Happy Birthday, Mr./Ms. COPS !

Here are testimonial that I quoted from Amnesty International's report, those were from scores of people who suffered at the hands of the police:

• Sofyan, 18 year old, arrested for murder in January 2007 told Amnesty International: “At 2am we got to Polres [District Police Station]. I was taken to the head of the unit for interrogation. There, ten men beat me for an hour with their batons, “where is your friend?” they asked. My three front teeth had cracked and I was bleeding. I was exhausted…Every time I said something, I was hit. I was handcuffed, standing, to the trellis above, and couldn’t sleep for a whole night. For the first four days I was hit over and over again…Once, the buser [Police support staff for the Criminal Investigation Division] asked me, how is it here, and I said, I’m scared of being beaten. He said, you should be killed, not just hit…”.

• Denni, 28 years old, a heroin addict, was arrested in Central Jakarta in December 2005 as he made a purchase from his dealer in the marketplace. Police tied him up and beat his shins with a block of wood. Denni told Amnesty International what happened at the time of arrest: “Confess!’ they [police officers] said, ‘Confess!’ But the buser [support police officer from the Criminal Investigation Division], who seemed to have a higher job position, said ‘enough of this, just take him to the station’. I was taken to the highway. But we didn’t get into a police car. We went in a cab. As the cab drove, they bargained with me. ‘Hey can you get us 40 million [3858 USD] tonight? If you can get the 40, I’ll let you go’. I said, ‘I don’t have any money, I don’t have anything like that’. He said, ‘Ok, you tell us a friend who is also a user, but pick someone with some money, someone who can provide us with some cash. Do you know someone like that?’ I said, ‘it’s midnight, how do I find someone like that? I don’t know anyone like that’. They said, ‘Ok. Fine’. And then they started to beat me. ‘Then you are going to die’, he yelled. You are going to die’.

• Dita, a 21-year-old sex worker, was arrested in December 2006. Dita told Amnesty International how she was threatened with sexual abuse and faced intimidation at the time of her arrest: “I was arrested with five or six other prostitutes. On the way to Polres [District Police station] East Jakarta, they were grabbing me and touching me saying, you’re so young, why aren’t you in school, you know that kind of stuff. When we got to the station, they gave us a choice. They said we could get off if we paid one million rupiah [96 USD] or if we had sex with them. Three of the girls agreed to have sex with them. I point blank refused to do either. Our pimps have paid them enough already”.

Today is the 63rd annual National Police Day [Hari Bhayangkara]. My sincere birthday wishes to about 400,000 members of police officers in Indonesia, wherever you are. A major turning point in the police's performance and paradigm have made today, on this celebration day. The National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, just passed a decree on the Implementation of Human Rights Principles and Standards in the Discharge of Duties of the Police.

So let's see and monitor on how those principles could trickle down to their members, to have a more human rights-friendly officer around us.