Tag: Abepura prison

Buchtar Tabuni complains to police chief about his treatment

LETTER OF COMPLAINT FROM BUCHTAR TABUNI TO THE CHIEF OF POLICE IN PAPUA

Police Isolation Cell, 18 January, 2011

To:
Police-General Bekto Suprapto,

With respect,

With regard to my detention in a police isolation cell for almost two
months, I wish to raise the following problems with the Chief of Police
in Papua:

1. Will the police in Papua explain what my status is, whether I am a
detainee (tapol) or a convicted political prisoner (narapidana). If I am
being held as a detainee in connection with the riot that occurred in
Abepura Prison on 3 December 2010, I ask to be given an arrest warrant
by the police for the period that I have been held in a police isolation
cell . And whether what I myself did together with Filep Karma at the
time of the riot was not in fact an attempt to calm things down while
trying to be a link between the prison officers and the prisoners who
were involved in the riot. If my status is that of a narapidana, I
hereby ask to be transferred to Abepura Prison Class IIA. This is
because being held in an isolation cell by the police in Papua has had
the following very damaging consequences for me:

a) My father, Jen Tabuni, who was 54 years old, passed away on
Sunday, 9 January 2011 in Papani Kampung, in the Papuan interior. The
cause of death was that, after hearing that I had been taken from a
police cell and thinking that I had been kidnapped, he suffered a
stroke, fainted and died. This was because there was no information
about my whereabouts after I had been separated and placed in an
isolation cell by the Papuan police, without any clear reason being
given for this;

b) Ever since being separated and held in an isolation cell of the
Papuan Police, I have not received any edible food and on some
occasions, I have not been given any food and drink at all, as a result
of which I have been drinking the water in the tub in the bathroom. The
lack of decent food and drink has given me serious gastric problems;

c) My body is turning yellow and I often feel giddy when I stand up.
This is because of the lack of sunlight, the lack of vegetables and
because the vegetables I do eat are boiled as a result of which I am
anaemic as well as suffering from gastritis which means that my health
is deteriorating.

2. If the police here in Papua fail to respond speedily to my
complaints, I will go on hunger strike until my complaints are dealt with.

Letter of complaint from:

Buchtar Tabuni

Papuan political prisoner

Buchtar Tabuni

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Buchtar Tabuni and friends are still in police custody

[Slightly abridged in translation by TAPOL]

Bintang Papua, 30 December 2010

Buchtar Tabuni and friends are still in police custody

Jayapura:

Two convicted prisoners charged with treason [makar], Buchtar Tabuni and Filep Karma, along with three other prisoners, Dominggus Pulalo, Alex Elopere and Lopes Katubaba are still in police custody. Buchtar and the others are in police custody and face charges of causing damage and incitement in Abepura Prison on 3 December 2010.

Confirming this in a press release on the security situation at the end
of 2010, Police Inspector-General Bekto Suprapto said that although
Buchtar and his colleagues were convicted prisoners and already serving sentences in Abepura Prison , they now had the additional status of facing new charges. ‘This means that their sentences will certainly be increased,’ he said. (sic)

The police chief said that with their removal from Abepura Prison,
conditions at Abepura Prison had improved. It was much easier now to
keep control of the prisoners in Abepura than it was when Buchtar and
the others were there, he was quoted as saying. ‘We have received
reports that the prison inmates are easier to control, they are more
obedient and now do as they are told, whereas before they were not easy to control.’

He said this was an indication that Buchtar and the others had been
inciting the other prisoners to be disobedient.

Asked about the number of prisoners who had escaped from the prison, he said that they were all on the wanted list [DPO] and their capture was the top priority for 2011 but he did not mention the number of prisoners involved. According to information from other sources, at least fifty prisoners have escaped from the prison.

He said that Buchtar and the others would face several new charges such as causing damage (Article 170) and incitement (Article 160), and could face up to seven years in prison.

When Bintang Papua requested permission to take photos of Buchtar and his friends in police custody, this was refused. The police officer said that this would only infuriate the general public.

As previously reported, Buchtar and his friends [allegedly] caused
damage after an inmate Wiron Wetipo disappeared from the prison and was shot dead by a joint patrol of the police and the army, while they were raiding a house in Tanah Hitam which is suspected as being the
headquarters of the OPM/TPN.

On hearing that Wiron had been shot dead, the six persons [not five
which is the number of names given in this article] now face charges for causing damage and inciting the other prisoners.

Filep Karma is serving a 15-year sentence while Buchtar is serving three years. The other prisoners are serving sentences of two or three years.

