Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – A 2010 report says law enforcers see torture as part of the normal procedure in dealing with suspects, leading to a persistently high violence rate among the police.

The Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation's research on torture in five cities in Indonesia found the judicial apparatus, as well as the suspects, detainees and convicts, were "tolerant to violence".

Foundation member Restaria F. Hutabarat, who chaired the research team, said most victims of violence were reluctant to discuss torture because "they accepted it as a normal part of the legal process".

"Law enforcement has become identical with violence and torture," Restaria said Wednesday. She said the media, which depicted violence as a means to deal with crime, had made violence banal.

The poor internal monitoring system and the lack of punishment for officers who commit torture also supported the violence, Restaria said.

The research was conducted from 2009 to 2010 and 748 suspects, defendants and convicts in detention centers and prisons in Jakarta, Banda Aceh, Lhokseumawe, Surabaya and Makassar were interviewed. People from the judicial apparatus were also interviewed.

Researchers processed the results of the interviews and created scores they call the Torture Perception Index.

"Jakarta scored the highest, meaning the respondents were the most tolerant of torture during the legal process. The least tolerant was Surabaya," Restaria said.

The study also concluded that police officers were the most violent of all judicial apparatus. Detectives, for example, used torture as a regular method when questioning suspects, she said.

Following the police on the list of "most violent apparatus" were military officers, prosecutors, wardens and public order officers. "Police detectives torture because they are easily annoyed or impatient when questioning suspects.

Police respondents also testified they turned violent when facing indecisive suspects or when failing to gather sufficient evidence," foundation member Edy Halomoan Gurning said.

Edy said police torture also occurred during arrest and detention. "After a police investigation is completed, torture can continue during the trial," he said.

According to the study, the most frequent kind of torture was punching, followed by kicking, slapping, hair pulling, dragging, forced nudity, immersion in water, poking with burning cigarettes, electric shocks, groping, burning parts of the body, forced kissing, forced masturbation, forced oral sex and rape.

"Even in Banda Aceh and Lhokseumawe, where sharia law applies, the police, public order officers and sharia police commit torture and sexual harassment," Restaria said.

Justice and Human Rights Ministry director general for human rights Harkristuti Harkrisnowo said she appreciated the research despite "minor flaws and ambiguity in the methodology".

"We are now developing a complaint procedure mechanism for defendants and convicts. This year alone, we received 1,035 complaints. Four hundred and four resulted in recommendation letters to related institutions, mostly the police.

"Yes, it was in line with this study. The police get the most complaints of all legal officials. We have been continuously sending complaint letters to the police, from local police chiefs to the National Police chief," Harkristuti said.

Junior attorney general for general crimes Hamzah Tadja said he heard the police "often soaked suspects in water in order to obtain information". "Human rights abuses are not allowed under any circumstances. No single reason can allow law enforcers to commit torture," he said.

National Police head of public information Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said the police saw the results of the study as a way to improve. Boy said the police had strict punishments for officers found violating regulations or torturing civilians.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) also discussed violent police officers in their annual remarks on human rights in the country. Kontras coordinator Haris Azhar said Tuesday that the police had committed the highest number of acts of violence and human rights abuses against the public in 2010.