Tag: POLRI

DAP leader rejects police moves to question him

Bintang Papua, 11 January 2011

Forkorus Yaboisembut, the chairman of the Papuan Indigenous Council, DAP
has reported that two members of the police force came to visit him at
2pm the previous day, saying that they wanted to take him to Jayapura
police headquarters to question him about a case of bribery in
connection with attempts to kill him some time ago.

Speaking by phone to Bintang Papua, Forkorus said that he was confused
by the police officers’ visit because, according to him, the case they
wished to discuss had been resolved in a collegial fashion within the
kampung. He said that there had been some misunderstandings between
himself and some of his grandchildren but the matter had been resolved
peacefully in November 2010. If the police now intend to investigate the
matter, this would be quite wrong because the matter had already been
resolved within the family.

‘There is no need for the police to investigate the matter,’ said
Forkorus, ‘because I have already told the media that the matter has
been resolved.’ He said that the money involved had already been
returned to its rightful owners within the family. The incident had
occurred when one of his grandchildren, under the influence of drink,
had made threatening remarks against him.

The local chief of police has denied that they had made any attempt to
take Forkorus in for questioning.

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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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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 ARMY ON STREETS IN TENSE WAMENA AS LOCAL CRISIS TALKS GO NOWHERE

INDONESIAN ARMY ON STREETS IN TENSE WAMENA AS LOCAL CRISIS TALKS GO NOWHERE

Nick Chesterfield, westpapuamedia.info

Photo Report: Warning Graphic Photos

(Wednesday, October 6, 2010). West Papuan people in Wamena are expressing fear after the shooting of community security guards by police on Monday.  In a show of force, Indonesian security forces have deployed hundreds of fully armed combat troops on the streets to prevent local people from gathering in protest against the police shootings of members of Petapa.
(Fully armed combat troops patrolling Wamena streets, Wednesday October 6, 2010.  Photos taken by witness in hiding)

A high level reconciliation team made up of has met briefly to try and avert any conflict but it has ended its meeting without any clear result.  Local activists fear that the Indonesian state is outraged by the threat of a community security guard providing protection to West Papuan people seeking to engage in acts of free expression.

On Monday, a detachment of community security guards attempted to seek an explanation with Airport police for the heavy handed seizure of uniforms.  Police at the Wamena North airport police station refused to provide an explanation , instead emerging firing live ammunition into the crowd after a missile was thrown breaking a single tooth of the Jayawijaya police chief I Gede Sumerta.  As retribution for the broken tooth, police pursued the crowd for over a kilometre, shooting dead Ismail Lokobal in the chest. Police then arrested another ten people.  Amos Wetipo and Frans Lokobal were shot in the head and wrist respectively after they refused to get out of the police truck when it returned to the station.  Shooting of unarmed and bound detainees is deemed by international law as an extrajudicial execution.

However, according to a local human rights team, Indonesian police are consistently refusing to take responsibility for the attack and pursuit on unarmed members of the Community Security Force Pentapa, nor are they accepting any responsibility for unprovoked shooting of detainees inside a police truck.  Instead they are blaming Pentapa for attacking the police post.  Indonesian police have told AFP that they will have to wait until an autopsy is conducted to determine the cause of death for the shot man.

(Note: westpapuamedia.info is publishing clear and obvious photos showing the gunshot wounds in Mr Lokobal’s chest.)

No Need for Autopsy

The crisis meeting was attended by Disaster Coordinator Wetipo Amos, Chairman of ELSHAM (Institute for the Study and Advocacy of Human Rights) Theo Hesegem, and other representatives of NGOs, church leaders and DAP, together with the Vice Regent of Jayawijaya, and members of Parliament.

Local West Papuan activists, who have asked not to be identified, have called on the Indonesian government to immediately send the military in Wamena back to their barracks and for police officers to take responsibility for their action.

westpapuamedia.info

Photos of DAP Commnity Security Guards

Related Stories:

WAMENA KILLING WAS EXTRAJUDICIAL MURDER: WITNESSES

BREAKING NEWS: INDONESIA SHOOTS 3, 1 DEAD IN WAMENA

Mobilising a Papuan peace force in Sabron by DAP!

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