Hammam Izzuddin, Suseno, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has provided three critical notes for the National Police (Polri) ahead of its 79th anniversary or Bhayangkara Day on July 1.

Kontras believes that the National Police need to make serious internal improvements. "The police are still ranked first as the institution that commits the most acts of torture", said Kontras Deputy Coordinator for External Affairs Andrie Yunus on Saturday June 28.

Based on a report published by Kontras on June 25, the police are the top institution that commits the most acts of torture. This position is still the same as the previous year. The police are followed by the Indonesian Military (TNI) and prison officers at correctional institutions.

Yunus believes that the high rate of torture by the police shows that the internalisation of human rights values in each officer is not going well. Yet since 2009 there has been Indonesian Police Chief Regulation (Perkap) Number 8/2009 on the Implementation of Human Rights Principles and Standards in the Execution of Duties.

"Data and facts still show that Polri has not escaped the trap of being an institution that does not respect and is even involved as a perpetrator of human rights violations", he said.

Furthermore, Kontras believes that impunity afforded for police officers who violate the law continues to occur. This impunity is detrimental to members of the public who are victims.

The 79th Bhayangkara Day ceremony will be held at the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta. The police have been carrying out a series of preparations since early June and the event will involve more than nine thousand police personnel.

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Catatan KontraS untuk Menyambut Hari Bhayangkara".]

Source: https://www.tempo.co/hukum/catatan-kontras-untuk-menyambut-hari-bhayangkara-1835373