Tag: torture

Wikileaks – US Government blames Jakarta for unrest in West Papua

Article by Philip Dorling and Nick McKenzie
Link to article in The Age

THE United States fears that Indonesian government neglect, rampant corruption and human rights abuses are stoking unrest in its troubled province of West Papua.

Leaked embassy cables reveal that US diplomats privately blame Jakarta for instability and “chronic underdevelopment” in West Papua, where military commanders have been accused of drug smuggling and illegal logging rackets across the border with Papua New Guinea.

A September 2009 cable from the US embassy in Jakarta says “the region is politically marginalized and many Papuans harbor separatist aspirations”. An earlier cable, from October 2007, details claims by an Indonesian foreign affairs official about military influence in West Papua.

“The Indonesian official] claims that the Indonesian Military (TNI) has far more troops in Papua than it is willing to admit to, chiefly to protect and facilitate TNI’s interests in illegal logging operations,” says the cable, obtained by WikiLeaks and made available exclusively to The Age.

“The governor … had to move cautiously so as not to upset the TNI, which he said operates as a virtually autonomous governmental entity within the province,” the cable says.

It notes that because the allegations are coming from an Indonesian official rather than a non-government organisation, they “take on an even more serious cast”.

A 2006 cable details a briefing from a Papua New Guinea government official who said that the armed forces were ”involved in both illegal logging and drug smuggling in PNG”.

In another cable from 2006, the US embassy records the reaction of Indonesian authorities to a riot in West Papua that left four officials dead. “While the gruesome murder of three unarmed policemen and an air force officer at the hands of angry mob is unconscionable, the authorities’ handling of the aftermath has merely added a new chapter to the history of miscarriages of justice in Papua,” it says.

“It is clear that the police rounded up a miscellany of perceived trouble-makers and random individuals and that the prosecutors and judges then railroaded them in a farcical show trial.”

Cables from throughout 2009 blame the Indonesian government’s neglect of West Papua – including the failure to ensure revenue generated by mining is distributed fairly – for continuing unrest. “Most money transferred to the province remains unspent although some has gone into ill-conceived projects or disappeared into the pockets of corrupt officials,” a September 2009 cable says.

”Many central government ministries have been reluctant to cede power to the province. As a result, implementation of the [Special Autonomy] law has lagged and Papuans increasingly view the law as a failure.”

The Special Autonomy Law was introduced by Jakarta in 2001 in a bid to dampen the push in Papua for independence, to address past abuses in the region, including by the Indonesian military, and to empower local government entities.

While the US embassy cables detail some improvements in the conduct of the Indonesian military and police in the region in recent years, several cables also detail serious misconduct.

The US cables also record allegations of corruption involving local officials.

After NGO Human Rights Watch released a report last year alleging that military officers had abused Papuans in the town of Merauke, the US embassy in Jakarta wrote that the incident was isolated and may have involved soldiers following orders from local official Johanes Gluba Gebze.

“An ethnic Papuan, Gebze presides over a regional government where allegations of corruption and brutality are rife,” the 2009 cable says. It quotes advisers to Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu saying Gebze is ”out of control” and has made numerous illegal forestry deals with Chinese and Korean companies.

In early 2006, a senior manager of the Papuan mining operation run by US minerals giant Freeport-McMoRan privately told the embassy that “rampant corruption among provincial and regency officials has stoked Papuans’ disenchantment”.

Freeport is the biggest taxpayer in Indonesia and its mine is frequently and, according to the US embassy, unfairly accused of acting unethically. According to a March 2006 cable, a senior mine official said that “average Papuans see few benefits from the royalty and tax payments by Freeport and other extractive industries that should go to the province under the Special Autonomy law … This corruption hurts Freeport’s image with Papuans as well.”

The documents also reveal candid disclosures by senior Freeport executives about how the company pays members of the Indonesian military and police officers who help secure its operations. The payments caused controversy after they were detailed in a 2006 article in The New York Times.

