Rieke Diah Pitaloka Promotes Presidential Regulation on National Social Reintegration System Published

Member of Commission XIII of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Rieke Diah Pitaloka, encourages the government to immediately issue a presidential regulation (Perpres) on the National Social Reintegration System, in order to overcome the problem of excess capacity in correctional institutions.

According to him, this regulation is to prevent recidivism and the recovery of narcotics clients, considering that 50 percent of inmates in Indonesian prisons are currently perpetrators of narcotics crimes.

"The Presidential Decree must be a national instrument to accelerate the implementation of the new Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code through the establishment of BAPAS as a national case manager for the implementation of supervised criminal offenses, social work offenses, social reintegration, and post-prison narcotics clients," Rieke said in a statement in Jakarta, Monday.

He explained that the presidential decree also needed to emphasize the acceleration of the formation of new BAPAS, the strengthening of BAPAS Posts, Griya Abhipraya, and the gradual fulfillment of PK human resources until it reaches the ideal national needs.

Then, the integration of data from the Police, Prosecutor's Office, Courts, Prisons, BAPAS, BNN, and Regional Governments into one national digital system.

In addition, in the presidential decree it is necessary to provide the obligation of local governments to provide social rehabilitation services, health, education, job training, competence certification, economic empowerment, and community support for inmates.

Then, the reform of the correctional curriculum is oriented towards improving the quality of human resources for inmates through education for equality, digital literacy, vocational training, entrepreneurship, and certification that is in accordance with the needs of the labor market and the economic potential of the region.

Partnership between the UPT for Corrections and the business world, the industrial world, SOEs, cooperatives, MSMEs, universities, and training institutions so that each inmate has a clear educational path, skills, and job opportunities after being released.

"This Presidential Decree is also a reinforcement of rehabilitation and special guidance for narcotics clients to suppress recidivism and break the chain of narcotics circulation," he said.

Rieke said that the success of rehabilitation should not only be measured by the security of the prison or the number of inmates who are free.

"The real measure of success is how many people who have been trained return to society with skills, jobs, economic independence, and do not repeat criminal acts," he explained.

He said that if more than half of the prison inmates were drug cases, then strengthening BAPAS, correctional education, and social reintegration should be a national agenda.

"Without it, overcrowding will continue to recur, recidivism will remain high, and the goal of criminal law reform will not be achieved," he said.

Based on the data on the penitentiary presented by the Director General of Penitentiaries in a hearing with the Director General of Penitentiaries on the issue of prisons, Gedung Nusantara II, Parliament Complex, Senayan, this afternoon, the number of inmates in prisons and detention centers throughout Indonesia as of June 2, 2026 reached 272,577 people with a capacity of 146,860 people, so that it is overcrowded by 86 percent.

At the same time, only 94 BAPAS are available from the ideal need of 514 BAPAS, as well as 2,623 Community Mentors (PK) from the ideal need of 16,422 PK.

The operational needs of BAPAS in 2026 amounted to IDR 168 billion and in 2027 amounted to IDR 338 billion, while budget support is still very limited.

The data presented by the Director General of Prisons shows that Indonesia faces serious challenges in implementing Law Number 22 of 2022 concerning Penitentiary, Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code, Law Number 20 of 2025 concerning the Criminal Procedure Code, and Law Number 1 of 2026 concerning Criminal Adjustment.

Criminal law reform has placed guidance, rehabilitation, social reintegration, and non-custodial punishment as a new direction for corrections. However, the institutional capacity that must run it is still far from adequate.

The situation cannot be separated from the issue of narcotics. The data of the Directorate General of Corrections in 2026 shows that there are 146,365 inmates for narcotics cases, consisting of 96,030 traffickers, distributors, dealers and producers, and 50,335 users.

"This means that more than 50 percent of inmates are drug cases, so the problem of overcrowding is basically a drug problem that has not been resolved from upstream to downstream," said Rieke.

He said that dealing with narcotics is not enough through a prison security approach alone. A system is needed that connects imprisonment, rehabilitation, education, job training, social reintegration, and regional development so that inmates do not return to the same circle of crime.

"Within this framework, BAPAS is a key institution. BAPAS must be a link between the criminal justice system, local governments, the education world, the world of work, health services, and the community," said Rieke.