Hotline Asia Special Urgent Appeals -- SUA061031(8)

Action Requested || Sample Letter || Background
Please respond before 8 November 2006
update

Summary

Wide range of human rights violations, such as torture, destruction of property, repression on freedom of expression and unfair trial were committed by the Indonesian authorities after a demonstration by students and local citizens in Abepura, Jayapura district in West Papua (easternmost province of Indonesia) on 16 March 2006. The violations still haunt many, especially the 23 convicted and detained citizens.

Despite previous effort by local and international human rights groups to call for fair trial and humane treatment to the detained citizens, 22 of them were sentenced to 4 - 15 year’s imprisonment. There is much concern for them since a past incident in Papua province demonstrated a tread of reprisals by security forces: Two police commanders were held accountable for 2 extrajudicial killings after a clash, when 2 police officers and a security guard were killed in December 2000. They were brought to the Human Rights Court in Makassar in May 2005 but were acquitted in September 2005.

The Ecumenical Council of Churches in Papua has investigated the case as an effort to make Papua a land of peace and produced the “Preliminary Report of the Abepura Case 16 March 2006: Uprising Conflict of the Papuan people against PT-FI”. The report has been officially sent to the Governor of Papua, Mr. Barnabas Suebu S. H. on 28 September 2006.

The Council finds it important to expose the truth about the incident and related human rights violations, as well as a peaceful resolution to the problem. Considering their limited capacity and the huge scale of violations, the Council desires the National Commission on Human Rights, Komnas HAM, to verify the preliminary report. It is believed that the Commission can exert pressure on responsible government departments to rectify the violations. Komnas HAM will have a plenary session on 8 and 9 November 2006. Your support will help in the process.

Action Requested
Please write polite letters to Komnas HAM*, ie Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights, to establish an independent investigation team to visit Papua and verify the report by the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Papua.
(*Komnas HAM is the only institution in the country that has the authority to establish independent investigation team.)

Sample Letter

Background

The Struggle Against PT-Freeport Indonesia
The clash on 16 March 2006 was a result of the long struggle between the people of Papua and PT Freeport Indonesia (PT-FI), a mining company working in Papua, Indonesia. During the demonstration, protestors reiterated the demand for the closure of PT-FI, which is responsible for series of environmental threats and impunity.

As early as 1995, Komnas HAM and local non-governmental organizations have identified human rights violations carried out by the military and police force in protecting the mining activities of PT-FI. It is alleged that PT-FI has been avoiding any audit on the “security and other payment” which is suspected to be payments to the military and police. According to Indonesian Forum for Environment (WALHI), PT-FI has failed to comply with government orders to amend its dangerous waste management practices despite years of official findings that the company is in breach of environmental regulations. It further states that the law is not enforced by the Ministry of Environment due to the joint venture’s pervasive financial and political influence. Oxfam Community Aid in its Mining Ombudsman Annual Report 2001-2002 criticized PT-FI’s internal policies to respect human rights and to preserve environment as unilateral.

According to a CorpWatch report in 1997, PT-FI has interlocking relations with Indonesian central government. PT-FI’s shareholders include the Indonesian Government (10%). In March 1997 an Indonesian company known as PT Nusamba acquired about 4.5% of PT-Freeport Indonesia. PT-Nusamba is controlled by prominent businessman Mohamad "Bob" Hasan, a close friend of the previous President Suharto, and Nusamba is a subsidiary of the Nusamba Group, majority owned by foundations chaired by Suharto.

Frustration over the impunity of PT-FI mounted in the first 3 month of 2006 in other parts of Indonesia. Some demonstrators had damaged amenities and private investment, including Plaza 89 in Jakarta, the Sheraton Hotel in Timika, and the Liberation Monument of West Irian in Makassar.

Human Rights Violations After the Clash
After the clash on 16 March, Mobile Brigade police forces (BRIMOB) were deployed to conduct house-to-house searches in Abepura and its surrounding suburbs. During the action and the detention period, the military and police were accused of ignoring human rights of the civil society. The judiciary was criticized for failing to provide fair trial for the accused. A few examples of the human rights violations are:

Torture
The detained citizens were reportedly tortured during their detention at the Polsekta Abepura (Police station of Abepura), Polresta Jayapura (Police station of Jayapura), Markas BRIMOB Papua (the Headquarter of BRIMOB) and by Polda Papua (Police of Papua).
Two hours before the 16 accused attended the second hearing on 24 May 2006, they were kicked with army boots, stuck on the head and body with rifle butts and rubber truncheons. These torments were allegedly done to force them to confess.
Nelson Rumbiak, one of the convicted, was reportedly beaten by police officers after revealing in court of ill-treatment under police custody. However, doctors were unable to examine him fully as police, intelligence officers and military personnel entered the hospital and attempted to gain access to him. He has now recovered.

Destruction of Property
On 22 March 2006, the Cendewarasih Pos Daily reported serious damage to student dormitories around Abepura due to the BRIMOB raid after the clash on 16 March 2006, including the Ninmin Dormitory, the Kamoro Dormitory, the Nayak Dormitory and the Puncak Jaya Dormitory.

Repression on Freedom of Expression
Local NGOs observe that the media in general produce tainted reports due to control from the authority. Repression was targeted against journalists trying to collect information to reveal the true incident: On 18 March 2006, Chief of Police of Papua, Inspector General Tommy Jacobus, apologized to the journalists for the harassment committed by his officers.

Unfair Trial
The right to counsel was infringed. During a visit of the Justice and Peace Secretariat of the Jayapura Diocese and its partner organisations, a detainee revealed that they were not accompanied by lawyer assigned to them during interrogation. As a result, some of the detainees felt afraid and admitted falsely to the involvement in the events.
Observations have shown there was a lack of independent judges. Judges reportedly put questions and provide answers, in form of intimidation to witnesses to make statements against the accused. During the second hearing on 24 May 2006, a police witness was forced to admit he knew the accused when Judge Lakoni reprimanded him saying, “ You are a member of the security forces, so you should speak clearly, or do you want to be punished? You must be loyal to your oath and not bring shame on your unit.”
According to the preliminary report by the Ecumenical Council of Churches, material evidence submitted to hearing was not found at the location of incident, but was brought from other location, which had no relevance to the case.

Further Information:
Executive Summary of the Ecumenical Council of Churches: “Preliminary Report of the Abepura Case 16 March 2006” by Ecumenical Council of Churches in Papua”. Click here.

SOURCES:
WALHI
CorpWatch
Amnesty International
Tapol, The Human Rights Campaign
Office for Justice and Peace Jayapura
Franciscans International

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