Category: syndication

Rights activist condemns police for preventing activities by KNPB

JUBI, 5 June 2012

The independent human rights activist, Sebby Sambom, said that it was deeply regrettable that the police force in Papua had used acts of brutality to prevent the KNPB, the National Committee for West Papua, from conducting an action on Monday 4 June. As a result of the police actions, one life was lost and others were injured,  including KNPB members and members of  the security forces.

He said in a brief message to JUBI that the security apparatus had acted against the law and violated freedom of expression which is guaranteed according to Article 19, para (2) of the International Covenant  on Civil and Political Rights. Indonesia ratified the Covenant  under Law 9/1998.

Sebby accused the police for not respecting basic human rights which has resulted in the serious crisis situation now prevailing in Papua. ‘This is a humanitarian crisis  by a colonial government  which refuses to respect universal human rights,’ he said.

‘The fact is,’ said this former political prisoner, ‘that colonial powers never respect the situation of its colonised people.’

He said that the problems in Papua can only be resolved  if there is intervention by the international community.

‘We call  for the full attention and intervention of the international community, in particular, the United Nations and the UN Human Rights Council

[Translated by TAPOL]

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Kontras Challenges Indonesian Military, Spy Roles in Wake of Papuan Killings

http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2012/06/kontras-challenges-indonesian-military-intelligence-roles-in-wake-of-papuan-killings/Pacific Scoop
June 11, 2012 Report – By Jubi and the PMC news desk

In the wake of many shootings that have occurred this month in the
West Papuan region capital of Jayapura and its environs, the human
rights group Kontras has challenged the role of the Indonesian
military and police and questioned the work of the state intelligence
agency.

The coordinator of Kontras (Commission for the Disappeared and Victims
of Violence), Olga Helena Hamadi, said the police should investigate
all the shooting incidents and reveal who was who behind them.

She said the TNI (Indonesian military), police and intelligence should
work harder on this issue.

“It is strange that all these shootings  are occurring in the heart of
the city, yet not one of the perpetrators has yet been arrested,” she
said.

“The police should investigate these incidents. It is the duty of the
police to safeguard the security  of our citizens. It is not enough
for the police to issue statements saying that these incidents are the
work of  OTK – Orang Tak Kenal or Unidentified People.”

If the army and the police were finding it difficult to  discover who
was who are behind these shootings, civil society groups  should work
in collaboration with each other to work out a solution, she said.

The chairman of BUK (United for Justice), Peneas Lokbere, said the
police must have the confidence of the community.

“If they fail to reveal any of the forces that are behind these
incidents, they will lose the the confidence of the community,” he
said.

Albertus, a representative of the Franciscans  Secretariat in
Jayapura, also said the police must reveal the people who were behind
these activities.

“The police are entrusted with the task of  providing security and
tranquillity for the community,” he said.

Albertus added that the shootings had created fear  and anxiety among
the people in general which makes it difficult for the community to
feel sure about their safety.

Source: Jubi – abridged translation by by the Indonesian human rights group TAPOL

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District chief criticises brutal actions by soldiers

JUBI, 6 June 2012

The bupati  (head) of the district of Jayawijaya, Jhon Wempi Wetipo, has expressed his deepest regret  at brutal actions taken by members of the 736 Wamena battalion  who went on the rampage, damaging a number of government facilities, following the death of a soldier who had been set upon by local people.

He said that the correct way to respond to the attack of one of their colleagues  was to hand the case over to the police for the matter to be handled in accordance with the law.

‘I very much regret what happened in Honai Lama, seeing it spread to the city. Facilities that have been built by the government should be guarded by forces of the state, not destroyed,’ he said.

‘What is the purpose of such actions? It means just destroying things that have been built with money from the people’.

He said that the various government authorities  in the district  will hold a meeting to discuss what needs to be done in this matter. The facilities that were destroyed included some offices and a shopping mall that had only just been built.

He said that the attacks on members of the security forces  had occurred after local people were infuriated because two men on a motorbike knocked down  a young child.

One of the soldiers who was attacked has since died  after a stab pierced his heart. The other soldier is in a critical condition afer been stabbed in the chest.

Following the atack on the soldiers,  dozens of their colleagues went on the rampage in the town of Wamena and the situation became uncontrollable. ‘Even the police were unable to do anything.’

[Translated by TAPOL]

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Chairman of KNPB arrested – many calls for his release

Bintang Papua, 7 June 2012The Chairman of the KNPB – National Committee for West Papua – Buchtar Tabuni  has been arrested. He was taken into custody while travelling by bus  in Abepura. Two others were arrested with him.

Deputy police chief, Brig-Gen Waterpauw  said that Tabuni had been arrested in connection with a number of recent incidents in Jayapura including the stabbing to death of a student. The police officer said: ‘A number of demonstrations have taken place which had called on others in the community to take part. These vents were anarchic and were in violation of the law.’ [Since when has it been against the law to demonstrate anywhere in Indonesia?]

