Prosecuting Political Aspiration RIGHTS Indonesia’S Political Prisoners WATCH

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Prosecuting Political Aspiration RIGHTS Indonesia’S Political Prisoners WATCH Indonesia HUMAN Prosecuting Political Aspiration RIGHTS Indonesia’s Political Prisoners WATCH Prosecuting Political Aspiration Indonesia’s Political Prisoners Copyright © 2010 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-642-X Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA Tel: +1 212 290 4700, Fax: +1 212 736 1300 [email protected] Poststraße 4-5 10178 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 30 2593 06-10, Fax: +49 30 2593 0629 [email protected] Avenue des Gaulois, 7 1040 Brussels, Belgium Tel: + 32 (2) 732 2009, Fax: + 32 (2) 732 0471 [email protected] 64-66 Rue de Lausanne 1202 Geneva, Switzerland Tel: +41 22 738 0481, Fax: +41 22 738 1791 [email protected] 2-12 Pentonville Road, 2nd Floor London N1 9HF, UK Tel: +44 20 7713 1995, Fax: +44 20 7713 1800 [email protected] 27 Rue de Lisbonne 75008 Paris, France Tel: +33 (1)43 59 55 35, Fax: +33 (1) 43 59 55 22 [email protected] 1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009 USA Tel: +1 202 612 4321, Fax: +1 202 612 4333 [email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org June 2010 1-56432-642-X Prosecuting Political Aspiration Indonesia’s Political Prisoners Maps of Prisons with Political Prisoners in Indonesia ......................................................... 1 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 3 Recommendations ........................................................................................................ 15 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 16 Political Prisoners from the Moluccas ................................................................................ 17 Background ................................................................................................................... 17 The 2007 Flag Unfurling and Its Violent Aftermath ......................................................... 18 Individual Case Profiles ................................................................................................ 22 Johan Teterisa ........................................................................................................ 22 Reimond Tuapattinaya ............................................................................................ 24 Ruben Saiya ............................................................................................................ 25 Ferdinand Waas ...................................................................................................... 26 Papuan Political Prisoners ................................................................................................ 27 Background ................................................................................................................... 27 Individual Case Profiles ................................................................................................ 28 Filep Karma ............................................................................................................ 28 Buchtar Tabuni ....................................................................................................... 34 Ferdinand Pakage ................................................................................................... 36 Simon Tuturop and Tadeus Weripang ..................................................................... 39 Roni Ruben Iba ....................................................................................................... 40 Appendix: Legal Provisions Frequently Used To Prosecute .................................................41 Pro-Independence Activists ...............................................................................................41 Indonesian Criminal Code ............................................................................................. 41 Government Regulation 77/2007 on Provincial Flag and Logo, Article 6A ...................... 42 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... 43 Maps of Prisons with Political Prisoners in Indonesia 1 Human Rights Watch June 2010 Prosecuting Political Aspiration 2 PROSECUTING POLITICAL ASPIRATION SUMMARY Human Rights Watch | June 2010 Buchtar Tabuni, a leader of the West Papua National Committee, outside his cell in Abepura prison. He is serving a three-year prison term for inciting hatred against the Indonesian government. © 2010 Garda Papua 4 Prosecuting Political Aspiration The judges should have deemed his action more as a political aspiration than a life-threatening act.... He only waved an RMS flag, and did not carry a weapon. Asmara Nababan, a former secretary-general of the National Commission on Human Rights in Jakarta, speaking about the prosecution of Johan Teterisa. Indonesia has made important progress in strengthening democracy and respect for human rights since the end of authoritarian rule under President Suharto in 1998. Advances have included permitting increased freedom of association and assembly, holding three generally free and fair national elections, and providing greater overall protection for civil and political rights. Improved freedom of expression has been hailed as This report focuses on this last area. It profiles the cases of 10 emblematic of this progress. While there have been notable prominent Papuan and Moluccan activists currently behind accomplishments—700 new magazines and newspapers bars for expressing their political views, detailing ill-treatment sprung up in the first three years after Suharto’s ouster they have suffered and violations of their due process rights. alone—the right to free speech in Indonesia continues to be In total there are currently at least 100 Papuans and limited in three significant ways: Moluccans in prison in Indonesia for peaceful political expression. • Laws criminalizing defamation and insult remain in the criminal code and are used to silence anti-corruption Human Rights Watch takes no position on claims to self- activists, human rights defenders, journalists, determination in Indonesia or in any other country, and consumers, and others. 