Tag: colonialism

West Papua human rights defender arrested by police

West Papua human rights activist Sebby Sambom has been arrested by police at Sentani Airport in Jayapura yesterday morning. He was on his way to a meeting with the Asian Human Rights Commission.

Sebby was released from prison last year after serving 1 year of a 2 year sentence following a legal glitch. He has since been living in hiding after him and his family received death threats.

It is not clear what offence he is alleged to have committed. Witnesses said he was in the boarding lounge of the airport when Indonesian intelligence officers and police arrested him.

In other developments, police last night shot dead Miron Wetipo at Abepura Prison leading to a riot by prisoners. High profile political prisoners Filep Karma and Buctar Tabuni have now been moved to Papua police hearquaters from Abepura prison by police. There are reports of intimidation towards remaining prisoners.

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Situation tense in Jayapura as police and military launch operations

Report from KNPB, Jayapura

I inform you directly from Jayapura West Papua that the people of West Papua is now on emergency under Indonesia military forces. Until this night TNI (the national army of Indonesia) and Police are still blockading every places in Abepura. I got accurate information from my people near Tanah Hitam that Indonesian military shot dead a farmer at Abe Gunung when this man was in garden. One man namely Miron Wetipo shot on 6.18 PM this afternoon and his body was in Bhayangkara Hospital.

Last night on 03.00 AM Indonesia military forces destroyed all of the West Papua people’s houses near Abe gunung and arrested 2 man. One of them was a shepherd. From the morning till this night police and TNI arrested people without any reasons. According to the witness, they are looking for Dany Kogoya. He is an activist and also advocate for the OPM and TPN.

According to Danny’s neighborhood, TNI and Police intentionally put the gun and bullet near the Danny’s house to publish out that it was Danny’s gun and bullet so that they could carry out everything they want.

Here is the name that were arrested:
1. Ev. Yesmin Yikwa
2. Yupiter Tabuni
3. Tenius Yikwa
4. Manu Kogoya
5. Lambert Siep
6. Nalius Karoba
7. Yumbuk Yikwa
8. Yotan Kogoya

According to the chef of Police in Jayapura, the reason was to arrest the perpetrators of the shooting that happening some days ago. But I inform you that the Indonesian army and the police are carrying out shooting and arresting without any interrogation against them. They have intimidated, terror and tortured the civil of West Papua brutality. In fact, they are not the perpetrators. Police and TNI also were blockaded near the barracks of Uncen (Cenderawasih University).

Tonight, many shooting sounds are still continue.
Victor F. Yeimo
The international Spokesperson for KNPB

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Brimob should act professionally and be loved by the people

Bintang Papua, 15 November 2010

Abridged in translation

Brimob should act professionally and be loved by the people
The commander of the Brimob unit in Papua has called on his men to avoid acts of violence in resolving problems that may arise. Speaking on the occasion of Brimob’s 65th anniversary, Police Commissioner Prasetyo said: ‘We need to be firm but without using violence. We may feel angry but we should not act in a spirit of anger.,’ he said.

Saying that these words were aimed at members of the force in Papua, he acknowledged that this would involve a process, over time. ‘It’s not something that is easy to do, like turning your hand upside-down and could take quite a long time.’

He said that the changes must start from the top. ‘We must set an example. We should not behave arrogantly towards the people but behave as leaders towards their subordinates, and stop beating up people.’

Measures were also being taken to reinforce the number of personnel and improve their equipment to ensure that they preserve security in those places where their presence is needed, without bringing in extra forces from elsewhere.

He referred to statements made recently by a number of Papuan leaders concerning the TNI (armed forces) and the police that had been reported in the media about the use of violence towards Papuans. He said that in principle, the presence of Brimob in these places was legitimate.’If any of our members behave incorrectly, then they should face sanctions,’ he said.

The national chief of police spoke abut the history of Brimob which was established in November 1946 as a special police force that had been active during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia. In 1961, Brimob was highly praised by President Suharto.

He said that the occurrence of many disturbances within the community meant that the presence of Brimob was necessary. It was, he said. a unit that was trained to handle all high-intensity disturbances of security.

[Comment: Brimob is a special unit of the Indonesian police force, Polri. Some years ago, it was decided that the Indonesian army, the TNI should take a back seat in West Papua and it would left to the police force to be in charge of maintaining ‘security’ in Papua. Members of the regular police force are frequently condemned in many parts of Indonesia for using violence against ordinary members of the public and for corruption. But as far as we know, it is only in Papua that Brimob has been brought in and deployed on a permanent basis.