Asked whether Tabuni’s arrest was connected with a number of unexplained shootings, the police officer said ‘These shootings are under investigation and we are trying to find out who it is who is behind them.’

He said there had been no addition to the number of troops in the area. The officer said that the  police were already aware of the features of the persons responsible  and added that they believe that four persons are involved in the shootings.

The chairman of Commision  A of the DPRP, the provincial legislative assembly, Ruban Magay, along with other members of the commission had been to the police headquarters to call for the unconditional release of Tabuni. A similar demand has been made by politicians from the  Partai Demokrat who said that Tabuni had visited the Commission at their invitation. The chairman said: ‘The continued detention of Bochtar Tabuni would only intensify the current problems in Papua which appear to be never-ending.

Just prior to his arrest, Tabuni had been seen chatting with members of the DPRP and with journalists.

Abridged in translation by TAPOL

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AHRC: Prison guards tortured 42 prisoners and detainees at Abepura correctional facility in Papua

June 8, 2012

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the torture of 42 prisoners and detainees by prison guards at Abepura Correctional Facility on 30 April 2012 following an argument between one of the detainees, Selfius Bobii, and the Head of the Abepura Correctional Facility (Abepura Kalapas). The prisoners were beaten, kicked, hit with wood blocks as well as iron sticks and some of them were trampled by the prison guards. Their personal items were taken away and burned. The torture and property destruction took place under the order of the Abepura Kalapas.

CASE NARRATIVE:
According to several local NGOs such as The Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violance in Papua (KontraS Papua), Sekretariat Keadilan, Perdamaian dan Keutuhan Ciptaan (SKPKC) Fransiskan Papua, Papua Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Papua) and Elsham Papua, around 12pm on 30 April 2012, the prison guards at Class II.A of the Abepura Correctional Facility were going to put back and lock the detainees and prisoners in their cell. Amongst them was Selfius Bobii who was detained and received punishment for his involvement in the Third Papuan Congress in October 2011. Selfius had asked the Head of the Correctional Facility’s Security Unit (KPLP), Juwaini, for a permit to hold a creative activity with other prisoners but his request was dismissed by the KPLP. This led to an argument between him and the Abepura Kalapas, Liberti Sitinjak, who heard the conversation of Selfius and one of his staffs.

The argument between Selfius and the Kalapas ended with an order from the Kalapas to the prison guards to put Selfius into isolation. Selfius avoided the prison guards and insisted that he should not be isolated as he has not done anything wrong.

Other prisoners who were at their cell witnessed this and they also yelled at the prison guards asking them to put Selfius back to his cell instead of to the isolation. Their requests were ignored and the prison guards put Selfius in an isolated area. The prison guards later went back to the cells where the prisoners were yelling. The guards were offended with what the prisoners said so they took them out of their cell and beat, kicked and hit them with fists, wood blocks and iron sticks. The prisoners were also whipped with thick ropes supposed to use for controlling cows. They were also dragged to the yard in front of the block and were asked to walk whilst they were crouching for about 200 metres. As they were doing this, the guards kept beating and kicking them. The guards stepped on some of the prisoners and detainees’ fingers and toes. The guards also kept saying to the prisoners ‘you are all stupid, that is why you ended up here’. The torture and ill-treatment took place for about two and a half hours, approximately from 12.30-3.15pm. There were 41 prisoners in total who were treated this way by twenty prison guards. Two prisoners Hendrik Kenelak and Otto Ikinia fainted and one, Parmen Wenda, had his arm broken.

Before the prison guards put the prisoners back to their cell, the Kalapas asked them to search the cells and took away their personal belongings  and later burned them. Selfius was brought to the Papua Regional Police Station and was questioned. He did not receive any ill-treatment whilst he was there and was later sent back to Abepura Correctional Facility on 3 May 2012.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Principle 6 of the UN Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention and Imprisonment explicitly prohibits the use of torture and ill-treatment against persons whose liberty are deprived. The principle also emphasises that no reason can be used to justify any state officials to conduct torture and ill-treat prisoners. These principles are in accordance with the provisions under the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UN CAT) to which Indonesia is a state party since 1998. Yet although Indonesia has ratified the UN CAT, torture itself has yet to be criminalised in Indonesia in order to end the ongoing practice. For this reason, at the first and second Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council’s session on Indonesia, several countries urged the Indonesian government to criminalise torture and to reform its Penal Code in accordance with its international human rights obligations.

The absence of articles making torture a punishable crime in Indonesia contributes to the low investigation rate seen in torture cases in Indonesian criminal procedure. Torture is often deemed merely as a violation to disciplines for which, in the majority of cases, the perpetrators received inadequate or no punishment. Military officers who tortured several Papuans in 2010 as shown in a video distributed on the internet, for instance, were sent only to 8 to 10 month imprisonment for disobedience but have not been held accountable for the torture they committed.

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