Yeremia Sukoyo – Court charges and physical abuse topped the list for the most common threats against witnesses in criminal cases in Indonesia in 2013, a witness care body said.
"Out of 1,555 reports submitted to us in 2013, 128 witnesses claimed they had been taken to court on defamation or other charges, 127 were abused and 118 witnesses suffered from psychological torture," Edwin Partogi, deputy chairman of the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK), said Friday.
In 2013, many witnesses also experienced unfair work termination, terror and murder attempts, Edwin said.
He said even though corruption cases were often considered the most pressing issue in Indonesia, LPSK found that most witnesses filing for protections were the victims of major human rights violations.
Cumulatively, there have been more than 1,100 witnesses of major human rights violations requesting extra protection from the LPSK. The witness protection body also received requests from victims of human trafficking, witnesses in corruption cases, domestic violence victims and witnesses in terrorism cases.
LPSK's chairman, Abdul Haris Semendawai, said the growing number of requests for protection indicated an increasing public trust for LPSK, which was established in 2006. In 2012, there were only 655 requests for witness protection and in 2010-2010 there were only less than 500 requests.
Edwin said the drastically increasing number of protection requests from witnesses in 2013 indicated how threats against witnesses in legal cases was still rampant. "Witnesses and victims still have to endure criminalization and even murder attempts," he said.
Edwin said many victims and witnesses who reported criminal cases were reported back to the police and some were even tried in courts.
Threats were also looming for witnesses' family members. For instance, he said, a witness in a graft case involving Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah was told his business could be shut down because of his testimony.
LPSK said justice collaborators were also threatened with prison time should they cooperate with government players.
LPSK cited the case of Agus Condro Prayitno, a former legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), who revealed a Rp 24 billion ($1.9 million) bribery racket to select the senior deputy governor for Bank Indonesia, the central bank, in 2004, as highlighting the need for legal clarity.
Agus, whose testimony led to the conviction of 29 other legislators in addition to the official in question – Miranda Goeltom, and the briber, Nunun Nurbaetie Daradjatun – was controversially detained just moments before being released on parole. Minister of Justice and Human Rights Amir Syamsuddin blocked the move, saying that as a graft convict Agus was not entitled to early release.
Abdul said LPSK needed to minimize dependency on the National Police in 2014 by having its own security squad. He explained that ideally, the security squad would still be members of the police force or another law enforcement institution, but instead of reporting to their institutions, officers would coordinate and report directly to the LPSK.
Currently the officers assigned to LPSK can be pulled back by the National Police anytime.
LPSK previously has pushed the government and parliament to approve revisions to the 2006 law on witnesses and victim protection as it looks into expanding its role in the nation's law enforcement sector. In the proposed revisions to the 2006 bill, the LPSK asked to expand its work by having regional representatives across the archipelago.
As of today, the Jakarta-based institution has been handling work across the country from its headquarters in the capital.
In addition, the LPSK emphasized that the revision in the law would need to provide a clear definition of individuals categorized as whistle-blowers and justice collaborators.
Abdul emphasized that the blurred definition of the two terms had resulted in the lack of clear policy on the type of protection individuals are entitled to.