CHILD PROTECTION CRUCIAL FOR INDONESIA'S FUTURE by Fardah

    Jakarta, May 8, 2014 (Antara) - The revelation of a sexual assault of a five-year-old boy at the Jakarta International School (JIS) was like "opening Pandora's box" as child abuses cases have "flown" from several parts of the country since then.

         "The silent" crimes against innocent children have come out to the surface almost at the same time from regions, such as Sukabumi in West Java, Aceh, North Sumatra and Riau provinces lately.

        In Sukabumi, West Java, at least 114 small boys in the Citamiang Subdistrict had reportedly become victims of sexual assaults committed by a 24-year-old man identified by his first name as Emon.

        An aunt of one of Emon's alleged victims reported to the police that her 11-year-old nephew, US, died due to injuries from the sodomy.

        "When he came home from a trip to the Citamiang hot spring, US complained of acute pain in his private parts. A few days later, the child could not go to the toilet and his body temperature had also shot up. We hospitalized him for a few days, but then decided to take alternative medication due to financial problems," the aunt, Ya, stated.

         Sukabumi Police Chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Hari Santoso said on May 8 that Emon wrote 120 names of his victims in his diary, but so far only 114 victims had filed reports with the police. Emon's victims were boys aged between six and 13 years.

          In Aceh Province, a police officer had reportedly sexually abused five girls aged between eight to ten years in the Meuraxa Sub-district, Banda Aceh.

           "If there are facts, we will take stern action based on the law. The case is a violation of the law by the police personnel," Chief the National Police Headquarters' Public Information Bureau Brigadier General Boy Rafli stated in Jakarta recently.

          In Medan, North Sumatra, a seven-year-old boy was sodomized by his teacher. In Dumai, Riau Province, ES, 49, raped his two step daughters aged 12 and 13 years.

         As for the JIS case, the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) had discovered another alleged victim of sexual assault at the international school in South Jakarta.

         Hidayatullah.com quoted the KPAI to report that around 400 children annually become victims of sexual violence throughout Indonesia. "The majority of the victims are boys because they are easier to be persuaded by pedophiles," KPAI Secretary General Erlinda said.

          From the common people to Indonesia's National Commission for the Protection of Children (Komnas PA), Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Linda Amalia Sari Gumelar, National Police Chief General Sutarman and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had expressed their concern, and condemned and called for meting out a more stringent punishment to child rapists and molesters.

           "Komnas PA will recommend to the Parliament's Commission III to amend the Law No. 23/2002 on Child Protection to impose stricter  punishment against the perpetrators," Arist Merdeka Sirait, the Komnas PA chairman, said recently.

            He noted that the existing law imposing a sentence of 15 years in jail was too lenient. The sentence against those committing child sexual violence should be 20 years in jail and a maximum of life sentence, he said.

          "We are all deeply concerned about the incident. We condemn it. It is totally an intolerable act," Minister Linda Amalia Sari Gumelar said, while calling for the heaviest punishment for perpetrators of child sexual violence to provide a deterrent.

           President Yudhoyono agreed with the Komnas PA that penalty for perpetrators of child violence and abuse must be made stringent by amending the current law to make it more effective in preventing and deterring possible future criminals.

             "The law must be strengthened, revised and improved, so that when it is implemented it will act as a deterrent and become more effective as it carries a longer and more stringent sentence," he said at a press conference on May 8, 2014.

             President Yudhoyono made the statement after holding a limited cabinet meeting to discuss the issue, following a series of incidents of child violence in various regions of  the country recently.

             He said, "I can understand the public anger because sexual crimes on children are serious offences and can cause trauma in the victims."
      In view of the cases of child violence and abuse, he said the government will immediately create a program that can be used effectively from the neighborhood to the national levels, including schools and similar environments to prevent child violence and abuse.

             "When will it be done? Well, as soon as possible. We must not wait until all is ready. We will start this month. Next week, I will invite the communities to talk about it. There must be a common stance to deal with," he added.

            Yudhoyono chaired a special limited cabinet meeting to discuss issues on sexual assault and violence against children. Such a crime is traumatic and would affect the children for years, while, in fact, the future of children will also be crucial for the nation in the future, he said.

            The president instructed that child protection measures be strengthened to prevent child sexual assaults and abuse from recurring. 
     Meanwhile, House Speaker Marzuki Alie said the rampant sexual violence against children lately should make the nation immediately provide maximum protection to them.

             "We have failed to anticipate sexual abuse and violence against children, despite the fact that they often happened in other parts of the world," he said.

           He believed there were many victims of pedophiles and rapists that did not get reported to the police. He urged the authorities to deal with the problem seriously and comprehensively and called on parents and the community in general to take care and protect the nation's children. ***1***
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(T.F001/B/BESSR/Suharto) 08-05-2014 22:42:11