Building understanding of disability on the frontline of law enforcement
Australia and Indonesia are working together to make justice systems more open and accessible, and help people with disability overcome major obstacles in navigating Indonesia’s justice system. Training for law enforcers on the fulfilment of rights to fair trial for people with disability was conducted by the Indonesian Judicial Commission, Center for Human Rights Studies at Universitas Islam Indonesia (PUSHAM UII) Yogyakarta with the support of the Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Justice.
The training introduced law enforcers, including 30 judges, prosecutors and police officers to the concepts of disability, human rights and rights to fair trial. It enhanced participant’s skills and methods in improving access for people with disability in conflict with the law. "Lack of understanding among law enforcers on how to provide equal access remains an issue in the fulfilment of the rights to fair trial for people with disability," said Judicial Findings from a study by PUSHAM UII.
The study highlighted that people with disability who undergo trial procedures are confronted with many barriers. These include law enforcers’ inability to recognize different types of disability and how to appropriately accommodate each type. A lack of facilities causes less than optimal investigation, prosecution, and court examination. Non-accessible physical infrastructure, such as buildings, examination rooms and public facilities hinder people’s capacity to attend phases required in proceedings of law. Various norms and legal principles cause less than ideal realization of the rights of people with disability in trial procedures.
"People with disability should be given equal access and provided with opportunities to develop themselves in accordance with their capacity, and all government policies must be based on measures to eliminate barriers that might hinder people with disability to attain equality," said Head of Judicial Commission Suparman Marzuki.
The law enforcers training was held in Mataram, Lombok, Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB) on 23-26 March 2015.
