Tag: brutality

KontraS reports on continuing deaths and injuries in Papua

Jubi
29 October 2012
KontraS, the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence has drawn the conclusion that from January to October this year, 107 people have been injured  as a result of acts of violence.The commission also stated that as many as 81 acts of violence occurred in Papua.Thirty-one of these people died as a result of their injuries. A spokesperson for KontraS, Sri, said that KontraS believes that since January this year, scores of acts of violence have engulfed Papua.

In a press release issued on 26 October, she said that at least thirty-one  people had died and 107 people had been injured.

This press release was issued in Jakarta together with several other NGOs, including NAPAS, BUK and YAPHAM. The NGOs were keen to draw attention to the current situation in Papua  which is becoming increasingly tense.

KontraS believes that there are serious restrictions to democracy in Papua .

‘It is a serious challenge for civil society to criticise the policy being pursued by the government,’ said KontraS

A Papuan activist n Jakarta, Martin Goo said that the continuing suppression of democracy in Papua has triggered a number of conflicts in Papua. There has also been an intensification of acts of terrorism which, he said, were being perpetrated by  certain groups who are against the people’s struggle for justice,

[Translated by TAPOL]

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Tapol: Britain and Indonesia – Too close for comfort?

TAPOL Press release
President’s visit prompts fresh concerns about arms sales and training of anti-terror police

30 October 201

British-funded training of Indonesia’s anti-terror police, Special Detachment 88, should be reviewed in the light of serious concerns about the unit’s human rights record and its operations in Papua, says TAPOL ahead of a state visit to London by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono from 31 October to 2 November 2012.

In the run-up to the visit TAPOL, which promotes human rights, peace and democracy in Indonesia, is also appealing for an immediate ban on the sale to Indonesia of any military equipment that may be used for internal repression.

“While British businesses are no doubt eagerly anticipating the President’s visit, victims of human rights abuses will derive little comfort from the prospect of increased arms sales and ongoing training of Indonesian security forces,” says Paul Barber, Coordinator of TAPOL.

As the UK government prepares a state welcome for President Yudhoyono, rights groups from the UK and beyond are organizing an alternative welcome at a demonstration on behalf of the victims of human rights abuses outside Downing Street from 13:00 to 14:30 on Wednesday 31 October.

While Indonesia has made substantial progress in its transition from dictatorship to democracy since the downfall of former President Suharto in May 1998, serious human rights concerns remain.

“The news that the President is to receive a prestigious honour from the Queen is a gross affront to those who have suffered violations at the hands of successive Indonesian governments,” said Barber [1].

Special Detachment 88, known as ‘Densus 88’ was formed after the Bali bombings in 2002 to combat terrorism, but is reportedly being deployed to tackle other issues, such as alleged separatism in Indonesia’s conflict-affected provinces. Local civil society monitors say Densus 88 is being used to crack down on the Papuan independence movement, and the unit has been implicated in the assassination of its leaders, such as Mako Tabuni who was shot dead in June this year.

The unit is trained at the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation, JCLEC, which received a minimum of £400,000 in funding from Britain in the financial year 2011/12, as well as training provided by British officers. These include the UK’s South East Asia Counter Terrorism & Extremism Liaison Officer Detective Superintendent Phil Tucker; former Metropolitan Police Commander Bob Milton, and David Gray, an officer from the Counter Terrorism Command at New Scotland Yard who sits on JCLEC’s Board of Supervisors and has been teaching on the course since August 2009.

In July this year, leading Indonesian human rights NGO, KontraS, published research which stated that Densus 88 operations commonly involved arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, physical abuse and injury causing death [2].

Indonesia has been identified by the UK as a priority market for defence sales, with Prime Minister David Cameron boosting the export effort when he visited Jakarta with arms company executives in April 2012. The value of approved arms export licences has risen dramatically under the coalition government. The use of British equipment such as Hawk jets, armoured personnel carriers and water cannon for internal repression has been widely documented over the years and was acknowledged by the British Government in the 1990s. UK Tactica vehicles have been used to crush protest on the streets of Jakarta as recently as March this year, and are used by Indonesia’s notorious paramilitary police unit Brimob.