A January 2006 cable states that Dan Bowman, Freeport Indonesia’s senior vice-president, said the “main allegations about direct payments by the company to military and police officials are true but misleading … the military and police did not have institutional bank accounts into which Freeport could deposit funds, so they were forced to make payments directly to the commanding officers responsible for security at the mine.”

An April 2007 cable says that Freeport continues to pay “voluntary support allowances” to police who help protect the mine, although does so using safeguards to prevent the money being corruptly diverted.

In October 2007, Freeport officials told the embassy that police who guarded the company’s mine were being bribed by illegal miners, who the company says are responsible for environmental damage.

“Freeport officials allege that the illegal miners have bribed Mobile Brigade officers to allow their activities. They also charge that Mobile Brigade personnel sell food and other supplies to the miners.”

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British Deputy Prime Minister raised ‘grave concerns’ over human rights and restricted press access to West Papua during meeting with Indonesian Government officials

It has emerged that the British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has raised concerns to the highest levels of the Indonesian Government about the ongoing human rights abuses being committed in West Papua, and the restricted access granted to foreign journalists to the region.

The Deputy Prime Minister made representations to Indonesian ministers during the Asia-EU summit in October.

During an exchange in the House of Lords in the British Parliament on 16th December, a prolonged exchange took place between several Lords regarding reported human rights abuses by the Indonesian military in West Papua and the denial of access to the region for foreign journalists. Many of them urging the British Government to take a stronger line against Indonesia. (view exchange here)

The situation in West Papua and human rights abuses in the region have steadily risen in the public consciousness in the UK in the past few years, part due to the campaigning efforts of exiled independence leader Benny Wenda. Earlier this year the British Prime Minister David Cameron described the Papuan peoples plight under Indonesian colonial rule as a ‘terrible situation’ leading to celebrations throughout West Papua that a Western leader had recognised their situation publicly. More recently, footage was broadcast on national news broadcaster Channel 4, showing Indonesian troops torturing Papuans, leading to pubic outrage in the UK and further representations from the UK Government.

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Civil Society Coalition: Reflections on Human Rights in the Papuan Special Autonomy era

Press Release issued by the Coalition of Civil Society to Uphold Human Rights in the Land of Papua

Special Autonomy – OTSUS – came into being at a time of struggle when the Papuan people had become the objects of development, resulting in  many incidents of violence and human rights violations over many years. This was acknowledged in the introductory paragraphs of the OTSUS law and Articles 45- 47 of OTSUS,   in which the State acknowledged that mistakes had been made. There were hopes that an era of truth would emerge by means of creating peace and the right to life for the people of Papua. At the same time, however, there were groups who were against the enactment of OTSUS.

After being in force for nine years, these hopes have not been realised in accordance with expectations. There have been a numebr of  very serious  cases, such as Warior, Wamenda, Puncak Jaya, Tingginambu, Serui, Abepura and UNCEN, Mamberamo, Nabire, Manokwari and the arrest of a number of pro-democracy activists, the most recent of which being threats against journalists that have occurred with increasing intensity during the course of 2010. During 2010, there were at least five acts of violence against journalists . In July 2010, Ardiansyah Matrais who worked for Merauke TV and the JUBI tabloid was found dead after having received threats and being followed in Keerom, a typical example of cases that have occurred during the OTSUS era.

None of these cases have been properly resolved by legal procedures as required by the law, meaning that the people of Papua have no sense that the perpetrators have been brought to justice by the State.

The situation had been made even worse because the civil authorities in Papua have created the impression that they exert no authority or are too weak to handle cases of human rights violations. None of the civil authorities, the DPRP, the MRP or the Governor, have raised their voices or offered to mediate with institutions in power  whenever violence has been  experienced by civil society, meaning that there has been a virtual absence of control by the civil authorities. Even worse is the fact that the human rights agendas of OTSUS have been completely neglected and have been given no place whatever in the policy of development in Papua.

We members of the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations feel deeply concerned at and mourn the death of the enforcement of human rights and peace in the Land of Papua. We therefore propose the following to all those who have an interest in the Land of Papua.

