Child Protection Commission Concerned for Youths Targeted by Drug Traffickers
Jakarta. Drugs trafficked by youths are reportedly increasing as the government receives international condemnation for implementing capital punishment as part of its fighting effort against narcotics.
The head of the Indonesian Commission for Child Protection (KPAI) says that the trend has increased twofold from 21 cases found in 2013 to 42 cases in 2014.
KPAI chairman Asrorun Ni’am Soleh said rehabilitation is the best choice to solve the drugs trade among youth, citing the 2009 Law on prohibited and addictive substance.
“[The law] is a good thing that can be used to protect kids. It is our job to bring the law to its fair enforcement,” Asrorun said after signing a memorandum of understanding with the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) on Monday.
During this time, Asrorun says, young traffickers are mostly imprisoned for using or selling drugs.
“There are supposed to be investigations to seek the masterminds because these kids can’t be working alone. They are tricked by adults who mastermind drug trafficking,” Asrorun says.
Of the 184 juveniles in Tangerang penitentiary, 84 were imprisoned for law violation on narcotics.
“The narcotics law implies that anyone using drugs, especially juveniles, must be rehabilitated, instead of being imprisoned. They must be considered as victims,” Asrorun says.
BNN chief Comr. Gen. Anang Iskandar said the KPAI will be authorized to take control of youths arrested for drug-related crimes.
“Our job is to prevent the Indonesian youth from consuming drugs and to save those who are addicted to it by rehabilitating them, instead of putting them in jail,” Anang says, adding that counseling and outpatient treatments are among the efforts used to help drug-affected young Indonesians.
A 2014 survey conducted by the University of Indonesia revealed that around 4 million Indonesians are drug users, and just over 27 percent of those users are students.
The Indonesian government earlier said that the country was in an “narcotics emergency” as President Joko Widodo rejected dozens of clemencies for local and foreign national drug convicts.
The rejections put Joko in the international spotlight for undermining human rights.
Meanwhile, the South Jakarta Police have arrested four men in Depok, West Java, at aroundnoon on Monday on suspicion of selling marijuana to junior high school students.
Reports made by parents and teachers of narcotics being sold in South Jakarta schools prompted the police operation.
The suspects confessed they were connected to an Aceh drug ring and have been in the drug business for the past three years, police said.
“We’ve discovered that they are part of the Aceh ring that operates in Jakarta, Depok and surrounding areas,” South Jakarta Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Surawan told news portal Detik.com on Monday.
Police confiscated 200 kilograms of marijuana during the arrest.
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