"The authorities must not consider it normal or appropriate to commit torture for any reason," LPSK deputy chairman Edwin Partogi said in a written statement issued here on Thursday.
He urged the police as law enforcers to establish a tight control mechanism to prevent the use of torture, even though he admitted that there were structural and cultural challenges to this.
However, the most important thing is to change the apparatus' perception of the appropriateness of the act of torture, in particular the application of such methods to obtain information to collect evidence, he emphasized.
Partogi said there are a number of regulatory instruments related to torture in national legal norms, but torture in the Criminal Code (KUHP) tends to be equated with cases of persecution.
Related news: Indonesia pushes for universality in convention against torture
For this reason, he recommended that a special regulation be made to deem torture as a criminal act, which would also regulate recovery and compensation for victims of torture.
"We'd better start formulating torture as a criminal offense in the draft KUHP," said Partogi.
He also proposed that Law Number 39 of 1999 concerning Human Rights be revised to include regulations on the mechanism for investigation of torture cases to be carried out by Komnas HAM to ensure that the legal process remains fair.
The act of torture is a priority crime handled by LPSK. As per the agency’s records, in 2014-2020, there were 118 requests for protection from torture. In 2020, LPSK provided protection to 41 persons in 14 cases related to torture.
Most of the perpetrators of torture were police officers, followed by the military (TNI), and prison guards, the LPSK stated. In most cases, police officers used torture against suspects to force a confession, it added.
The last torture case to emerge was last year when a resident of Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, died after he was picked up forcibly and taken to the Balikpapan Police in December, 2020.
Related news: LPSK offers protection for witnesses in killing of six FPI members
Translator: Fardah Assegaf
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