[Note how this senior police has no doubt that Buchtar and Karma will
be found guilty of the new charges they face. Such is the rule of law in Indonesia. – TAPOL]

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KontraS Papua: Press release on Recent Problems in Abepura Prison

KontraS (Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence) Papua, SKPHP (Solidarity of Victims of Human Rights Violations in Papua) and the Lawyers Team

The Department of Law and Human Rights and Abepura Prison must take responsibility Legal Processes will not solve the problems in Abepura Prison.

The clarification made to the media by the public relations department of the Police Force in Papua, Police Commissioner Wahchyono, that Buchtar Tabuni, Filep Karma, Dominggus Pulalo, Alex Elopere and Danny Lopez Karubaba are now suspects is incorrect because their status should be as witnesses in a criminal case in which acts of violence were perpetrated against certain individuals and material goods, as stipulated in Article 170 of the Criminal Code.

The Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) Papua and their lawyers believe that the legal procedures now being taken by the Provincial Police Force in Papua regarding Buchtar Tabuni and his associates reflect a failure of the Department of Law and Human Rights and the Abepura Prison to create feelings of tranquillity among prisoners being held in Abepura Prison.

It should be noted that on 3 December 2010, five inmates escaped from the prison, as a result of which one of the inmates, Wiron Wetiipo was shot and fatally wounded but we have not yet received any information about the legal procedures that are now in progress.

This is not the first time that inmates are reported to have escaped from the prison. This should be the focus of attention revealing as it does that conditions in the prison are not in order as they have resulted in the prisoners making an escape from the prison.

It is not right for the Department of Law and Human Rights and the
prison authorities to take account only of the consequences but they should also consider the causes of these developments. In our opinion, the legal process will not be able to solve the problems
in the prison because, as stated by FORDEM in its statement of 14
December 2010 which was reported in the daily newspaper, Bintang Papua, the Director of Abepura Prsion along with fourteen members of his staff should face charges for committing acts of violence against the prisoners as this would uphold the principle of equality before the law. If legal procedures are only to be taken against Buchtar and his
associates, this is unfair and could have unfortunate consequences.

Therefore KontraS Papua and the team of lawyers make the following demands:

1. The Indonesian Minister of Law and Human Rights and the District Head of the Department of Law and Human Rights should take measures that are more appropriate in order to provide an atmosphere of tranquillity for the prisoners and should not focus primarily on legal procedures to resolve these problems.
2. The District Head of the Department of Law and Human Rights and the prison authorities should be transparent in explaining what actually happened so as to avoid creating a variety of perceptions in the community.
3. The Provincial Legislative Assembly of the Province of Papua
should also get involved in solving the problems in the prison, for the sake of accountability towards the community as a whole.

The five persons facing charges are:

Filep Jacob S Karma
Buchtar Tabuni
Alex Elopere
Dominggus Pulalo
Danny Lopez Karubaba

The charges against them are all as stipulated in Article 170 of the Criminal Code.

[Translated by TAPOL]

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Filep Karma and Buchtar Tabuni to face charges ‘for damaging public property’

According to Bintang Papua, 14 December 2010, two well known Papuan political prisoners are to face charges for alleged incitement and causing damage to the Abepura Prison.

The two men, Filep Karma who is serving a 15-year sentence, and Buchtar Tabuni who is serving a three-year sentence, were transferred from Abepura Prison to the custody of the police in Papua on 3 December. Three other prisoners who were charged under the criminal code were also transferred, Domminggus Pulalo who is serving two years, Alex Elopere who is serving three years and Lopes Karubaba who is serving two years.According to the chief of public relations of the police in Papua, Commissioner  Wachyono, they will face a series of charges under Articles 170 and 160 for incitement for which they face sentences of up to seven years.

‘Let no one run away with the idea that they are immune to the law, including these six (sic) men just because they are already serving sentences,’ said Wachyono.

Wachyono said that they were now being held in cells at the police command for security reasons. ‘If they were held at the district police command (Polsek), anything undesirable could happen, especially bearing in mind that many groups in society are not happy about the men being incarcerated.’

Referring to reports that relatives of the prisoners have been prohibited from visiting the men as well as members of the central KomnasHAM, Wachyono insisted that this was untrue. ‘There are no restrictions against anyone visiting them, as long as they comply with visiting hour procedures. People should not come when the men are resting,’ he said.

[According to information from relatives of Filep Karma and Buchtar Tabuni, from the time of their transfer to police custody on 3 December until the present, visiting has been denied.]

