Indonesia to Release 30,000 Inmates to Curb Virus in Prisons

Ronna Nirmala and Arie Firdaus
2020.03.31
Jakarta
200331-ID-covid-prisons-620.jpg Inmates receive online calls from their families in Jakarta after the Indonesian government’s request for social distancing amid the spread of COVID-19, March 31, 2020.
AFP/Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights

Indonesia will release some 30,000 inmates early to prevent the coronavirus from spreading inside prisons, the ministry in charge of corrections facilities said Tuesday, as the president declared a national emergency over the health crisis.

Prisoners who would have served two-thirds of their sentences by December 2020 were to be freed, said a decree signed on Monday by Yasonna Laoly, the minister of law and human rights.

Juvenile inmates who would have served half their sentences by December were also set to be released, according to the decree, a copy of which BenarNews saw.

“The number is about 30,000 and the decree came into force at the time of the signing,” Rika Aprianti, a spokeswoman for the ministry’s director general of corrections, told BenarNews.

Most of Indonesia’s prisons are overcrowded, officials have said.

Andreas Harsono, an Indonesian researcher at Human Rights Watch, urged the government to release political prisoners as well to help curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). These include pro-independence activists from Papua province and people who pose a relatively small security threat, he said.

The country’s prisons and detention centers hold almost 270,000 inmates, more than double the total capacity, he said.

“The Ministry of Law and Human Rights, which manages prisons, should also look at alternatives to custody or consider early releases or parole for detainees, who are near the end of their prison terms or who pose little security risk, such as those imprisoned for unpaid fines,” he said in a statement.

“Those with underlying health conditions and older people at high risk of suffering serious effects from the virus should be given priority,” Harsono said.

As of Tuesday, Indonesia had confirmed 1,528 coronavirus cases and 136 deaths from the disease, the Health Ministry said. The numbers are an increase of 114 and 14, respectively, from Monday.

The capital, Jakarta, is the epicenter of the outbreak in Indonesia, with 747 confirmed cases and 83 deaths.

COVID-19 has spread to 31 of 34 provinces in Indonesia, the most populous country in Southeast Asia. Jakarta and some other jurisdictions have closed schools and entertainment centers while restricting travel.

Without stronger government intervention Indonesia could see an estimated 1.5 million COVID-19 infections and 144,000 deaths, according to a study conducted by health experts at the University of Indonesia that was released last week.

Globally, more than 40,700 people have died and at least 823,000 have been infected, according to the latest data compiled by disease experts at Johns Hopkins University in the United States.

Health emergency

Meanwhile, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo declared a national health emergency.

“We have decided at the cabinet meeting that our option is large-scale social restrictions,” he said Tuesday.

Jokowi did not provide details, but Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said some of the restrictions would affect travel, and that non-resident foreigners would be barred from entering the country.

“Exceptions will be made for permanent residents, diplomats and other official visitors,” Retno told reporters.

The ban will take effect on April 2 and end when authorities deem the pandemic to be under control, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights said in a statement.

Also on Tuesday, Jokowi announced that he had signed a decree allowing the government to increase spending to tackle the COVID-19 crisis. The expenditure would widen the 2020 budget deficit to 5.07 percent of the gross domestic product.

The president said the government would set aside an additional 405.1 trillion rupiah (U.S. $24.8 billion) to be spent on medical supplies and social safety-net programs.

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