1 nothing in this report should be construed as supporting or denigrating the independence aspirations of Papuan or • The government continues to criminally prosecute Moluccan activists. Consistent with international law, people who express religious beliefs that deviate from however, we support the right of all individuals, including the central tenets of six officially recognized religions; independence supporters, to express their political views heterodoxy and public adherence to unrecognized peacefully without fear of arrest or other forms of reprisal. religions are officially illegal. 2 President Suharto was notorious for arresting and imprisoning • The government continues to criminally prosecute those who opposed him, from Communist party members and peaceful expression of pro-independence sentiment by sympathizers in the early years to critics of all stripes, ethnic minority activists in Papua and the southern including ethnic minority pro-independence advocates, in his Moluccan islands. later years. Under Suharto, Indonesian authorities failed to Human Rights Watch | June 2010 5 Elementary school teacher Johan Teterisa in his prison uniform at Lowokwaru prison in Malang, East Java. Teterisa is serving a 15-year prison term for treason. ©2009 Abraham Hamzah distinguish between acts of criminal violence and peaceful features as “organizations, groups, institutions or separatist expression of separatist views, contributing to political movements.” Both the Papuan Morning Star flag and the polarization and fueling radicalization in East Timor and Aceh. “Benang Raja” (rainbow) flag of the Republic of the South While those latter conflicts have been resolved through Moluccas (Republik Maluku Selatan, RMS) are considered to political agreements and thousands of political prisoners fall under this ban. 3 have been released since Suharto’s resignation, the practice Most of the political prisoners in Indonesia were convicted of of lumping together peaceful advocates and armed militants makar (rebellion or treason) under articles 106 and 110 of the and treating both as criminals continues in Papua and the Indonesian Criminal Code. Many were sentenced to 10 years southern Moluccas. or more in prison. In several cases the activists were tortured Most of the cases detailed in this report are of activists by police while in pre-trial detention. Some have faced imprisoned for organizing rallies or participating in mistreatment and denial of medical treatment while in prison. ceremonies in which flags were raised symbolizing Moluccan activist Reimond Tuapattinaya, first detained in aspirations for an independent state in Papua or in the June 2007, described being tortured immediately following his southern Moluccan islands. In December 2007, the arrest: Indonesian government issued Government Regulation 77/2007, which regulates regional symbols. Article 6 of the If they held an iron bar, we got the iron bar. If they held a regulation bans display of flags or logos that have the same wooden bat, we got the wooden bat. If they held a wire cable, 6 Prosecuting Political Aspiration Reimond Tuapattinaya leading a Sunday religious service inside Kediri prison in East Java. He is serving a seven-year prison term
Recommended publications
  • Papua: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
    Update Briefing Asia Briefing N°53 Jakarta/Brussels, 5 September 2006 Papua: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions I. OVERVIEW by the plummeting of Indonesian-Australian relations in early 2006 over Australia’s decision to grant temporary asylum to a group of Papuan political activists. No part of Indonesia generates as much distorted reporting as Papua, the western half of New Guinea that has been This briefing will examine several questions that lie home to an independence movement since the 1960s. behind the distortions: Who governs Papua and how? Are TNI numbers Some sources, mostly outside Indonesia, paint a picture increasing, and if so, why? of a closed killing field where the Indonesian army, backed by militia forces, perpetrates genocide against a What substance is there to the claim of historical defenceless people struggling for freedom. A variant has injustice in Papua’s integration into Indonesia? the army and multinational companies joining forces to How strong is the independence movement in despoil Papua and rob it of its own resources. Proponents Papua? Who supports it? of this view point to restrictions on media access, increasing troop strength in Papua of the Indonesian armed What substance is there to allegations of genocide? forces (TNI), payments to the TNI from the giant U.S. Are there Muslim militias in Papua? And a process copper and gold mining company, Freeport, and reports of Islamicisation? by human rights organisations as supporting evidence for their views. How much of Papua is off-limits to outsiders? Why the restrictions? Others, mostly inside Indonesia, portray Papua as What can the international community do? the target of machinations by Western interests, bent on bringing about an East Timor-style international intervention that will further divide and weaken the II.
