Jakarta (Indonesia), 20 January 2023 - The Directorate General of Corrections (DGC) adopted new Guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on Critical Incident Management in Correctional Facilities on 30 September 2022.
This revised guideline is an essential form of policy and intervention amid the recurrent threats of disasters in Indonesia, be they natural or man-made disasters. In 2018, Indonesia had a devastating earthquake, tsunami, and land liquefaction. In the wake of those incidents, UNODC and DGC created the first Guidelines and SOPs in 2019. The UNODC and the DGC have also piloted Critical Incident Training to over one hundred (100) officers, including executive levels, headquarters (HQ), and provincial offices, between 2019 and 2021.
However, many changes, new circumstances, and threats must be addressed. Although the guidelines and SOP have been adopted, incidents still occur, with evaluation being made on their preparedness and mitigation effort. It was highlighted that there needs to be more preparedness and incident mitigation readiness in several prisons in Indonesia.
In September 2021, a big fire ransacked an overcrowded Prison in Tangerang, Banten, leaving 49 people deceased. Several other earthquakes also occurred throughout 2022.
With all those developments, the DGC has now adopted the new Guidelines and SOP as its official policy through a Director General’s Regulation binding all correctional facilities in Indonesia to implement them.
As a result, the guidelines and SOP were enhanced and updated through Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), followed by an on-site workshop and simulation of the incident risk assessment process in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara. The updated guidelines and SOP now contain practical guidance and an enhanced disaster and incident risk assessment matrix.
