day later. <BR/><BR/><BR/>The husband was gone, the valuables were gone and the wife's <BR/>anger led her to complain about the killing of her husband. <BR/>Another policeman offered her about US$50 as compensation for <BR/>her loss, to avoid any trouble with the justice system, but she <BR/>pursued her case anyway. <BR/><BR/><BR/>Until now, Medan police officers have continued to harass the <BR/>widow and other family members. The latest attempt to force her <BR/>to withdraw the case was to implicate the victim's sister in a <BR/>money laundering case. There might not be any evidence, but <BR/>there is enough ruthlessness among Indonesian officials to <BR/>pursue such a cruel plan. <BR/><BR/><BR/>If this example gives the impression that Indonesia is a police <BR/>state, it is not quite right. While in other parts of the <BR/>country the police are, indeed, used as a means for political <BR/>control of the people, the story of Suherman's killing shows the <BR/>opposite -- the police are out of control. As in many other <BR/>cases, police work often serves the interests of the police <BR/>officers, not the interest of law enforcement. <BR/><BR/><BR/>This incident is just one example. Sadly, many more cases like <BR/>this take place daily all over the country. Indonesia is still a <BR/>country in which those with weapons and titles rule, not those <BR/>with the law on their side. Police reform has long been <BR/>suggested but repeatedly postponed. How many more victims one <BR/>can expect in the future depends on the government's action to <BR/>implement changes. <BR/><BR/><BR/>The case of Suherman indicates how violent and out of control <BR/>the police can be with middle-class citizens. What do the police <BR/>do if the person is poor? <BR/><BR/><BR/>(Philip Setunga is a staff member of the Asian Human Rights <BR/>Commission in Hong Kong responsible for the organization's <BR/>research on Indonesia. He has a doctorate in sociology.)Samuel Pistos Vernazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07800194826574022402noreply@blogger.com