    [Show full text]
  • 2010.05.18 Human Rights Report Papua 2009
    Human Rights In Papua 2009 1 This report provides readers with an overview of the situation in Papua and West Papua (Indonesia) throughout 2009, concentrating on issues related to the impact of the 2009 general elections, freedom of expression, security instability and human rights violations. Detailed attention is given to the prolonged violent incidents in the Freeport Grasberg mine in Timika, as an indicator of the general tense situation affecting the provinces, as well as the internal tensions within the security services apparatus. The third section of this report provides an overview of long-standing issues affecting the welfare and the security of indigenous Papuans, including the lack of a well-structure education policy; the effects of palm oil plantations on indigenous communities; and the increased military presence in the provinces that affects Papuan livelihoods Faith Based Network on West Papua The following organisations are part of this network: Cordaid Dominicans for Justice and Peace Franciscans International Geneva for Human Rights ICCO Kerk in Actie Justice and Peace Netherlands Mensen met een Missie Mission 21 Pax Romana Quakers United Evangelical Mission Uniting World West Papua Netzwerk World Council of Churches 2 3 Introduction 2009 was a strategic year for Indonesia as a whole. With general and parliamentary elections in the middle of the year, much attention was given to this taking place in a smooth and transparent manner. Overall, the running of the elections indicated compliance with international standards. However, the provinces of Papua/West Papua and Aceh reported an increase in violence. In both Papua and West Papua, elections were also a catalyst for much of the violence that marred both provinces throughout 2009.
    [Show full text]
  • Indonesia's Political Prisoners
    Indonesia H U M A N Prosecuting Political Aspiration R I G H T S Indonesia’s Political Prisoners WATCH Prosecuting Political Aspiration Indonesia’s Political Prisoners Copyright © 2010 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-642-X Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA Tel: +1 212 290 4700, Fax: +1 212 736 1300 [email protected] Poststraße 4-5 10178 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 30 2593 06-10, Fax: +49 30 2593 0629 [email protected] Avenue des Gaulois, 7 1040 Brussels, Belgium Tel: + 32 (2) 732 2009, Fax: + 32 (2) 732 0471 [email protected] 64-66 Rue de Lausanne 1202 Geneva, Switzerland Tel: +41 22 738 0481, Fax: +41 22 738 1791 [email protected] 2-12 Pentonville Road, 2nd Floor London N1 9HF, UK Tel: +44 20 7713 1995, Fax: +44 20 7713 1800 [email protected] 27 Rue de Lisbonne 75008 Paris, France Tel: +33 (1)43 59 55 35, Fax: +33 (1) 43 59 55 22 [email protected] 1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009 USA Tel: +1 202 612 4321, Fax: +1 202 612 4333 [email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org June 2010 1-56432-642-X Prosecuting Political Aspiration Indonesia’s Political Prisoners Maps of Prisons with Political Prisoners in Indonesia ......................................................... 1 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 3 Recommendations ........................................................................................................ 15 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 16 Political Prisoners from the Moluccas ................................................................................ 17 Background ................................................................................................................... 17 The 2007 Flag Unfurling and Its Violent Aftermath ........................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Dialogue Between Jakarta and Papua
