Jakarta – In recent years, crime rates continuously being declined in the Netherlands, It results in the increase number of empty prison cells, and moreover some prisons are closed because no inmates within. The phenomenon is on the contrary with the situation of Lapas (Prison) and Rutan (Detention House) in Indonesia. Almost all of them overcrowded. In fact, our country was just shocked by outrageous escape of 448 convicts from Sialang Bungkuk Class IIB-Detention House, Pekanbaru.
Regarding this, the Kingdom of the Netherlands Ambassador, Mr. Kees van Baar, in a courtesy call to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, had directly invited the Minister, Mr. Yasonna H. Laoly and his officials to have a visit to the Netherlands, to learn how the law enforcement mechanisms carried out there.
The Human Rights Ambassador described that the crime rate decrease in the Netherlands occurred because the application of alternative punishment against the perpetrators. "Convicts may not be particularly sentenced to imprisonment, there are alternative punishments such as social work, rehabilitation and training programs; and the free prisoners are monitored when they get back to the community," Baar said in his office on Wednesday (10/05/2017).
Furthermore, the Ambassador said, the Dutch had once experienced such overcrowding as Indonesia by now. "About 10 years ago, we also experienced problems like Indonesia; our crime rate is even the highest in Europe. It is a turning point for us to fix the legal system in the Netherlands," Baar told.
Concerning the matter, the Minister is very enthusiastic to learn what has been done by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in enforcing the law. "We highly appreciate the invitation extended by the Ambassador of Human Rights, we will study over and look for the right time to visit," replied Yasonna.
Besides discussing overcrowded Prison and Detention, the meeting were also concerning on several issues in Indonesia, such as human rights enforcement (especially in Papua and Maluku), the judiciary and the inter-religion tolerance.
The Minister was accompanied by the Director General of Corrections, Mr. I Wayan K. Dusak; the Director of Central Authority and International Law, Mr. Cahyo R. Muzhar; the Director of Human Rights Instrument, Mr. Molan Tarigan; and Head of Public Relations, Legal, and Cooperation Bureau, Mr. Efendy Peranginangin. On the other hand, the Human Rights Ambassador of the Netherlands Kingdom was accompanied by the Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia, Mr. Rob Swartbol. (Zaka Ed: Yay Photo: Jun)