During the President’s visit, groups including TAPOL, Down to Earth, Survival International, Progressio and Christian Solidarity Worldwide will be highlighting these and other key issues, including Human Rights in Papua; The Need for Dialogue in Papua; Freedom of Expression; Rights, Livelihoods and Climate Justice; Religious Intolerance; and Timor-Leste and Impunity.

Information on these issues is set out in a briefing available here.

ENDS

Contact: Paul Barber on 01420 80153 / 07747 301 739 or Esther Cann on 07503 400 308.

Notes:

1. President Yudhoyono will reportedly be awarded the Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Bath by the Queen during his visit.

2. KontraS report on Densus 88 available from TAPOL on request

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Okto Pogau: Police beating of journalist in Manokwari

Statement by Oktovianus Pogau

SuaraPapua.com

October 23, 2012
I’m going to describe the beating I (Oktovianus Pogau, Journalist) http://www.suarapapua.com experienced by the Manokwari district police in front of Papua State University campus in Manokwari, West Papua, on the afternoon of Tuesday 23rd October.

At about 10.00 am Eastern Indonesian Time I arrived at the place of the incident, in front of the Papua State University campus. I saw around 300 armed officers holding/restraining a crowd of 300 people. The crowd was planning on marching to Lapangan Borarsi, Manokwari. There were three trucks blocking the road, and also 1 TNI (military) truck with dozens of personnel.

There were negotiations between the police and the crowd. Police requested the crowd express their opinion there, on the main road, in front of the campus. The crowd insisted on continuing to Lapangan Borarsi. There was some commotion, then the crowd yielded and didn’t continue to Lapangan Borarsi (except) for a few people who continued there to wait for another crowd of demonstrators to arrive.

At about 10.40 am Eastern Indonesian Time, a police officer neared the crowd and took a photo. The crowd didn’t accept this, and moved nearer to the police and requested that they not take photos so close. Then, several people from the crowd spontaneously threw rocks in the direction of the officers, and from here, the officers responded brutally. Hundreds of people dispersed and the officers loosed thousands of shots in front of the campus Uncen. 11 people were arrested. 2 people suffered from gunshot wounds.

At this time I wasn’t far from where this was happening. I was trying to take footage and photos. A plain-clothed police officer approached me and told me to leave the area in a rude tone. I told him I was a journalist and carried a press card. He demanded I show him my card. I found my wallet so I could show him my card but suddenly a police officer in full uniform turned up. The officer strangled my neck and threatened me, so that I’d leave to the action. I resisted and said I was a journalist, then three more officers in uniform came and barked at me, ‘Where’s your press card . . . where’s your press card.’ I moved to look for it, but one of the police threw punches at my face and lips.
At this time my neck was aching from the strangulation by the officer and my lip was swollen and bleeding. Then several of my journalist friends came and stopped them and said I was a journalist, and only then did they release me.

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UNCEN students call for an end to stigmatisation

JUBI,
24 October, 2012A number of students from Cenderawasih University (UNCEN) took  part in a rally outside the office of the DPRP, the Legislative Assembly of Papua, calling for an end to the stigma of makar (treason), separatism and terrorism against indigenous Papuans. One speaker, Yason Ngelia  said he was very concerned about the crackdown on the demonstration held on the previous day in Manokwari.

‘Is this how you treat a demonstration in this country, using firearms  as a result of which some people have been injured? We demand justice for our friends who became victims of terror and intimidation during the rally in Manokwari,’ he said

The chairman of BEM (?) at the Faculty of Law at UNCEN said that the military command post at Waena should be closed down because there is already a security group in the university. ‘Troops frequently  maltreat  people who are found drunk. This is in violation of the law  although the soldiers say that  they are here to protect the community, said Musa Sama.

‘We call for the release of the eleven student activists. some of whom were shot.’

