Tag: Kopassus

Leaked files show that Kopassus, Indonesia’s Special Forces, targets Papuan Church leaders and Civilians

Jakarta, November 9, 2010.
Secret documents have leaked from inside Kopassus, Indonesia’s red berets, which say that Indonesia’s US-backed security forces engage in “murder [and] abduction” and show that Kopassus targets churches in West Papua and defines civilian dissidents as the “enemy.”

The documents include a Kopassus enemies list headed by Papua’s top Baptist minister and describe a covert network of surveillance, infiltration and disruption of Papuan institutions.

Kopassus is the most notorious unit of  Indonesia’s armed forces, TNI,  which along with POLRI, the  national police, have killed civilians by the hundreds of thousands.

The leaked cache of secret Kopassus documents includes operational,  intelligence and field reports as well as personnel records which list the names and details of Kopassus “agents.”
The documents are classified “SECRET” (“RAHASIA”) and include extensive background reports on  Kopassus  civilian targets  — reports that are apparently of uneven accuracy.

The authenticity of the documents has been verified by Kopassus personnel who have seen them and by external evidence regarding the authors and the internal characteristics of the documents.

Click on the links below to download reports (these are in PDF format)
The Kopassus “enemies” list — the “leaders” of the “separatist political movement” includes fifteen civic leaders.  In the order listed by Kopassus they are:
— Reverend Socrates Sofyan Yoman, chair of the Papua Baptist Synod
— Markus Haluk head of the Association of Indonesian Middle Mountains Students (AMPTI) and an outspoken critic of the security forces and the US mining giant Freeport McMoRan
— Buchtar Tabuni, an activist who, after appearing on the Kopassus list, was sentenced to three years prison for speech and for waving Papuan flags and was beaten bloody by three soldiers, a guard, and a policeman because he had a cell phone
— Aloysius Renwarin, a lawyer who heads a local human rights foundation
— Dr. Willy Mandowen, Mediator of PDP, the Papua Presidium Council, a broad group including local business people, former politcal prisoners, women’s and youth organizations, and Papuan traditional leaders.   His most prominent predecessor, Theys Eluay, had his throat slit by Kopassus in 2001.
— Yance Kayame, a committee chair in the Papuan provincial legislature
— Lodewyk Betawi
— Drs. Don Agustinus Lamaech Flassy of the Papua Presidium Council staff
— Drs. Agustinus Alue Alua, head of the MRP, the Papuan People’s Council, which formally represents Papuan traditional leaders and was convened and recognized by the Jakarta government
— Thaha Al Hamid, Secretary General of the Papua Presidium Council
— Sayid Fadal Al Hamid, head of the Papua Muslim Youth
— Drs. Frans Kapisa, head of Papua National Student Solidarity
— Leonard Jery Imbiri, public secretary of DAP, the Papuan Customary Council, which organizes an annual plenary of indigenous groups, has staged Papua’s largest peaceful demonstrations, and has seen its offices targeted for clandestine arson attacks
— Reverend Dr. Beny Giay, minister of the Protestant evangelical KINGMI Tent of Scripture church of Papua
— Selfius Bobby, student at the Fajar Timur School of Philosophy and Theology (LAPORAN TRIWULAN p. 6)
2

IHRC: Freeport must show respect for Komnas HAM

Press Release by the Indonesian Human Rights Committee for Social Justice (IHRC)

A forum which was to be mediated by the National Human Rights Commission 
- Komnas HAM - involving four customary clans which form part of the 
Amungme people, along with the copper-and-gold company Freeport, which 
should have taken place on 18-19 October 2010 could not take place as 
planned because Freeport showed ill-will towards the event and said that 
it would not attend. The company simply sent the convenors a letter on 
18 October suggesting that the event should be postponed till 15 
November 2010.

At a meeting which took place on 19 October, Freeport only sent members 
of their staff, so Komnas HAM  decided to re-schedule  the mediation 
forum till 27 October at 9am, at its office.