    Internationales Katholisches Missionswerk e.V. Fachstelle Menschenrechte Pontifical Mission Society Human Rights Office Oeuvre Pontificale Missionnaire Secteur « Droits de l’Homme » 35 Dr. Otmar Oehring (Hrsg./editor/éditeur) Postfach 10 12 48 D-52012 Aachen Tel.: 0049-241-7507-00 FAX: 0049-241-7507-61-253 E-mail: [email protected] missio Order No. 600 301 Menschenrechte [email protected] [email protected] Droits de l’Homme © missio 2009 ISSN 1618-6222 Human Rights Neles Tebay Dialogue between Jakarta and Papua A perspective from Papua The Human Rights Office aims to promote awareness of the human rights situation in Africa, 30 Defamation of Religions and Human Rights in German/in English/in French (2008) – Asia and Oceania. In pursuit of this objective we are actively involved in human rights networ- Order No. 600 293 king and foster exchanges between missio’s church partners in Africa, Asia and Oceania and church and political decision-makers in the Federal Republic of Germany. This Human Rights 31 Asylum for Iraqi Refugees – Background Information The situation of non-Muslim refugees in countries series comprises country-by-country studies, thematic studies and the proceedings of specialist bordering on Iraq in German (2005) – Order No. 600 294 conferences. in English (2005) – Order No. 600 295 in French (2005) – Order No. 600 296 Papua Conflict began when Indonesia took control of Papua on 1 May 1963, and it continues to 32 Violence against Christians in India – A response this day. The conflict involves two parties, namely the Government of Indonesia and the Papuan Democracy, Secularism und Pluralism in India people.
    [Show full text]
  • Amnesty International PAPUA Digest
    A man in the Papua highlands © Private Amnesty International PAPUA DIGEST The people of Papua are subject to severe human rights violations at the hands of the Indonesian authorities. Their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are heavily curtailed. Many people are imprisoned simply for having taken part in non-violent demonstrations, or having expressed their opinions. The region of Papua is made up of two Indonesian With an area of 163,000 square miles of mountains, provinces – Papua and West Papua – which together tropical rainforest, agricultural land and marsh, Papua is form the western half of New Guinea, a large tropical rich in resources, including copper, oil, gold, timber and island north of Australia. The provincial capital of Papua fish. It is home to just over 3.5 million people, including province, Jayapura, is 200 miles south of the equator and some 250 indigenous groups. Indigenous Papuans are nearly 2,500 miles east of Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. Melanesians and ethnically distinct from the majority of Indonesians, who are Malay. Christianity is the dominant Formerly a Dutch colony, the region was briefly transferred religion in Papua. Hundreds of thousands of people, to the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority principally Malay Muslims from other parts of Indonesia, in 1962 before being handed to Indonesia in 1963. It have settled in Papua. officially became the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya following a UN-supervised referendum in 1969, which is Despite its natural wealth, Papua remains one of the considered to have been fraudulent by most Papuans. Its least economically developed regions of Indonesia, with name changed yet again, to Papua, in 2002.
