Jakarta – Activists said Sunday that district and Islamic religious courts, particularly in Jakarta, had violated the child protection law in their handling of custody decisions.

"Although the government has enacted the law, these courts still ignore children's voices in their verdicts," Arist Merdeka Sirait, secretary general of the National Commission for Child Protection, told The Jakarta Post. "The judges don't care which guardian the children want to be with," he said.

The 2002 Child Protection Law guarantees children's opinions will be taken into account in every livelihood-related decision made by the people, the legislative and judicial bodies and the government.

"Using the Compilation of Islamic Laws, judges in religious courts always decide that children below 12 years old must be placed under their mother's custody," Arist said.

The compilation states that child under the age of 12 must be placed in the mother's custody while the father must provide financial support.

Arist said the divorce of actress Tamara Bleszynski and businessman Teuku Rafly Pasha was an example of the situation, with the court handing guardianship of the six-year-old son to the mother.

"This caused the son to send a letter to the Supreme Court asking to live with his father," he said. The Supreme Court eventually granted the son's request.

The commission said a survey had found more than 20 children aged seven and eight years old who "felt depressed" after court custody verdicts.

"Of the 1,124 complaints we received through our hotline service, around 64 percent were (related to) divorce cases that have inflicted distress on children," said Arist.

He said more than 3000 divorce cases were filed each year with the district and religious courts in Jakarta.

Commission chairman Seto Mulyadi said any verdicts that did not consider a child's opinion could cause "a lifetime of torture."

"Children who object to the custody verdict but have their opinions ignored could lose their identity, be hindered from enhancing their self-competence and productivity, and (end up with) aggressive personalities," he told the Post.

"...when I was an expert witness in a Vancouver court in Canada, an eight-year-old said he would kill his mother if he saw her," he said. Children depressed by "a false court's verdict" over custody, he said, must be acknowledged and heard.

Seto said the commission had sent a letter to the Supreme Court, urging it to educate the district and Islamic courts on managing child custody cases.

For complaints about child protection, the commission can be reached at (021) 87791818.