Tag: Political Prisoner

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]

Related Articles
0

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]

Related Articles
2

HRW: Indonesia: Explain Transfer of Imprisoned Activists

Human Rights Watch logo
Image via Wikipedia

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/12/10/indonesia-explain-transfer-imprisoned-activists

Release All Political Prisoners
December 10, 2010

“Prisoners have rights too, and ignoring those rights is no way to celebrate Human Rights Day. The authorities should explain why Filep Karma and Buchtar Tabuni have been thrown in a police lock-up and denied access to lawyers.”

Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch

 

(New York) – The Indonesian authorities should immediately allow two Papuan political prisoners and three others to fairly contest their transfer from prison to a police headquarters and permit them access to their lawyers, Human Rights Watch said today. Filep Karma, 51, and Buchtar Tabuni, 31, have been held at the Jayapura police station in West Papua since being brought there a day after a riot at Abepura prison on December 3, 2010.

On international Human Rights Day, Human Rights Watch also reiterated its call for the Indonesian government to free immediately the more than 130 Papuan and Moluccan activists imprisoned for peacefully voicing political views, and to reform laws and policies to protect freedom of expression.

“Prisoners have rights too, and ignoring those rights is no way to celebrate Human Rights Day,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should explain why Filep Karma and Buchtar Tabuni have been thrown in a police lock-up and denied access to lawyers.”

The Jayapura police chief, Commissionaire Imam Setiawan, told the media that the police had “secured” Karma and Tabuni at the Jayapura police station for provoking a riot that occurred at Abepura prison following an attempted prison break on December 3 in which a prisoner was shot and killed. Karma and Tabuni informed Federika Korain of the United Papuan People’s Democracy Forum (FORDEM) that they were transferred to the police station without being told that they had committed an offense.

Under the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, “[N]o prisoner shall be punished unless he has been informed of the offense alleged against him and given a proper opportunity of presenting his defense.”

Since being taken to the police station, Karma and Tabuni have requested access to their legal counsel but have been refused. On December 8, Karma’s lawyer, Harry Masturbongs, came to the station but was not allowed to meet with his client. The police have also refused to let Karma’s family visit him.

According to the UN Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, an “imprisoned person shall be entitled to communicate and consult with his legal counsel.” The rights of an “imprisoned person to be visited by and to consult and communicate, without delay or censorship and in full confidentiality, with his legal counsel may not be suspended or restricted save in exceptional circumstances, to be specified by law or lawful regulations, when it is considered indispensable by a judicial or other authority in order to maintain security and good order.”

On December 9, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened the third Bali Democracy Forum, which is aimed at promoting regional international cooperation to foster democracy and political development among countries in Asia. President Yudhoyono said in his opening speech, “There are a lot of variants of democracy but there must be universal values and spirits within the democracy itself.” Human Rights Watch called on the Indonesian government to respect the basic right to free expression, as laid out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Indonesia ratified in 2006.

“Holding political prisoners is embarrassing and totally out-of-step with the image of a modern democratic state that Indonesia is trying to project,” Pearson said. “President Yudhoyono should show his commitment to basic rights by freeing people imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their political views, including Filep Karma and Buchtar Tabuni.”

Background

Filep Karma, age 51, has been in Abepura prison for six years. In May 2005, the Abepura district court found him guilty of treason for organizing a Papuan independence rally on December 1, 2004, and sentenced him to 15 years in prison.

Buchtar Tabuni, age 31, is a leader of the West Papua National Committee, a Papuan independence organization that has grown more radical since his imprisonment. He was arrested in Jayapura on December 3, 2008, for organizing protests against the shooting of his relative, Opinus Tabuni. He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment under article 160 of the Criminal Code for “inciting hatred” against the Indonesian government.

Human Rights Watch has documented beatings in Abepura prison in 2008 and 2009 that led to investigations into prison conditions by the National Human Rights Commission and the removal of the previous prison warden.

Human Rights Watch’s June 2010 report, Prosecuting Political Aspiration, describes the mistreatment of individuals serving prison sentences for peaceful acts of free expression in Papua and the Moluccas Islands, including Filep Karma and Buchtar Tabuni.

2

West Papuan political prisoners denied food for 2 days

via Tapol

Since 3 December 2010 when Filep Karma and Buchtar Tabuni were transferred to the police authorities in Papua, no legal proceedings have been started against them and they still do not have any legal counsel. They have also been denied food for two days.

