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USGOV: 2010 Human Rights Report: Indonesia

BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR

2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

April 8, 2011

Indonesia is a multiparty democracy with a population of approximately 237 million. In July 2009 Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was reelected president in free and fair elections. Domestic and international observers judged the April 2009 legislative elections generally free and fair as well. Security forces reported to civilian authorities, although the fact the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) continued to be partly self-financed had the potential to weaken this control.

Human rights problems during the year included: occasional incidents, primarily in Papua and West Papua Provinces, of arbitrary and unlawful killings by security forces; vigilantism; sometimes harsh prison conditions; impunity for some officials; official corruption, including in the judicial system; some narrow and specific limitations on freedom of expression; societal abuse against religious groups and interference with freedom of religion sometimes with the complicity of local officials; trafficking in persons; child labor; and failure to enforce labor standards and worker rights.

DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT HERE:

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/eap/154385.htm

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FYI Open letter to Vice -President Boediono ( who is visiting Australia) concerning human rights and political prisoners in West Papua

Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)
PO Box 28, Spit Junction, Sydney, Australia 2088
Ph/fax 61.2.99601698 email: bunyip@bigpond.net.au

Open letter to Vice -President Boediono

Vice -President Boediono,
C/- Indonesian Consulate
Perth , Western Australia

9 March 2011

Dear Vice -President Boediono,

On behalf of the Australia West Papua Association (Sydney), I am writing to you concerning the human rights situation in West Papua[1].

We are concerned that the human rights situation in West Papua has continued to deteriorate in the past year. One incident in particular highlighted the worsening human rights situation and that was the shocking video footage of West Papuans being tortured by Indonesian soldiers. The video showed several men in military fatigues torturing two Papuans. The soldiers in the video threaten the two men with sharp weapons and pressed a burning bamboo stick against one of the men’s genitals. The torture of the men prompted a wave of international criticism with human rights organisations around the world condemning the actions of the Indonesian military. This incident was not an isolated incident.

A number of military operation also took place in the Puncak Jaya region in the past year and these operations leave the local people traumatised and in fear for their lives. Security forces conduct regular sweeps in the area to pursue members of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) and many reports have pointed out that the security forces have great difficulty distinguishing between what they term separatists and the general public. In further evidence of human rights abuses another report accused the police of burning down the village of Bigiragi in the Puncak Jaya district. The report said that 16 Mobile Brigade officers had burned the village to the ground on October 11. The report said that at least 29 homes were destroyed in the incident leaving at least 150 people homeless. In September 2010 the House of Representatives (DPR) Law Commission deputy chairman, Tjatur Sapto Edy lamented the military operations in the Puncak Jaya Regency following a report by the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM). Tjatur said there should be no more military operations and such approaches are no longer suitable in a democracy. A report by Komnas HAM’s Papua chapter revealed 29 cases of rights abuses occurred in Puncak Jaya regency from 2004-2010, including the torture and rape of villagers in March 2010 by law enforcers.

AWPA is also concerned about the large number of political prisoners in West Papua, the majority jailed merely because the were involved in peaceful demonstrations where their national flag, the Morning Star was raised.

In July 2007, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional articles 154 and 155 of Indonesia’s Criminal Code, commonly known as the “hate sowing” (Haatzai Artikelen) offenses. Articles 154 and 155 criminalized “public expression of feelings of hostility, hatred or contempt toward the government” and prohibited “the expression of such feelings or views through the public media.” These articles have been used to target activists, students, and human rights defenders to try and silence political discussion and limit free expression in Indonesia.

A series of articles from 1999 to 2002 refer to the Human Rights Bill of 1999 . The law concerning protection of human rights of political prisoners is referred to in Article 4 of Law 39 in the Indonesian Constitution in 1999. In that same Law 39 in Article 6 , paras 1 and 2 particular mention is made of protection of rights of Indigenous people, including land rights.

Republic of Indonesia legislation number 39 of 1999 concerning human rights
Article 4
The right to life, the right to not to be tortured, the right to freedom of the individual, to freedom of thought and conscience, the right not to be enslaved, the right to be acknowledged as an individual before the law, and the right not to be prosecuted retroactively under the law are human rights that cannot be diminished under any circumstances whatsoever.
Article 6
(1) In the interests of upholding human rights, the differences and needs of indigenous peoples must be taken into consideration and protected by the law, the public and the Government.
(2) The cultural identity of indigenous peoples, including indigenous land rights, must be upheld, in accordance with the development of the times.

AWPA urges the Indonesian Government to release all West Papuan political prisoners imprisoned under these laws (contrary to Indonesia’s constitution) as a sign of good faith to the West Papuan people.

