Activist tortured, disappeared in Serui amid round up of non-violent activists

Reports have been received from human rights investigators detailing a torture incident that occurred in Serui on October 17, 2012, under the command of notorious Serui Police Chief Roycke Harry Langie.

Arrests occurred in Serui in the lead up to planned demonstrations commemorating the 1st anniversary of the 3rd Papuan People’s Congress, the brutal crackdown by Indonesian security forces on the event, and the establishment of the self-declared Federated Republic of West Papua.

Those now held as political prisoner in Serui now include:

• Edison Kendi
• Yanpiet Maniamboi
• Jon Niantian
• Jamal Omrik Manitori

On Wednesday evening after 6:00pm, activist Lodik Ayomi was captured by Police at Serui General hospital whilst visiting his ill father. Whilst Lodik’s father was lying in hospital bed, he watched helplessly with tears as his son was being hand-cuffed, hit with a rifle-butt on the head and dragged out of the hospital, according to human rights investigators.

Mr Ayomi, in his early 30’s, is a father with a child and a political activist. He is listed on the Daftar Pencarian Orang (DPO- Wanted List) by the Police in Serui, alongside with several other political activists who are now in hiding for their safety.  Mr Ayomi was falsely accused by Serui police of an incident in May, which Police claimed to be an ‘attempt-to-shoot’ a police officer at Angkaisera Police station.

Lodik’s one kilometre journey from the hospital to the Police Prison left him with a fractured skull and swollen eyes, and one witness described that “he can’t even open his eyes”.  He was also beaten upon his arrival at the Serui Prison, where a witness saw ten police officers in uniform “push him out of the police car and onto the ground violently with ongoing brutal acts of kicking, punching, and hitting with the butt of their rifle for several minutes.”

Another witness at the prison saw Ayomi couldn’t move whilst he was lying on the ground.  “I thought he was dead, but thankfully, a new officer who just started his shift came for Lodik’s rescue and stop the other officers from hitting him,”  said the witness.  Mr Lodik sustained a fractured skull with three cracks on his head, according tohe witness, who has not been identified for his protection.

The witness saw a “blood-bath all over” and massive swelling on his face and body. He was then physically dragged into his cell and later at 8:15pm, the prison guards allowed four Indonesian intelligence officers, who blind-folded his head in a bag and tortured him.

Before he was dragged away, other inmates could hear him screaming loudly “help, help, help, Lord help me”, for several times.  The inmates heard the interrogators yelled at him to ‘stand-up’ when he fell onto the concrete floor, and continuously kicked him until he was crying and Ayomi was begging for the police officers to “please don’t paralyze my legs, please don’t break my legs”.

After that another five officers came in and took him away into the interrogation room, where he continued to scream for ‘help’, according to witnesses at the prison. He was tortured and interrogated for over six hours, from 8:15pm until 2:00am. He was later put in a septic tank for 2 hours with head blind-folded and hand-cuffed. The other inmates saw him “like a disabled person”.

On Thursday morning, around 8am, he was taken away from the prison and until now, no one knows his whereabouts, including the other inmates.  Grave concerns are held for his safety.
The witnesses who saw the police officers who beat him know the identities of the police officers names. Thee names of the police officers who conducted the beating are:

• Bripka. Jabal Nur
• Brigadir. Yusak Sawaki
• Briptu. Peres Yowen
• Briptu. Regen Jas
• Briptu. Berti

with West Papua Media