Boycott needed after torture trial farce – Greens
Media Release – Tuesday January 25th, 2011
The Australian Greens have called for the Government to cut all military
ties with Indonesia in response to light jail terms handed down
yesterday to Indonesian soldiers who tortured two Papuan men.
Greens legal affairs spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said the conduct
of the Indonesian government and the farcical trial of the three
soldiers involved showed a “total lack of respect for human rights”.
“What we have here is an open and shut case of severe torture, with
video evidence, and the soldiers responsible will spend, at most, 10
months in prison and then continue their careers in the Indonesian army
– they won’t even be discharged. It is a disgrace – an absolute
disgrace,” said Senator Ludlam.
“There is no ambiguity here. A video of the torture shows the soldiers
burn one man’s genitals, suffocate him with a plastic bag and hold a
knife to his throat. One of the victims said he was beaten for two days,
held over a fire and had chillies rubbed into his wounds,” he said.
“First the Indonesian authorities claimed their soldiers were not
responsible, and then charged them with ‘disobeying orders’. It was a
pathetic response from a government that couldn’t care less about the
human rights of the Papuan people.”
Senator Ludlam said the Australian Government must cut military and
para-military ties with Indonesia.
“Why are we helping to train and arm these soldiers? Why do we fund the Indonesian National Police when its Detachment 88, a so-called
counter-terrorism unit, has been linked to a series of human rights
abuses?” said Senator Ludlam. “While human rights abuses, while torture
continues in Papua and Maluku, we can not fund and train the people
responsible.”
Related Articles
- SMH: Soldiers Stand Trial Over Papua Abuse (westpapuamedia.info)
- Australian Greens: Government fails to cut ties with torture unit (westpapuamedia.info)
- WPAT/ETAN: Light Sentences for Rights Violators Spark Calls for Suspension of Aid to Abusive and Unaccountable Indonesian Military (westpapuamedia.info)
- Amnesty Urges Torture Charges On Indonesia Soldiers (westpapuamedia.info)
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