In view of these developments, the IHRC wishes to state the following:

Freeport has shown disrespect and ill-will towards an institution of the 
Indonesian Republic, namely Komnas HAM, as well as disrespect for the 
legal system of this country.

Freeport has shown ill-will and disrespect for the dignity of the elders 
of the Amungme and Kamoro people and towards the directors of Lemasa and 
Lemasko, the bodies that represent those who hold customary rights over 
the land that is being used by Freeport.

Komnas HAM should act seriously and speedily in its efforts to resolve 
the dispute between Freeport and the Amungme and Kamoro people by 
convening a Mediation Forum on 26 October to be attended by the 
leadership of Freeport and the leadership of Komnas HAM, in order to be 
able to reach a peaceful, democratic and dignified resolution that 
ensures justice for the victims. If the mediation forum on 26 October is 
a failure, the Amungme people who live in mountains and the Kamoro 
people who live along the coast will organise a peaceful mass action 
which will take the form of a boycott of all the products of Freeport.

Jakarta, 26 Octoebr 2010
Executive Committee of IHCS

Gunawan, Secretary-General

Ecoline Situmorang, Chairperson





			

		
	
	

					
					



	
 

	


	


	


		
AWPA calls on  Julia Gillard  to raise the human rights situation in West Papua on her visit to Indonesia
			

				
The Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)


Media release   25 October   2010


AWPA calls on  Julia Gillard  to raise the human rights situation in West Papua on her visit to Indonesia


The Australian Prime Minister will visit Indonesia on the 1 and 2 November to discuss ways to further strengthen the bilateral relationship and increase cooperation across a number of economic, security, development and environmental challenges.


Joe collins of AWPA said “in light of the recent reports of torture of West Papuans we are calling on the Prime Minister to raise the human rights situation in West Papua with the Indonesian President.

We are also calling on the Prime Minister  to send a parliamentary delegation on a fact finding mission to West Papua  to investigate the human rights situation in the territory”.


AWPA has regularly  raised concerns that any aid or training given to the military could be used against the West Papuan people  and we  again urge the Prime Minister   to put a moratorium on the training, funding and any ties between  the Australian military and any Indonesian units found to have been involved in human rights abuses.


Although the Indonesian military said they would investigate the incident we believe  a full independent inquiry held  by a relevant United Nations human rights organisation will be the only

inquiry

acceptable

to the West Papuan people and are urging the Prime Minister  to call for such an inquiry.


Info. Joe Collins Mob. 04077 857 97


————————————–


Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)

PO Box 28, Spit Junction, Sydney, Australia 2088

Email: bunyip@bigpond.net.au


The Hon Julia Gillard MP

Prime Minister

Parliament House

Canberra

ACT 2600


25 October 2010


Dear Prime Minister,


On behalf of the Australia West Papua Association (Sydney),  I am writing to you concerning your coming trip to Indonesia on the 1 and 2 November. AWPA would like you to raise the human rights situation in West Papua[1] during your talks with President Yudhoyono


I am sure  you are aware of the recent media reports on the torture of West Papuans by the Indonesian military in the Puncak Jaya region of West Papua. The torture of the West Papuans by the Indonesian military  was captured on video and shows in one scene a Papuan  man having a plastic bag forced over his head and screaming in pain as a burning stick is held to his genitals.  The horrific video has been seen around the world and rightly condemned. The Indonesian military has  confirmed that members of the TNI did torture the West Papuans.


Just days after the release of the video  another report surfaced of the burning of Bigiragi village, in the  Puncak Jaya district by officers from the police’s Mobile Brigade. An official from the Papuan Customary Council (DAP) told the Jakarta Globe  he had received graphic images of the destruction of Bigiragi village.


These incidents of human rights abuses committed by the Indonesian security forces are unfortunately not unusual and reports of  the Indonesian security forces conducting military operations looking for the OPM in the Puncak Jaya region  have been ongoing for years leaving the local people in fear and traumatised.


