TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - This particular violence is indeed too much. Kuswanto was accused of robbing a store in Kudus, Central Java. He was arrested by 13 policemen and tortured horribly. But he persevered, still refusing to confess.
"With my eyes blindfolded, my hands cuffed behind me, gasoline was poured on me and a match was lit to burn me," said Kuswanto. Today his burns have not healed. There's a gaping hole on his neck that drips blood. He has lost everything in order to pay for his medical expenses.
Last week, accompanied by staff of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and the Institute for Witness and Victims Protection, Kuswanto went to Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in Jakarta for further treatment. He also reported the 2012 incident to National Police Headquarters.
It turns out that Kuswanto is a classic case of mistaken identity and mistaken arrest. The real thief was caught a year after Kuswanto was tortured. So, what penalty was given to the 13 police who committed the 'mistake'? Only one of them was tried for an ethical violation and jailed for 21 days and re-posted elsewhere. The others remain free and unpunished. The light punishment is totally unjust, given the suffering of Kuswanto who for the past two years has been in and out of hospitals for treatment because he cannot afford to have the complete treatment at one time. Kuswanto, his wife and two small kids must bear the burden of these medical costs.
The police's use of violence to get confessions out of their prisoners seems to be getting worse by the year. Kontras lists 86 cases of violence during the period from 2010 to 2011, which increased to 100 the following year and 108 during the 2013-2014 period.
Yet, according to our Penal Code, the confession of an accused is not the most important variable in the solution of a case. More importantly, it is the evidence, witness testimony and other supporting documents that make it a crime.
It may well be that the violence happened because the police are short of personnel. Young police recruits have not received the proper training before being assigned as investigators. Their understanding of human rights are minimal, and oversight of their performance sorely lacking. Most unfortunately, the penalty doled out to the police for their violence, is unsuitably light.
The regulations must be enforced much more seriously. In Law No.2/2002 on the National Police, it clearly states that the police in carrying out their duty must respect the rights of people. Police who like to torture in order to obtain confessions must be punished. If necessary, they can be fired. The police as an institution must restore the good name of victims like Kuswanto. And more importantly, the police must compensate the victim and reimburse all medical costs until he or she is totally mended. The police cannot act arbitrarily, beat victims senseless, then abandon them just like that.
Lamentably, in the Kuswanto case, the statements of both the Kudus police in Semarang as well as the police in Jakarta have been unclear. The police must improve their methods so the Kuswanto case is not repeated. It will not be easy for National Police Chief Gen. Sutarman because violence seems to be like a tradition in the institution he leads.
Besides new and young police personnel being given better training and information, it would be appropriate if the heads of police precincts are either senior police officers or graduates of the Police Academy. If the police still want the public's respect and support, they must abandon their tradition of torture. (*)