1.  The Central Government

Should promotee and foster dialogue between Papua and Jakarta for a compehensive solution to all the problems in Papua that have occurred since Papua was integrated into the Republic of Indonesia/NKRI because OTSUS has been incapable of becoming the final solution in restoring relations between Jakarta and Papua.

The central government should, starting now, change its view  of Papua as an  area of conflict because such an attitude  can only cause continuing political crises in Papua because of the security approach and the use of the law. Experience has shown that such an approach has failed to end resistance  by the Papuan people, even causing the emergence of new Papuan movements.

End all forms of stigmatisation of the Papuan people because this is deeply humiliating for the Papuan people who have ceased to have any confidence in development undertaken by the central government in Papua.

Evaluate and reconsider that policy of dispatching non-organic troops to Papua because  many cases have occurred as a result of the presence of these troops and have resulted in new problems within society, while revealing a lack of sensitivity for the local values of the people.

The government should make public the size of the defence budget for the deployment of troops to Papua because these funds are extracted from the state budget, while the public in Papua, especially the Papuan people, should know what are the objectives of all this, how many personnel are involved, the locations where they are deployed and the amount of the funds being used for all this during the course of a single year.

To enhance human rights policies that take sides with the victims in the Land of Papua. This is because there is the erroneous view that the problems in Papua are only about the economy. As long as the central government persists in holding this view, disturbances will continue to occur in Papua.

The police force must act professionally in the performance of their duties and not discriminate against the Papuan people when they uphold their basic rights as citizens, while at the same time striving to restore confidence in the police.

Treat all prisoners in accordance with the procedures in force and the rule of law, so as to safeguard dignity and humanitarianism while steering clear of all arbitrary treatment, in particular ending the practice of torture.

The use of military courts as has recently occurred in Jayapura is proof that these military tribunals are incapable of creating a sense of justice for the victims and among  the public and are far removed from the basic human rights standards adopted by the Indonesian Government with its ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by the adoption of law 5/1998 which established the basis for fair trials.

2. The Government of Papua.

It should never forget or neglect  the human rights agenda in policies pursued in the Land of Papua, because up until now, more  emphasis has been placed on the economy and welfare. There must be a balance between these two agendas.

Treat all prisoners in accordance with the rule of law, guaranteeing people’s sense of dignity and humanitarianism  and avoid all arbitrary actions, in particular the practice of torture.

The Governor, the DPRP and the MRP  should coordinate with each other and respond quickly to cases of violence  and human rights violations in the Land of Papua. The absence of such an attitude  is proof that these civil institutions have no commitment to upholding human rights in Papua and will only intensify public mistrust of these institutions in the eyes of the Papuan people.

All programmes regarding the economy and welfare should be gender specific  and take the side of the victims of human rights violations, in particular taking due regard for the education and health of the victims and their families including the granting of reparations.

To immediately set up a team to draft a special regulation  (Perdasus) for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a Human Rights Court as provided for in OTSUS, bearing in mind that these matters have not been dealt with during the nine years since OTSUS was enacted, and have been forgotten altogether.

Jayapura, 9 December 2010

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Abepura prison director, staff, accused of violence towards prisoners

 

[Slightly abridged in translation]

Bintang Papua, 13 December 2010

Director of Abepura Prison and 14 of his staff accused of acts of 
violent towards prisoners

There is still no clear information with regard to two cases of violence 
that occurred in Abepura Prison in the past month and it is hoped that 
the police will carry out a serious investigation in order to  explain 
these two incidents that have led to the security forces conducting 
sweepings throughout the district of Abepura. The need for a more 
humanitarian approach in dealing with the victims of these actions was 
stressed during a press conference  held by Forum of People's Democracy 
(Forem) in Abepura on Monday.

The series of incidents included the shooting in Nafri and the enforced 
removal of five prisoners, Filep Karma, Buchtar Tabuni, Dominggus 
Pulalo, Lopez Karubaba and Eni Elopere which has raised questions by 
Forem, particularly why the men were forcibly transferred to police 
custody and to explain what their present status is.

