Jakarta – Jakarta's penitentiaries are not conducive for rehabilitation, as life inside is all but ruled by money, activists said.

The lack of facilities, combined with the corrupt mind-sets of guards and inmates have made way even for prostitution practices inside the penitentiaries.

"The lack of facilities is aimed to punish them rather than convert them into better people," said Gustaf Dupe from the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) jail service working group on Friday.

A video portraying malpractices inside the Salemba penitentiary, which was publicized by former inmate Syarifuddin Pane, has depicted prisons as severely corrupt institutions.

Syarifuddin, who took the video in 2008 while spending his seven-month prison term for visa forgery, insisted that practices like service gaps for rich inmates and poor ones, gambling and prostitution continued despite the Law and Human Rights Ministry's denial. "Corruption is rampant. Rich inmates can enjoy relative luxury while poor inmates live in a terrible conditions," he said recently.

Gustaf said that Syarifuddin portrayed real practices inside penitentiaries in Indonesia. "We can find such practices, despite the fact that he took the video few years ago," he said. Gustaf said that most of the inmates competed with each other for room occupancy and food service.

He said the poor treatment for ordinary inmates was easy to find in every penitentiary. "I regularly visit Cipinang and Salemba [in Jakarta] and Sukamiskin penitentiaries [in Bandung, West Java]. All of them are just the same. They treat the inmates poorly unless they have more money to afford better living," he said.

Arswendo Atmowiloto, writer and former prisoner at the Salemba and Cipinang penitentiaries, said that living inside a prison was twice as hard for ordinary inmates. "When I was there, the officers did not even give us proper food utensils," he said. "One dish was used by several inmates."

Arswendo, who spent three years in prisons, wrote a book about his experience. The book, titled Menghitung Hari (Counting the Days), published in 1993, portrayed witty and ironic stories among inmates.

In one of the stories, the prison did not accommodate any services related with sexual desire, which led to geese being raped.

"The story is hard to believe and ironically funny, but that's what happens inside the prison," Arswendo said. "Even when it is prison, it should fulfill basic human needs, including sufficient food and sex." Arswendo said that the lack of accommodations led to prostitution inside prisons.

Deputy director Gatot Goei from the Center for Detention Studies, an NGO concerning prison reforms in Indonesia, said that the existing penitentiaries had yet to create an ideal atmosphere for prisoner rehabilitation.

"To enjoy proper living standards, inmates must compete with each other. By the time they come out of prison, they have become more competitive and selfish than they were before," he said.

Gatot said that the ministry, which vowed to represent more transparent and clean state institutions, should improve public facilities inside prisons. (lfr)