We understand that the whole island of New Guinea will always be strategically important to Australia and it is in the interests of the Australian Government to have a stable region to our north.  However, in West Papua, the policies of the Indonesian Government, compounded by the actions of the Indonesian security forces will lead to the very instability the Australian Government is trying to avoid.  Although Indonesia has made great progress towards democracy in recent years, unfortunately this has not translated to an improvement in the human rights situation in West Papua as the above incidents show.


AWPA and other civil society organizations have written regularly to Australian Governments over many years about our country’s ties with the Indonesian military. We have recently written to you concerning the torture of peaceful activists in Maluku. We have raised concerns that any aid or training given to the military could be used against the West Papuan people  and we again urge  you to put a moratorium on the training, funding and any ties between  the Australian military and any Indonesian units found to have been involved in human rights abuses.


Although the Indonesian military said they would investigate the incident we believe  a full independent inquiry held  by a relevant United Nations human rights organisation will be the only  inquiry  acceptable to the West Papuan people and urge you to call for such an inquiry.  We also urge you to send an Australian parliamentary delegation on a fact finding mission to West Papua  to investigate the human rights situation in the

territory.


Yours sincerely


Joe Collins

Secretary

AWPA (Sydney)


[1] AWPA (Sydney) uses the name “West Papua” to refer to the whole of the western half of the Island of New Guinea. “West Papua” at this time is divided into two provinces, Papua and West Papua.


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Papuan tells of torture by Indonesian soldiers
			

									
											
							
 
					

				
Tom Allard

Sydney Morning Herald


"I screamed on and on" ... Tunaliwor Kiwo.“I screamed on and on” … Tunaliwor Kiwo.   




A PAPUAN man depicted in a video being burnt, suffocated  and hit by Indonesian troops says he was tortured for two days,  according to his testimony recorded and translated by Papuan activists.


Tunaliwor Kiwo was shown in agony as the soldiers burnt  his penis in the video, which was filmed in May and revealed exclusively  in the Herald last month. It prompted a horrified response in  Indonesia and around the world, and led to the rapid arrest of five  Indonesian soldiers, who face a military tribunal today.


But in the new testimony Mr Kiwo, filmed two weeks ago, said the abuse was far worse than depicted in the first video.


He spoke of being repeatedly beaten and suffocated, of  his head being  crashed into a wall and of being burnt with cigarettes  during the first  day of torture, which followed his arrest as he  travelled by  motorcycle with his friend Telangga Gire on the road from  Tingginambut  to Mulia, the capital of Puncak Jaya regency, a hotbed of  separatist  activity.


An image from the video of Tunaliwor Kiwo being tortured by Indonesian soldiers.An image from the video of Tunaliwor Kiwo being tortured by Indonesian soldiers. 




”The next tortures were heating up a piece of iron or  wire and it was put at my thighs and I screamed on and on,” he said in  the video, conducted in the Lani dialect of Puncak Jaya and translated  by Papuan activists. ”It got heated up again and put again on my left  and right belly. I kept screaming. But they didn’t care of the pain I  suffered. [The interrogators] tortured me incredibly since 9am to night  to morning.”


That night, he was doused in freezing water.


The next day was even worse, according to Mr Kiwo, a  50-year-old farmer. Early that day, the soldiers threatened to burn him  alive.


”The TNI [Indonesian military] put gasoline and light a  fire and I was in the middle with the branches,” Mr Kiwo said. ”I  couldn’t move, the flames were approaching me, trying to burn my body  and my legs and hands were still tied up. I was continuously hysterical,  in pain.”


At this point, Mr Kiwo said he was ”surrendering, ready to die”.


Then he says he was cut all over his body and face with a  razor. The soldiers prepared a liquid concoction of chilli, shallots,  onions, detergent and salt ”all smashed and mixed with water”.


The mixture was spread over his open wounds.


”I screamed loudly due to the pain but, in fact, it  encouraged them to be more brutal and [they] kept showering me. They  turned my body back and forth. The parts that were not showered [at  first] were showered with chillies until the chillies was finished.”


