Candra Malik, Magelang, Central Java – Nearly 7,000 minors face criminal trials in Indonesian courtrooms each year, and 90 percent of them end up behind bars either for the duration of the trials or as convicts, the Indonesian Commission for Child Protection said.

The commission, also known as the KPAI, said on Wednesday that about 6,300 minors ended up incarcerated alongside adult suspects, as there were no special holding cells for children.

Apong Herlina, a KPAI commissioner, said the data had been obtained from the Directorate General of Correctional Institutions at the Ministry of Justice as well as through research conducted in past years by the KPAI.

"Some of them are detained over minor offenses such as petty theft of food and clothing," Apong told reporters at a workshop on child delinquents and restorative justice on Wednesday. "They are delinquents. They need guidance and supervision at home, not undergoing trials in court and spending time in jail."

Apong said that even spending two or three months behind bars during a trial had a negative impact on mental and psychological development on minors. "It is intolerable for them."

Akbar Hadi, spokesman for the Directorate General of Correctional Institutions, said his office had never released figures to the KPAI and questioned the validity of the information.

"We will not speak outside of what we have on record. We have 16 correctional institutions across Indonesia," he said. "Up to January 2011, the number of minors incarcerated was 3,384. Not all of them are in these institutions for crimes. A small percentage of these children are those of parents who are unable to care for them and therefore hand them over to the state, through a court ruling."

On Feb. 24, the Constitutional Court partially revised a law governing how juvenile offenders should be tried in court. At issue in the judicial review, filed by the KPAI, were six articles on the indictment and incarceration of minors that the plaintiffs deemed unconstitutional.

However, the court only approved changes to two of the articles, effectively raising from 8 to 12 the minimum age at which a minor may face criminal charges. Chief Justice Mahfud M.D. said this reform was in line with international laws governing child rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.