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| President Rodrigo Duterte (left) and President Joko Widodo |
Indonesia's President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is again urging an increase in efforts to fight illegal drugs in the country.
Jokowi said police should shoot foreign drug dealers who "resist arrest." He added that the country is in a "narcotics emergency position."
Jokowi made his comments at a political event in late July. Days before the speech, police shot and killed a Taiwanese man for resisting arrest. Police say he and several others were trying to smuggle 1,000 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine into Indonesia.
Recently, Jakarta Police Chief General Adham Azis said he would "not think twice" about dismissing police officers who were not fighting drug trafficking enough.
In addition, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights recently announced a plan to place all people currently jailed for drug offenses into 4 prisons. The prisons in West Java, North Sumatra, Central Java and Central Kalimantan would get increased security, news reports say.
Human rights groups raise concerns
The New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch has criticized Indonesia's campaign against drug trafficking.
In a statement, the group said, "President Joko Widodo should send a clear and public message to the police that efforts to address the complex problems of drugs and criminality require the security forces to respect everyone's basic rights, not demolish them."
The aim of Indonesia's campaign is to stop the flow of the low-cost drug crystal methamphetamine. It is similar to the effort of President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines. He has been criticized for his violent campaign against drug crimes. Thousands of drug dealers and users have been killed.
Last month, Indonesian officials seized the largest amount of crystal methamphetamine in the history of the country.
The head of Indonesia's narcotics agency, General Budi Waseso, called for a war on drugs -- similar to the one in the Philippines -- last September.
He told Australia's ABC news agency, "The market that existed in the Philippines is moving to Indonesia, the impact of President Duterte's actions is an exodus to Indonesia."
Severe punishments for drug crimes
Drug trafficking can carry a death sentence in Indonesia which considers the offense as serious as murder or terrorism.
People found guilty of low-level drug crimes are estimated to make up 70 % of Indonesia's prison population.
Erasmus Napitupulu is with the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform in Jakarta. He said there are many question about President Jokowi's drug policy. He criticized the death sentence as putting a big burden on Indonesia's justice system.
"The death penalty targets small drug couriers, which in many cases leads to unfair trials. Indonesian law has not been able to bear the burden of fair trial(s)," he said.
Southeast Asian countries have resisted lightening punishments for drug users or traffickers. Besides Indonesia and the Philippines, other countries in the area, including Singapore, want to continue with harsh punishments for drug crimes.
Last year, however, Thailand considered changing the criminalization of methamphetamine because prisons were becoming overcrowded.
But there are no similar signs in Indonesia.
In 2015, Jokowi led an anti-drug campaign that resulted in the execution of 14 people for drug offenses.
But, critics say that the severe punishments have not reduced the number of crimes. Claudia Stoicescu is a researcher at the University of Oxford.
She wrote, "Far from having a deterrent effect, the number of drug-related crimes in Indonesia increased in the months after the executions were carried out in January and April 2015."
Other critics say increased resources used for drug-related arrests have taken money away from rehabilitation efforts. Some say those resources could be better used to help an estimated 1 million Indonesians addicted to methamphetamines.
Erasmus says Indonesia should learn from the experience of the United States.
The U.S. has reduced the number of arrests over small drug crimes and moved to legalize small amounts of the drug marijuana.
"If Indonesia retains capital punishment as the main solution for drug issues, then I believe it is a political decision to preserve (politicians') image(s), not to protect actual narcotics victims," he said.
Source: VOA News, Krithika Varagur, Mario Ritter, August 16, 2017
Foreign drug trafficking duo nabbed, face potential death penalty
2 foreign nationals are being investigated for drug trafficking after they were arrested with over 50 grammes of Syabu on Monday afternoon.
District police chief Supt Zailanni Amit said the Indonesian nationals, aged 21 and 23, were caught at a business outlet in Jalan Abang Galau here around 3pm.
"During an inspection, they were found in possession of approximately 53 grammes of crystalline substance, believed to be Syabu.
"We are investigating the case under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries the mandatory death sentence if convicted," he said when contacted yesterday.
Zailanni added the 2 suspects were found to have been staying here for about year.
"Both of them confessed of their involvement in distributing Syabu around the old Bintulu town.
According to him, the drugs are delivered here by bus and left at a pre-arranged area for the suspects to collect.
"They employ the same tactic for their buyers. After receiving payment, they will drop off the drugs at an agreed location for their buyers to collect," he added.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated case, 5 Indonesian women were rescued by police while a fellow countrywoman was arrested for human trafficking offences on Monday.
Acting on a tip-off, police raided a premises at Jalan Tanjung Kidurong around 11pm and rescued the 5, aged between 21 and 30.
The enforcement team also arrested a 29-year-old Indonesian woman under Section 12 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007.
Source: Borneo Post, August 16, 2017
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