Since 4 December, access to the two prisoners has been prevented. Two younger siblings of Karma as well as a representative of the SKPHP tried to visit them on 6 December but they were confronted by police officers. At 4pm, a member of his family asked the police for permission to meet Karma because visiting regulations allowed for daily visits except on holidays and other special days [tanggal merah] from 3pm till 5pm.

The family member asked a police officer: ‘Why aren’t we able to meet our brother Filep Karma?’  to which the officer replied:  ‘Because Karma and the others have been transferred here from Abepura Prison. According to orders from our superiors, if you want to visit them, you must first report to the head of the criminal investigation branch (Kasat Reskrim, Polda Papua)  because we here are only carrying out orders from our superiors.’  The relative said that he only wanted to give Filep Karma some food and other essential needs and to hear what he himself had to say about why he had been transferred and why they couldn’t meet him.

The police officer then allowed only a very brief meeting to take place, only time enough to hand over the things he needed whereupon the officer asked the relative to leave.

According to information from the family, the five prisoners were given no food at all until 5 December. When Karma asked why they hadn’t received any food,  he was told that it was because ‘all of you have been transferred from Abepura Prison and it is the responsbility of the prison authorities, not the police’.

Five of the convicts had almost no access to food and drink till 5 December and since 5 December, they have been given some food but without anything to drink. Relatives had to bring the prisoners a gallon of Acqua  to be shared between five men.

Since 4 December, Karma who insists that he is not guilty of anything, has been on hunger strike in protest against treatment by the district chief of  Papua and the director of the Abepura Prison.

On 7 December, the family wrote to the director of Abepura Prison, the police chief of Papua and the head of criminal investigations asking to know what legal provision is being used to prevent them from visiting Karma.

The situation now being faced by Filep Karma and Buchtar Tabuni represents a form of non-physical torture by the State, quite apart from the law on treason and incitement which was used to sentence Karma to 15 years and Buchtar Tabuni to three years. They said that convicted prisoners are human beings with the same rights and dignity as people who are not in prison.

The transfer of Filep Karma and Buchtar Tabuni  represents a case of  wrongful treatment by the  State against Papuan political prisoners. They are failing to act in accordance with Article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which states: ‘All persons who are deprived of their freedom must be treated humanely and with respect for their dignity as human beings.’

It is also clear that state officials are not acting in accordance with Law 8/1981 of the Criminal Procedural Code, bearing in mind that the police officials stated that they were acting in accordance with orders from their superiors and not in accordance with the  law which in the legal basis which should be the basis for their actions.

Filep Karma and Buchtar Tabuni are entitled to receive visits from their families, from legal counsel and from other people in accordance with Article 18,  paragraph 1 of a decree by the minister of law. And furthermore, Filep Karma and Buchtar Tabuni are free to correspond with legal counsel and family members, according to paragraph 4 of the above mentioned ministerial decree.

The families of people who have been convicted for incitement and are now in custody because of the  recent riots in Abepura Prison have asked what is the legal basis being used by the police in Papua towards prisoners who have been transferred to them from Abepura Prison already for four days. who have been told that they cannot receive visits from their families, from legal counsel or from anyone else.

Meanwhile, an online campaign has started in a bid to award Filep Karma the Nobel Peace Prize. So far over 200 people have joined the group on social network Facebook. Click here for more info

2

Emergency: Papuan Political Prisoner Filep Karma refusing to Eat

FOR DIRECT INTERVIEWS, PLEASE CLICK ON THE CONTACT BUTTON ON THIS PAGE

Forwarding on:
Emergency: Papuan Political Prisoner Filep Karma refusing to Eat

Beginning today, Tuesday 5/10/2010 the Papuan Political Prisoner Filep Karma is refusing to eat because of the inadequate medical treatment being afforded to Papuan political prisoner, Fery (Ferdinand) Pakage who has been tortured by Sipir Lapas (jail authorities?) Abepura.

As a result of that torture that he has become physically disabled and totally blind in his right eye. This has now motivated Filep Karma to stop eating until the Indonesian government through Ministry of Law and Human Rights facilitate the medical treatment of Fery Pakage.

If this does not happen then Filep Karma has decided that he will no longer eat until Fery pakage has been evacuated for medical treatment. This report is released appealing for international advocacy.

Direct Message from sources inside the prison.

More to come

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

Up ↑