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

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INDIGENOUS PAPUANS IN INTAN JAYA REJECT MINING OPERATIONS IN AGISIGA

JUBI, 10 February 2011

There are now reports that illegal mining is under way not only in the
Degeuwo Estuary but also in the Dogabu Estuary, in the district of
Intan Jaya, Papua.

The illegal mining is being carried out by groups that are unknown to
the local community or the local government.

‘The mining operations are being carried out without a licence from the
local government,’ said Agustinus Tapani, secretary of the Intan Jaya
Traditional Council. He said that the local community is the rightful
owner of the land and they firmly reject the presence of any companies or businesses in their area. ‘In any case, they have never agreed to surrender their land, nor have they issued any licences to others to operate there.’

Agus Tapani said that a number of mining operators are excavating
minerals and coal in West Papua, including in Degeuwo without licences either from the government or from the local communities. ‘Law No 4/2009 makes the position clear. Yet, many companies have bypassed these authorised mechanisms which have been laid down by the government,’ he said.

Speaking on behalf of the local DAP, Tapani said that all companies must abide by the provisions of the regulations. He called on the company now operating in Degeuwo to end their operations because the community in Intan Jaya is suffering as a result of these mining operations.

Agus Tapani who is also the secretary of the KNPI in Intan Jaya warned all companies which come to Papua and partiularly to Intan Jaya district to realise that they need to pass through three stages, the traditional community, the churches and the government.. The presence of mining companies in Agisiga can initiate a process that will damage the lifestyles of the entire community in Intan Jaya. He also called on the executive and legislative bodies to pay attention to this problem.

Although the identity of the company now operating in Intan Jaya is not known, JUBI understands that PT Freeport Indonesia is involved in explorations in a number of districts, including Sugapa, Ugimba, Mindau, Pogapa and the Dogabu Estuary, through its subsidiary company PT Mine Serve International.

 

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JUBI on deplorable human rights situation in West Papua

JUBI, 8 February 2011

The National Human Rights Commission [Komnas HAM] in Papua has called on the Indonesian government to take responsibility for a number of human
rights violations that have occurred in West Papua.

‘It is for the government to resolve these problems,’ said Matius Murib,’ who insisted that the government must take responsibility for this situation. He said that if the government fails to do anything, the number of violations will continue to increase. ‘There is no other way out of the problem,’ he said. It was, he said a matter for the central and also the provincial governments.

He said he has the impression that the state has simply washed its hands of the issue. Nothing is being done about it. The evidence is, he said, that the provincial government has issued no special regulation to strengthen the hands of the local Komnas HAM. There was a need for a regulation that would strengthen the legal position of Komnas HAM.

———————–

JUBI 8 February 2011

KontraS, the Commission for the Disappeared and the Victims of Violence,
has raised the issue of the formation of a Commission on Truth and Reconciliation and a Human Rights Court in Papua.

Speaking on behalf of the Commission, Harry Maturbongs said that these two bodies should be set up in accordance with the Special Autonomy Law for Papua, 21/2001.

He also said that people were still waiting for the solution to a number of past serious human rights violations, such as the Wasior case and the case of the assault on an ammunition dump several years ago.

[Apologies for the brevity of these translations, but the printouts are almost illegible. Tapol]

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Verdict on violence in Papua unjust, says Kontras

Verdict on violence in Papua unjust, says Kontras
Bintang Papua, 3 February 2011
[Translated in full by TAPOL]
Jayapura: Although the three members of the armed forces who were sentenced  for acts of violence against civilians have accepted the verdict and are now serving their sentences in a military prison, some sources believe that the verdict is far from just.
The chairman of KontraS Papua, Johanis Maturbongs SH, is of the opinion that the sentence passed against the three soldiers at the military tribunal is far from just. The sentences of ten months for Sergeant Riski Irwanto, nine months for Private Yapson Agu  and eight months for Private Thamrin Mahangiri were far too lenient. This punishment cannot be compared to the trauma suffered by the victims of their acts of violence.
Cases of this nature should be tried before a civil court or a human rights court as stipulated in the Special Autonomy Law.
‘If such a case of human rights violations is heard before a military tribunal, the result is bound to be far from adequate.,’ said Maturbongs, a law graduate from Cenderawasih University. He said that things like this have been happening for a long time, and with violations that are even worse than this one, but nothing is known about what has happened.
He also said that the  National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) in Papua should be far more active so as to ensure that such cases are read about in the public domain.
‘Our friends in Komnas HAM in Papua have not been working to full capacity. They need to work far harder with regard to human rights violations which occur in Papua,’ he said.
The same also applies to the legislature, which should do everything in its power to ensure that a human rights court is set up in  Papua.”

 

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