As already reported, those now being charged started inflicting damage  after hearing that a co-prisoner, Wiron Wetipo who had escaped from the prison was shot dead by a joint patrol of the army and the police after they had raided a house in Tanah Hitam suspected of being the headquarters of the TPN/OPM. After learning of Wiron’s death, the prisoners started causing damage and inciting other prisoners to resist the prison authorities.

[According to information from colleagues of Filep Karma and Buchtar Tabuni, the contrary is true. The two men, in particular Karma tried to mediate with the prisoners, urging them not to riot or cause any damage. TAPOL]

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Abepura prison director, staff, accused of violence towards prisoners

 

[Slightly abridged in translation]

Bintang Papua, 13 December 2010

Director of Abepura Prison and 14 of his staff accused of acts of 
violent towards prisoners

There is still no clear information with regard to two cases of violence 
that occurred in Abepura Prison in the past month and it is hoped that 
the police will carry out a serious investigation in order to  explain 
these two incidents that have led to the security forces conducting 
sweepings throughout the district of Abepura. The need for a more 
humanitarian approach in dealing with the victims of these actions was 
stressed during a press conference  held by Forum of People's Democracy 
(Forem) in Abepura on Monday.

The series of incidents included the shooting in Nafri and the enforced 
removal of five prisoners, Filep Karma, Buchtar Tabuni, Dominggus 
Pulalo, Lopez Karubaba and Eni Elopere which has raised questions by 
Forem, particularly why the men were forcibly transferred to police 
custody and to explain what their present status is.

Two of the prisoners are political  prisoners while the other three are 
being held on criminal charges.

The five men were transferred by the police on Friday, 3 December at 
around 11pm, on the orders to Abepura prison director , Berthy Sitinjak. 
Up to this day, the prison authorities have failed to  tell them the 
reason for their having being transferred to police custody. All the 
focus has been on the five men having allegedly provoked  others in the 
prison to  destroy things in the prison on that Friday afternoon. 
According to the prisoners themselves, these acts of destruction were an 
expression of their feelings of dissatisfaction with the attitude of the 
prison director who failed to tell them why five of their co-prisoners 
had fled from the prison on the same day at about 12 noon.

One of the men, Wiron Wetipo, was shot dead while Filep Karma and 
Buchtar Tabuni tried to calm people down, and asked to meet the director 
of the prison for  an explanation as to what happened to the prisoner 
who was shot dead in Tanah Hitam.

According to Forem, as stated by Simon Yumame, Dominggus Pulalo, Lopez 
Karubaba and Eni Elopere were not involved in damaging prison 
facilities, yet even so, they were maltreated by prison director Berthy 
Sitinjak  along with 14 members of his staff. These actions resulted in 
a damaged ear for Dominggus Pulalo and swellings on his head  as a 
result of being kicked repeatedly  all over this body.

According to Filep Karma and his co-prisoners, the five men who fled 
from the prison on Friday were criminal prisoners and were in no way 
connected with any political activities or the OPM. They had simply 
spent their time in the prison learning new skills and growing vegetables.

Forem has therefore urged the prison director Berthy Sitinjak and the 
deputy director of law and human rights to take responsibility and to 
ensure the return of the five prisoners so that they can serve the 
remainder of their sentences in Abepura Prison.and to explain publicly 
why the five prisoners were shot at even though they had been able to 
flee from the prison at a time when it was being heavily guarded. Forem 
also calls on the minister for law and human rights and the 
Diretor-General of  prisons to take firm action against the director of 
the prison for the arbitrary acts of violence taken against the 
prisoners in Abepura Prison.

According to Forem, at their press conference,  the prison authorities 
have shown that they are incapable of giving proper guidance to the 
prisoners; on the contrary, they  have caused widespread anxiety among 
the prisoners against the police and army for opening fire on prisoners 
that resulted in the death of Wiron Wetipo.

These two serious incidents, the shooting in Nafri and the flight of the 
prisoners, means that the army and the police should conduct a full 
investigation into the Nafri shooting and other matters, that violence 
should not be resorted to and they should behave in a more professional 
way and in accordance with the law, so as not to create an atmosphere of 
fear among the  prisoners.

The prisoner director, when asked about the accusations being made 
against his staff for using violence in the prison, showed no interest 
in the matter, saying simply that it was okay for the  prisons to 
express their views about allegations that the prison staff used 
violence. The truth was, according to him, that they had thrown things 
around in the prison office. 'Which is why was they have been moved to 
police custody for their involvement in the events of 3 December, and 
their cases are now being taken forward by the police.
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