Justice for disabled people in Gunung Kidul

On 6 September 2016,  Pusham UII supported by AIPJ conducted a research on the accessibility of law enforcement in Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta. Discussions with local Disabled People Organisations found out that there are interesting facts on the advocacy and court processing of cases with disabled victims in the area. The research had four cases with various samples of how disabled people were treated in trial.   

Head of Gunung Kidul Prosecutor Office Damly Rowelcis Purba, SH said that the research will play an important part in promoting and educating law enforcers on how to interact with disabled people. "In he past we never knew how to do it correctly, and this lead to unethical behaviour towards disabled people," he said.   

The seminar was followed by a three day training on fair justice for 31 law enforcers in Gunung Kidul. They were from the local police department, court office and prosecutors' office. They learned about ethics in communicating with disabled people especially those facing the law. Surya Sahetapy from Pusat Layanan Juru Bahasa Isyarat (PLJ) shared his experience as a born deaf, and showed the participants how to do simple sign language.    

"I didn't know that gesture interpreters exist", said Rini, one of the participants. "They translates gestures into sign language, then another interpreter translates it into Bahasa. This is very helpful," she added.