SPECIAL FOCUS IndonesiaIndonesia CASE

YUSAK PAKAGE ©ELSHAM

For peacefully FILEP KARMA ©ELSHAM raising a flag, Filep Karma and On December 1, 2004, some 200 people participated in a nonviolent ceremony outside Abepura in , , may spend the next during which the Morning Star flag, a symbol of Papuan decade or more independence, was raised. From the edge of the fields, hundreds of others watched the flag-raising, an annual commemoration in prison. of the 1962 declaration of Papuan independence. Indonesian police advanced on the crowd, firing shots and beating people with batons. At least four people were reportedly injured by bullets fired by the police, including two with wounds to the head. Police reportedly beat a human rights monitor from the Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy who was trying to photograph the police attack on the crowd. Outnumbered by the crowd, the police retreated temporarily until reinforcements arrived and then forced an end to the ceremony. Police arrested Filep Karma at the site of the ceremony, and reportedly beat and stomped on him during transport to the police station. A group of about 20 people were later arrested at the police station when they went to protest Mr. Karma’s arrest, but all were subsequently released, except for Yusak Pakage. Mr. Karma and Mr. Pakage were later charged with rebellion for their role in leading and organizing the flag-raising event. In May 2005, a court sentenced Filep Karma to 15 years in prison and Yusak Pakage to 10 years on charges of treason for having “betrayed” Indonesia by flying the outlawed Papua flag. Papua (formerly called Irian Jaya) occupies the western half of the island of New Guinea and was granted limited autonomy under Indonesian rule in 2001. Many in Papua (or “West Papua,” as it is also known) would like to separate from Indonesia Above: Indonesian police in riot gear. and form their own nation. The eastern half of the island is occupied by Papua New Guinea, which has been an independent nation since 1975. Supporters of independence for Papua have been among those jailed as prisoners of conscience in Indonesia. Simply attending a meeting at which the political status of Papua has been discussed can lead to one’s arrest. While Amnesty International takes no position on the political status of any province of Indonesia, it believes that the right to freedom of expression includes the right to peacefully advocate independence or other political solutions and that these rights must be upheld. Amnesty International considers Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage to be prisoners of conscience who have been detained purely for the peaceful and legitimate exercise of their right to freedom of expression. It is calls on the government to free them and all other prisoners of conscience in Indonesia. For more information on this and other Special Focus Cases, please visit our website at: www.amnestyusa.org/prisoners_of_conscience

BACKGROUND SPEAK OUT FOR Following the forced resignation of former Indonesian President in HUMAN RIGHTS! 1998, over 230 political prisoners were released in a series of presidential Please send politely worded letters to the President of Indonesia, amnesties, and repressive legislation limiting freedom of expression fell out of urging him to bring about the immediate and unconditional use for a brief period of time. Since early 2001, however, such legislation has release of Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage. Write to: once again been used with increasing frequency against government critics, Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono including labor and political activists, journalists, and independence activists President of Indonesia in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) and Papua Provinces. A number of c/o H.E. The Ambassador human rights organizations have also been charged with “defamation,” in what Embassy of Indonesia appears to be an attempt by the authorities to discredit them and disrupt their 2020 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. legitimate work. Washington, D.C. 20036

More than 60 prisoners of conscience have been sentenced to prison terms since JOIN THE FIGHT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS! 1998. Hundreds more political prisoners have faced trial in the provinces of To join or learn more about Amnesty International, call: Aceh, Papua and Maluku, and Amnesty International believes that many may 1-800-AMNESTY have been convicted solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression.

Amnesty International has called on the Indonesian government to repeal repressive laws that have been used to imprison prisoners of conscience, including the “Hate-sowing Articles” of the Indonesian Criminal Code (Articles 154, 155, and 156) and articles which criminalize “insulting the President or Vice-president” (Articles 134, 136 and 137). [email protected]