Erwina Rachmi Puspapertiwi, Ahmad Naufal Dzulfaroh – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) and the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) say that the police are the state institution that is most reported for committing torture.
Komnas HAM Advancement Sub-Commission Coordinator Anis Hidayah that an action is referred to as "torture" if it is done intentionally by security forces. Yet they have been given a mandate to carry arms in order to protect the public.
"In general the trend of torture in Indonesia still exists. Among these cases, the perpetrators are still dominated by Polri [the National Police]", said Hidayah during a discussion titled Torture: An Asian Value on Wednesday June 26 as quoted in an Amnesty International Indonesia YouTube broadcast.
Most cases of torture committed by police
Based on reports received by Komnas HAM between January 1, 2020 and June 24, 2024, a total of 282 cases of torture were reported.
One percent of the torture cases reported were committed by prison officers (Lapas), five percent by a combination of the Indonesian military (TNI) and the National Police, 19 percent by the TNI and 75 cases by the National Police.
This means that the National Police were the institution that was most often reported with 176 cases of torture over that time period.
Meanwhile, there were 15 cases of torture reported involving the TNI, and 10 cases related to officers in prisons or state detention centres (rutan).
Hidayah revealed that cases of torture occurred in almost all parts of Indonesia. West Sumatra province was the largest contributor with 47 cases followed by Jakarta with 25 cases and South Sumatra with 21 cases.
According to Hidayah, this data does not represent all cases of torture in Indonesia because there are still many people who have yet to report their cases to Komnas HAM.
Similarly, Kontras also put the police in the top position of institutions that commit torture. This was revealed in a report titled Behind the Illusion of Legal Populism: Impunity and the Minimum Commitment to Eliminate Torture in Indonesia.
As quoted on its official website, the results of Kontras monitoring between June 2023 and May 2024 showed that in total there were 60 cases of torture reported in Indonesia.
As many as 40 incidents were committed by the National Police, 14 cases were committed by the TNI and six incidents involved drivers. Eighteen of the victims were declared dead and 74 suffered injuries as a result of torture.
The highest number of torture cases were in North Sumatra, South Sulawesi, Central Java and Papua. Meanwhile 38 incidents occurred in public spaces and 22 in detention.
The incidents of torture committed were in the form of cruel and inhuman treatment or punishments and actions that demean human dignity. In addition, the torture was carried out with the motive of forcing victims to confess or as a form of punishment.
In terms of institutional level, the most torture was committed out by district police (Polres) with as many as 21 incidents, sectoral police (Polsek) with 10 incidents and regional police (Polda) with nine incidents.
Of the 40 reported incidents of torture by the police, as many as 10 people died and 50 others were injured.
Public spaces were often used by police as a place of torture in as many as 24 incidents, while 16 incidents were committed in detention centres.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Data Komnas HAM-KontraS, Polisi Paling Banyak Dilaporkan Lakukan Penyiksaan".]