Mr Kiwo was certain he would be executed. The soldiers  repeatedly accused him of being a Papuan separatist fighter and demanded  he reveal the location of a weapons cache. On the third day, he said,  he escaped.


Mr Kiwo is living in hiding, as is Mr Gire. The filmed  testimony was obtained amid great secrecy by Markus Haluk, from the  Papuan Customary Council, which oversaw the translation from Lani to  Indonesian. The translation could not be independently verified by the Herald.


Indonesia’s President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has  condemned the action depicted in the first video, and promised a  transparent investigation.


But the head of Indonesia’s military, Admiral Agus Suhartono, has played down the seriousness of the offences.


The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, during a  brief visit to Papua New Guinea, would not comment on the incident but  said any continuing human rights violations should be investigated and  perpetrators held accountable.

			

		
	
	

					
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News from Papua: Villagers flee to PNG, 7 arrested; DAP leader on Papua's peaceful struggle; Imparsial on need to criticise Komnas HAM
			

				
>From Bintang Papua, 19 October 2010

DOZENS FLEE TO PNG

After the Papuan Morning Star Flag was recently flown outside a
customary dwelling in Kampung Ambora, dozens of villagers have fled
across the border to Papua New Guinea, fearing that they are likely to
be hunted down by the security forces.

This was confirmed for Bintang Papua  by Decky Yakore, a member of the
district legislative council  - DPRD of Jayawijaya district..

In connection with this incident, the local police force in Jayapura -
polres Jayapura - have taken seven people into custody. They have
already been designated as suspects and will face charges under Article
110 and Article 107 of the Criminal Code, regarding conspiring to
engaged in acts to overthrow the government, and face punishment of up
to 15 years.

According to a local inhabitant named Daud (not his real name), the flag
flying occurred as the result of a provocation, and others too were
arrested. News was spread that Papua was now free, following a visit to
the area by chairman of DAP, Forkorus Yaboisembut who had just returned
from the USA, which inspired the people to unfurl the Papuan flag.

----------------

JUBI 19 October 2010

Papuan people will use peaceful means in their struggle

Forkorus Yaboisembu, chairman od DAP, the Papuan Customary Council has
said, on his return from the USA that the US government (sic) has
promised to support the struggle of  the Papuan people.He said that
fifty members of the US Congress, along with 80 representatives of a
variety of NGOs have proclaimed their support for the Papuan struggle.

The Papuan people he said are gathering together as much data as
possible and continuing to formulate their strategy for a peaceful
struggle, he said, citing the words of the leader of the Republican
Party in the US, Michael Steele.

Forkorus also met John Miller, director of the East Timor Action
Network, to discussed ETAN's support for the Papuan struggle for
independence.

'You supported Timor Leste in their struggle for freedom, which means
that you should also support Papua's struggle for freedom.

Forkorus also used this visit to Washington to inform the US government
via the intermediary of Congress about why the Papuan people want
independence . He said they had also had a  private meeting with the
Republican Party.

----------------------------

JUBI, 18 October 2010

IMPARSIAL:  Komnas HAM should be criticised

Imparsial issued a statement in Jakarta  in which it said that Komnas
HAM, the National Human Rights Commission, needs to be criticised in
connection with a number of cases of gross violations of human rights
that have occurred in Papua.

Imparsial director, Poenky Indarti said that there are many human rights
violation cases in Papua that still not been resolved. Many of the cases
have got stuck with the police and the attorney-general's office.
Poengky said: 'The police are not capable of resolving these cases.'

She said that the police are always spying on civilian activists,
especially those involved in defending human rights and always making
accusations of separatism against human rights activists.

She also said that incidents of violence continue to occur. These
include the case of Opinus Tabuni who was killed in August 2008 and the
case of the JUBI journalist Ardiansyah Matrias, who was killed on 30
July 2010.

'Human rights activists need to continue to sruggle about these cases,'
she said.

			

		
	
	

					
					



	
 

	

			
 
			
			
	
 

 


	 


	

		


			

				
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