The army post is not inside the university campus  but in a public place, near shops along Jalan  Kampwolker.

Another speaker said that there is no  democratic space for students to give expression to their aspirations. ‘The military should not be searching our dormitories  on the pretext that the they are searching for people who are on the wanted list.’ He said that all their belongings such as the eleven laptops  that were seized should be handed back

Another UNCEN activist  said that the demo was intended as  an action against corruption and to commemorate the Third Papuan Congress in 2011, yet these actions were banned by the security forces. According to Law 9/1998 about freedom of expression, the police do not have the right to issue permits but only to regulate the traffic.

‘The stigmas of separatism, treason and terrorism were used by the police to refuse to grant a permit for the rally, but this is against the law. We are being denied any space for democracy by the security forces. This can only lead to an accumulation of disappoinments  which could explode into the open during the forthcoming elections. ‘The lack of democratic space will become a boomerang for the government,’ said Benyamin Gurik.

In  response to the calls being made by the students, a member of the DPRP, John Rustam said that he would raise these issues at the next meeting of Commission A which handles these matters.

He said that the demands of the students were for an end to the abuse of human rights and for their right to express their aspirations publicly which until now has been silenced. The army is continually intervening as a result of which there is no security on campus while many students are being hunted down

Another official said that the students had now been released but they were being interrogated.

[Translated by TAPOL]

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Indonesia cannot kill our spirit for freedom: West Papuan leader

21 October 2012

Alex Rayfield

West Papuan independence organisation, the West Papua National Committee (known by its Indonesian acronym KNPB) continues to defy the Indonesian security after a series of arrests and attacks on the group in Wamena, Timika and Jayapura.

Speaking from a safe house KNPB Chairman, Viktor Yeimo told West Papua Media that the police were vigorously repressing the group’s right to freedom to organise and right to nonviolently express their political opinion.

“I am in hiding but I have to try and keep organizing. KNPB have plans for peaceful demonstrations in Sorong, Manokwari and Jayapura. The police won’t allow us to make a peaceful action but we will still have a peaceful action.”

Early on Friday morning officers from the Indonesian police and Australian and U.S aided counter-terrorist group Detachment 88 raided KNPB’s Timika headquarters. Four Papuans, Steven Itlay, Chairman of the Timika region, Romario Yatipai, vice-president of KNPB’s parallel parliamentary structure the West Papua National Parliament, Marten Kalolik, and Denias Tekege were arrested. Laptops and cameras were also seized. The arrests in Timika follow raids and arrests of ten activists in Wamena, raids on villages and an attack on a student dormitory in Jayapura last Tuesday. Some of those arrested are teenagers. Others like Simson, a student activist from Jayapura were beaten by the police to extract information.

Virtually the entire KNPB leadership has now gone underground. In addition to Viktor Yeimo, Fanny Kogoya, ex-member of the KNPB central committee who resigned from KNPB after being elected Director of the Papua Desk of Friends of the Earth Indonesia, and Simeon Dabi chairman of the Wamena branch of KNPB are all on the run. Their faces are pasted in the streets of Wamena and Jayapura under the ominous heading, “Daftar Pencarian Orang”, the list of wanted persons. In Fanny Kogoya’s case her only ‘crime’ is that she was a close friend of Mako Tabuni, the KNPB activist killed by Detachment 88 in June.

Indonesian police accuse KNPB of being behind a series of shootings and bombings in West Papua that have rocked the country in recent months. It is an allegation that Yeimo vigorously denies.

“All this evidence is planted so they can justify their attacks. We never had any plan or any program to make acts of terror. We are not a military movement. If we were a military movement we would be the TPN (West Papua National Army) but we are a civilian movement. The Indonesians fear our movement, they want to make a public opinion that we are terrorists so they can kill us.”

Yeimo pauses.

“But they won’t succeed” he tells me quietly. “Indonesia won’t success to stop our movements for the right. Indonesia cannot kill our spirit for freedom.”

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