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The teror of physical and psychological violence against children repeats in early 2011. Sartono, a toy seller from Cirebon, was arrested early this year. He was accused to have been molested 96 children in the ages of around 14-17 years old. It is like having deja vu, even though on a slightly different scale. In January 2010, people were shocked by the Baekuni, or Babe, case, who had killed 14 children. Eight of them even ended up mutilated. The victims' ages are in the average years of 10-12 years old, except for one child who was only seven years old. Baekuni had committed this crime since 1993.At the beginning of this year, we also see that new modes of operations are being executed in the case of prostituted children through the use of media technologies (mobile phones and internet). The above mentioned illustration shows that children still live under the shadow of physical violence and psychological terror. Ironically, although this country has a strong legal protection for children's rights, in reality, the practices of violence against children continue to rise. This edition of the Indonesian Update raises a main theme on the fight against the terror against children and the increase in the number of child prostitutes.
The Indonesian Update also discusses some important topics from several important fields. On politics, it talks about the recruitment system of public officials through the political parties and the impeachment of the President in the post-Constitutional Court Ruling era. Another topic is the regional direct elections in the legal context. On social affairs, it discusses the moral movement against the SBY government's lies, the government's anticipation to the extreme weather conditions, and the government's. And the civil society's efforts to return Indonesian migrant workers from Kandara, Saudi Arabia.
The regular publication of the Indonesian Update with its actual themes is expected to help policy makers in the government and the business sector, academicians, and international think tanks get actual information and contextual analyses on economic, political, social, and cultural developments in Indonesia.
Happy reading!
