PM calls boy arrested in Bali while children languish in detention say human rights groups

MARK DODD From: The Australian

THE Gillard government is guilty of hypocrisy for pressing Jakarta to free a NSW teenager arrested in Bali on drug offences while 50 Indonesian children are held in Australian prisons for people-smuggling, a prominent Indonesian human rights activist says.

Julia Gillard spoke to the central coast boy yesterday to reassure him the government was doing all in its power to get him released.

So far Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has not phoned to inquire about the fate of the 50 jailed boys, the Prime Minister's office confirmed.

But Sydney-based Indonesian human rights activist Eko Waluyo yesterday called on the federal government to honour its commitments under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and release the juveniles.

It was "hypocritical to lock up the boys", who came from what he said was the poorest region of Indonesia, while Kevin Rudd and the Prime Minister lobbied for the release of the Australian teenager, he said.

"This is a very serious issue because in the context of people-smugglers, these boys -- most of them -- don't have any identification card," Mr Waluyo said.

"They usually come from around the Timor Sea and this is the most poor region in Indonesia, like Papua."

Mr Waluyo said few had finished high school and most lived in impoverished villages working as fishermen, but the 2009 Montara oil spill in the Timor Sea had destroyed their fishing grounds.

Meanwhile, the UN children's agency, Unicef, has raised the plight of the 50 Indonesian children before a UN committee on child rights meeting in Geneva.

The process of juvenile justice in Australia was fraught with inconsistencies, Unicef's advocacy manager Aivee Chew said.


(2011-10-11/The Australian)