As readers will know, several serious cases of the use of torture against Papuans have been condemned after being widely circulated on the internet, and several officers were last week tried before a military court and given very light sentences for these terrible crimes. Reports of these incidents have not identified which police units were involved but it is likely that the personnel involved were members of Brimob. TAPOL]

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Indonesian soldiers receive 5 month prison sentences for torture that shocked the world; human rights groups label trial a ‘farce’

AFP
Indonesia on Thursday sentenced four soldiers to between five and seven months in jail for “minor disciplinary infringements”, after they were filmed abusing Papuan civilians.

The soldiers sentenced were not those filmed burning an elderly Papuan man’s genitals, but ones captured kicking a group of villagers around the head. The soldiers involved in the more horrific footage have not been located, leading to human rights groups demanding an international enquiry into allegations of widespread torture across West Papua.

A military tribunal gave three privates five months each for breaching the military code of conduct and their platoon commander seven months for allowing the abuse to occur.

“The defendants kicked the detainees’ heads and backs and hit their heads with helmets,” chief judge Lieutenant-Colonel Adil Karokaro told the tribunal in Papua provincial capital, Jayapura.

The sentences were heavier than military prosecutors’ recommendation of three months.

Critics of the Indonesian military say the case would never have gone to court had a video of the abuse, which occurred in the Punjak Jaya area of Papua in March, not appeared online.

Human rights workers labelled the trial a farce after senior military officials said it would deal with soldiers involved in the gruesome and far more serious torture of two Papuan detainees in May.

A video of the May incident also found its way to human rights workers, who released it online ahead of visits to Jakarta by the leaders of Australia and the United States, two key backers of the Indonesian military.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono promised “no immunity” for the perpetrators but no charges have been laid.

Human rights activists accuse the Indonesian military of killings, murder, torture and abuse of Papua’s ethnic Melanesian majority.

Papuan separatists have fought a low-intensity war for independence for decades, claiming that a vote by a small group of tribal elders which ceded the massive territory to Indonesia in the 1960s was a sham.

Peaceful Papuan political activists are regularly given lengthy jail terms for crimes such as possessing outlawed rebel flags. One such person is Filep Karma, currently serving a 15 year jail sentence for his part in a peaceful flagraising ceremony.

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Torture trial exposed as a ‘grand deception’ – Indonesian Government caught lying to US and Australian Governments

Article from The Age

A MILITARY trial into abuses by soldiers in Papua, trumpeted by Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as evidence of the country’s commitment to human rights ahead of Julia Gillard’s visit, has proven to be a grand deception.

The trial of four soldiers began on Friday in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, amid assurances from the Indonesian government and military that those appearing were involved in the torture of two Papuan men depicted in a graphic video.

But when the trial started, it became apparent that the four defendants had nothing to do with the incident depicted in the video, which took place in Papua on May 30. Instead, they were four soldiers involved in another incident, in March, which was also captured on video. While disturbing – it involves soldiers kicking and hitting detained Papuans – the abuses in the March incident are milder than the genital burning torture in the May video.

Dubbed the ”red herring trial” by The Jakarta Post, human rights advocates said the deception proved the matter must be investigated by Indonesia’s human rights body and the perpetrators tried in Indonesia’s Human Rights Court.

Papuan activists said the ”farcical” military tribunal hearing was a deliberate strategy to deflect international condemnation ahead of the visits of Ms Gillard, who travelled to Jakarta last week, and US President Barack Obama, who arrives tomorrow.

A day before Ms Gillard’s visit, Dr Yudhoyono announced the trial was to take place and urged Ms Gillard not to raise the topic when they spoke. ”There’s no need to pressure Indonesia. We have conducted an investigation and are ready for a trial or anything that is required to uphold justice and discipline,” he said.

But at the weekend, Lieutenant Colonel Susilo, spokesman for TNI’s military command in Papua, admitted the soldiers before the tribunal had nothing to do with the torture.

”It is difficult for us to investigate the perpetrators in the second video because they did not show any attribute or uniform,” he said. ”So what we could do was working on the first video. We could recognise their units and faces easily. ”

Ms Gillard’s office and the Department of Foreign Affairs declined to comment.

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