    [Show full text]
  • Protest and Punishment RIGHTS Political Prisoners in Papua WATCH February 2007 Volume 19, No
    Indonesia HUMAN Protest and Punishment RIGHTS Political Prisoners in Papua WATCH February 2007 Volume 19, No. 4(C) Protest and Punishment Political Prisoners in Papua Map of Papua........................................................................................................... 1 I. Summary...............................................................................................................2 Key Recommendations........................................................................................7 Methodology.......................................................................................................7 II. Background......................................................................................................... 8 Political History.................................................................................................. 8 Human Rights Background................................................................................ 11 III. Legal Framework ............................................................................................... 14 IV. Cases of Political Prisoners Jailed for Peaceful Expression ................................19 Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage..........................................................................19 Linus Hiluka......................................................................................................30 Moses Holago and Moses Aspalek ....................................................................32 V. Summary of Other Cases ....................................................................................35
    [Show full text]
  • NO POLITICAL PRISONERS? the Suppression of Political Protest in West Papua
    NO POLITICAL PRISONERS? The suppression of political protest in West Papua April 2013 contents Introduction.............3 Summary of findings.................5 The silencing of political activism............6 Meet the prisoners...........8 Inside the prison walls.............11 Police arrest protestors, Manokwari 2012 Wilful neglect..............12 © Jubi Rights defenders branded as traitors.......13 With thanks to Article 106 on treason still in frequent use..14 The Civil Society Coalition for the Upholding of Law and Human Rights From treason to terror?..............16 in Papua, KontraS Papua, ALDP, BUK, LP3BH, JAPH&HAM, KontraS, Amnesty Maintaining flat denial............17 International, West Papua Media, Andreas Harsono, Selwyn Moran and all those individual human rights workers and Recommendations............19 translators who have assisted us but prefer not to be named. Appendix 1: Papuan political prisoners...20 Appendix 2: Overview of cases........23 Note Appendix 3: Defining political prisoners..26 Some of the names in this report have been changed to protect identities, Notes..................27 indicated by a * 2 introduction *Herman and his friends begin another day in campaigned actively for independence and been jailed Wamena prison, in West Papua’s central highlands. for acts of peaceful political expression. Some stand They do not know whether they will eat today, accused of involvement in politically-motivated acts and long for news of their families, who live up of violence against property or the state. in the mountains, some hours away by truck. Others are known as political leaders or were simply ordinary people who were in the wrong place at Arrested on 20 November 2010 in Yalengga, the wrong time.
    [Show full text]
  • Asian Indigenous & Tribal Peoples Network Indonesia
    Asian Indigenous & Tribal Peoples Network [AITPN has Special Consultative Status with the UN ECOSOC] P.O.Box 9627, Janakpuri, New Delhi-110058, India E-Mail: [email protected], Tele/Fax: 91-11-25503624 Embargoed for: 20 November 2007 Indonesia: Transmigration, human rights violations and impunity [Contribution under the Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council] Table of contents 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... 2 I. HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION ON THE GROUND ........................................................................................... 2 II. STATE’S HUMAN RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS AND COMMITMENTS................................................................... 5 III. ENHANCEMENT OF STATE’S CAPACITY.................................................................................................. 6 IV. COOPERATION WITH HRC, TREATY BODIES AND OHCHR................................................................... 6 2. HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION ON THE GROUND.......................................................................... 8 I. TRANSMIGRATION: THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE INCREASED CONFLICTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS .9 a. Scale of transmigration ................................................................................................................... 10 b. Negative impact on indigenous peoples: The World Bank’s findings ........................................... 11 II. THE WEST PAPUA IMBROGLIO .............................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • SPECIAL REPORT: a Facade of Justice for Torture Victims in Indonesia
    SPECIAL REPORT: A facade of justice for torture victims in Indonesia Page Prosecution of torture cases in Indonesia’s justice system 2-8 Answer Styannes, Programme Officer Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Hong Kong Reparation for torture victims in Indonesia in theory and practice 9-14 Era Purnama Sari, LBH Padang (Padang Legal Aid Institute), Indonesia Answer Styannes, AHRC, Hong Kong Practice of torture during Soeharto’s regime 15-21 Muhamad Daud Berueh, staff member The Commission for 'The Disappeared' and Victims of Violence (KontraS) INTERVIEWS: “Search for truth is risky; to get justice is not easy” 22-25 Yeni, sister of torture victim A torture victim's story on quest for justice 26-29 Syamsul Arifin, torture victim CASE STUDIES: Unsolved cases of torture, custodial death 30-74 and extrajudicial killing Prosecution of torture cases in Indonesia’s justice system Answer Styannes, Programme Officer, Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong In Indonesia, criminal prosecution of state officials engaged involved in the practice of torture is possible. Although torture, as it is defined by the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UN CAT), is yet to be criminalised under the country’s legal system; however, there have been cases where the police and military officers who perpetrated torture had been held criminally liable and punished in courts for maltreatment or other provisions. The Asian Human Rights Commission recorded at least seven torture cases from 2005 to mid 2013 which resulted in the punishment of the accused. To conclude that such punishment indicates a state where justice is obtainable by torture victims and their families in Indonesia, however, is misleading.