Two of the prisoners are political  prisoners while the other three are 
being held on criminal charges.

The five men were transferred by the police on Friday, 3 December at 
around 11pm, on the orders to Abepura prison director , Berthy Sitinjak. 
Up to this day, the prison authorities have failed to  tell them the 
reason for their having being transferred to police custody. All the 
focus has been on the five men having allegedly provoked  others in the 
prison to  destroy things in the prison on that Friday afternoon. 
According to the prisoners themselves, these acts of destruction were an 
expression of their feelings of dissatisfaction with the attitude of the 
prison director who failed to tell them why five of their co-prisoners 
had fled from the prison on the same day at about 12 noon.

One of the men, Wiron Wetipo, was shot dead while Filep Karma and 
Buchtar Tabuni tried to calm people down, and asked to meet the director 
of the prison for  an explanation as to what happened to the prisoner 
who was shot dead in Tanah Hitam.

According to Forem, as stated by Simon Yumame, Dominggus Pulalo, Lopez 
Karubaba and Eni Elopere were not involved in damaging prison 
facilities, yet even so, they were maltreated by prison director Berthy 
Sitinjak  along with 14 members of his staff. These actions resulted in 
a damaged ear for Dominggus Pulalo and swellings on his head  as a 
result of being kicked repeatedly  all over this body.

According to Filep Karma and his co-prisoners, the five men who fled 
from the prison on Friday were criminal prisoners and were in no way 
connected with any political activities or the OPM. They had simply 
spent their time in the prison learning new skills and growing vegetables.

Forem has therefore urged the prison director Berthy Sitinjak and the 
deputy director of law and human rights to take responsibility and to 
ensure the return of the five prisoners so that they can serve the 
remainder of their sentences in Abepura Prison.and to explain publicly 
why the five prisoners were shot at even though they had been able to 
flee from the prison at a time when it was being heavily guarded. Forem 
also calls on the minister for law and human rights and the 
Diretor-General of  prisons to take firm action against the director of 
the prison for the arbitrary acts of violence taken against the 
prisoners in Abepura Prison.

According to Forem, at their press conference,  the prison authorities 
have shown that they are incapable of giving proper guidance to the 
prisoners; on the contrary, they  have caused widespread anxiety among 
the prisoners against the police and army for opening fire on prisoners 
that resulted in the death of Wiron Wetipo.

These two serious incidents, the shooting in Nafri and the flight of the 
prisoners, means that the army and the police should conduct a full 
investigation into the Nafri shooting and other matters, that violence 
should not be resorted to and they should behave in a more professional 
way and in accordance with the law, so as not to create an atmosphere of 
fear among the  prisoners.

The prisoner director, when asked about the accusations being made 
against his staff for using violence in the prison, showed no interest 
in the matter, saying simply that it was okay for the  prisons to 
express their views about allegations that the prison staff used 
violence. The truth was, according to him, that they had thrown things 
around in the prison office. 'Which is why was they have been moved to 
police custody for their involvement in the events of 3 December, and 
their cases are now being taken forward by the police.
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KomnasHAM holds dialogue about cases of violence in Papua

JUBI, 8 December 2010

KomnasHAM is trying hard to discuss the continuing violations of human
rights and the use of violence still occurring in Papua, Ridha Saleh
told journalists in Jayapura on Wednesday. He said that after reporting
the videos of torture and the burning of prisoners’ vital organs to the
military commander of Cenderawasih Military Command, they were keen to have a dialogue and seek opinions about these violations that are still occurring in Papua.

He said too that prior to reporting the case of the videos, they had
undertaken investigations and collected data about these cases which
occurred recently in Puncak Jaya. They were told that according to the army and the local people, there are three elements who have been causing chaos in Puncak Jaya, the TPN/OPM, the Indonesian army and o-called unknown elements.

A dialogue had taken place with all these people and also involved some other people, including some academics, the department of law and human rights, the army and members of the community.. The dialogue took place at Swissbel Hotel in Jayapura.

[This is the first time we have read about such a dialogue having taken
place. TAPOL]

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