Summary
Mr.
Sabar Iwanggin (43), an assistant lawyer of the advocacy
team of the “Abepura Case 2006” was arrested on
18 October 2007 at 6pm, in front of the Sports Building
GOR in Jayapura, capital of Papua province (West Papua).
Witnesses said the arrest was conducted by members of
Detachment 88 anti-terror unit and 30 police officers.
On
26 October 2007, Mr. Iwanggin was moved to the Indonesian
National Police Headquarters in Jakarta with his legal
representative. At the time of writing, he is under
interrogation for his charges under criminal code, namely
law number 160 about “agitation” and number 134
about “insulting the president” for a
short-message-service (SMS) he forwarded. Mr. Alo
Renwarin, Mr. Iwanggin’s legal representative
questioned the legality of his arrest since Mr. Iwanggin
did not compose the message and that thousands of people
in Papua have been receiving the same message since July
2007.
Local
groups, such as Elsham Papua, which Mr. Iwanggin is a
member and The Evangelical Christian Church of Papua
(Gereja Kristen Injili di Tanah Papua, GKI) are concerned
about his safety. On 24 October 2007, the advocacy team
of Mr. Iwanggin held a press conference in Jayapura
questioning the legitimacy of Mr. Iwanggin’s arrest,
raising their concern about the real motive behind his
arrest and rejected his transfer to Jakarta.
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Sample
Letter
We are writing with grave concern over
the arrest of Mr. Sabar Iwanggin on 18 October
2007 in Jayapura, Papua province. He had been
transferred to the Indonesian National Police
Headquarters in Jakarta on 26 October for police
interrogation for violation of laws number 160
& 134.
We respect your state as a member of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR). Under Article 26 all state party
are obliged to ensure “all persons are
entitled without any discrimination on any
ground, such as political or other opinion, to
the equal protection of the law” Kindly
consider the fact that the alleged SMS message he
forwarded was already widely spread among Papuans
since July 2007. Under this circumstance, Mr.
Iwanggin’s arrest could amount to selective
prosecution which contradicts your promise stated
under Article 26 of ICCPR.
Moreover, the arrest seems to suggest there is a
monitoring of communications over the Papua
society. Under Article 12 of Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, “no one shall
be subjected to arbitrary interference with his
privacy”. Thus, citizens of Indonesia shall
not experience any form of monitoring over their
communications.
Due to sensitive nature of the case, we suggest
special attention to be paid on Article 10 of
ICCPR which states that “all persons
deprived of their liberty shall be treated with
humanity”. Therefore, we urge the
authorities to:
• transfer Mr. Iwanggin back to Papua;
• explain the reason for his transfer to
Jakarta; and
• guarantee Mr. Iwanggin’s safety and
that he will not be subjected to torture or
ill-treatment.
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Background
According
to Mr. Alo Renwarin, the lawyer of Mr. Sabar Iwanggin,
the related SMS claimed that President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono had an “agenda of wiping out
Papuans”. The message went on to allege that Papuans
were being fed poisoned food and were also being killed
by army members disguised as “doctors, restaurant
workers, and motorcycle taxi drivers”.
Mr. Matthew Jamieson representing the Institute for
Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights said on the 27
October, "It is incredible (unbelievable) that the
Indonesian Police would use personnel from the Detachment
88, their highly trained anti-terrorism force, to arrest
the lawyer Sabar Iwanggin for his trivial involvement in
this text message issue… human rights workers are
very concerned that the Indonesian Police have another
agenda and that they will continue to ignore Sabar
Iwanggin's basic rights. "
No one at Jakarta Police Headquarters was available to
confirm the indictment. In Jayapura, the local police
denied the involvement of Detachment 88 in the arrest.
Abepura Case 2006
Sabar Iwanggin is an assistant lawyer of the advocacy
team of the “Abepura Case 2006”
The clash between the police and demonstrators in
Abepura, Jayapura district in West Papua on 16 March 2006
had led to wide range of human rights violations, such as
torture, destruction of property, repression on freedom
of expression and unfair trial. During the action and the
detention period, the military and police were accused of
ignoring human rights. The judiciary was criticized for
failing to provide fair trial for the accused. Twenty-two
Papuans were sentenced to 4 - 15 years’ imprisonment
in the case.
Such violations were documented by The Ecumenical Council
of Churches in Papua and reported in its
“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. in September
2006.
For further details, please refer to Hotline Asia Special
Urgent Appeal SUA061031(8).
Source:
South China Morning Post
Elsham Papua
The Evangelical Christian Church of Papua
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