    [Show full text]
  • Indonesian Colonisation, Resource Plunder and West Papuan Grievances インドネシアによる植民地化、資源の略奪、西パプア人 の不満
    Volume 9 | Issue 12 | Number 1 | Article ID 3499 | Mar 21, 2011 The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Indonesian Colonisation, Resource Plunder and West Papuan Grievances インドネシアによる植民地化、資源の略奪、西パプア人 の不満 David Adam Stott Indonesian Colonisation, Resource that accompanied it. Since then, the territory Plunder and West Papuanhas witnessed a large influx of internal migrants from elsewhere in the enlarged state, Grievances settlers who quickly came to dominate urban centres and commercial enterprise. As such, David Adam Stott many observers have characterised West “Rather than feeling liberated from (Dutch) Papua’s integration and subsequent colonial rule, Papuans have felt subjugated, development as a case of colonisation by marginalized from the processes of economic Indonesia since the colonised territory is very development, and threatened by the mass rich in gold, copper, natural gas, forests and influx of Indonesian settlers. They have also fisheries from which the indigenous population developed a sense of common Papuan ethnicity has seen little benefit. It is also sparsely in opposition to Indonesian dominance of the populated whilst the core territories of local economy and administration. These pan- Indonesia are subject to heavy population Papuan views have become the cultural and pressures, enabling Indonesia to mould the ethnic currency of a common Papuan struggle.” territory in its own image. In contrast to most Chauvel (2005) ethnic groups in the archipelago, most indigenous Papuans do not identify with the “Papuans have less access to legitimateIndonesian state and see themselves as racially economic opportunities than any groupand ethnically very distinct from all other in Indonesia and have experienced more regions in the country.
    [Show full text]
  • Protest and Punishment Political Prisoners in Papua
    February 2007 Volume 19, No. 4(C) Protest and Punishment Political Prisoners in Papua Map of Papua........................................................................................................... 1 I. Summary...............................................................................................................2 Key Recommendations........................................................................................7 Methodology.......................................................................................................7 II. Background......................................................................................................... 8 Political History.................................................................................................. 8 Human Rights Background................................................................................ 11 III. Legal Framework ............................................................................................... 14 IV. Cases of Political Prisoners Jailed for Peaceful Expression ................................19 Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage..........................................................................19 Linus Hiluka......................................................................................................30 Moses Holago and Moses Aspalek ....................................................................32 V. Summary of Other Cases ....................................................................................35 Welmus
    [Show full text]
  • Papua: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
    Update Briefing Asia Briefing N°53 Jakarta/Brussels, 5 September 2006 Papua: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions I. OVERVIEW by the plummeting of Indonesian-Australian relations in early 2006 over Australia’s decision to grant temporary asylum to a group of Papuan political activists. No part of Indonesia generates as much distorted reporting as Papua, the western half of New Guinea that has been This briefing will examine several questions that lie home to an independence movement since the 1960s. behind the distortions: Who governs Papua and how? Are TNI numbers Some sources, mostly outside Indonesia, paint a picture increasing, and if so, why? of a closed killing field where the Indonesian army, backed by militia forces, perpetrates genocide against a What substance is there to the claim of historical defenceless people struggling for freedom. A variant has injustice in Papua’s integration into Indonesia? the army and multinational companies joining forces to How strong is the independence movement in despoil Papua and rob it of its own resources. Proponents Papua? Who supports it? of this view point to restrictions on media access, increasing troop strength in Papua of the Indonesian armed What substance is there to allegations of genocide? forces (TNI), payments to the TNI from the giant U.S. Are there Muslim militias in Papua? And a process copper and gold mining company, Freeport, and reports of Islamicisation? by human rights organisations as supporting evidence for their views. How much of Papua is off-limits to outsiders? Why the restrictions? Others, mostly inside Indonesia, portray Papua as What can the international community do? the target of machinations by Western interests, bent on bringing about an East Timor-style international intervention that will further divide and weaken the II.
    [Show full text]