"Indonesia's Abu Ghraib" on eve of Obama visit
WPAT: Torture video reveals "Indonesia's Abu Ghraib" on eve of Obama visit *
October 19, 2010 - A new video shows the torture of helpless men in the Indonesian-ruled territory of West Papua. Monitoring groups are already describing the footage as "Indonesia's Abu Ghraib."The video reveals indisputably Indonesian security force brutality, and raises serious questions about the Obama administration's decision to embrace cooperation with Indonesian security forces engaged in active and ongoing torture.
The video, available at http://material.ahrchk.net/video/AHRC-VID-012-2010-Indonesia.html,
is the second in recent months The extreme brutality revealed in this footage is
not new. What is new is that there is now additional video
evidence of the brutality suffered by Papuans for nearly
five decades. The international community can now clearly
witness the indisputably harsh reality of life for Papuans.
While Indonesia continues on the path of democratization and
peaceful resolution of disputes, one region is sent on the
opposite path: towards ongoing military domination,
widespread suppression of political activity, and routine
use of torture and other severe violations of basic human
rights. In West Papua, the brutal and unaccountable
Indonesian military and its accomplices, the militarized
police ( Brimob Thanks to the courage of Papuan human rights
advocates in the face of harsh security measures designed to
silence them, the world periodically has been witness to the
harsh rule of West Papua. In the past, the faith in
international justice and humanity demonstrated by these
courageous Papuans has been betrayed by the international
community's deference to the Indonesian government's
insistence that neither its course nor rule there not be
challenged. Numerous governments have placed the territorial
integrity of Indonesia and the desire to support its
democratization process first. In the process, however, they
have abandoned what could have been constructive efforts to
uphold human rights in West Papua, which continue to be
systematically violated. Geopolitical and commercial goals
led the U.S. government to ignore Suharto dictatorship
atrocities The system of security force rule and
repression of peaceful dissent has been dismantled in much
of Indonesia, but the same security system and the same
systematic human rights violations continue in West Papua
today. Such stopgap solutions as "special autonomy" have
been clearly rejected by the Papuan people. Despite the
continued human rights violations, the Obama administration
has continued the Bush administration's policy of support to
the Indonesian security forces. It has continued support to
the Indonesian military The United States, under President
John F. Kennedy, was responsible for the transfer of West
Papua to Indonesian rule. In that act, the United States
made itself co-responsible for the outcome of its actions.
Successive administrations have not been sufficiently
sensitive to the ongoing human rights violations, including
torture to this day, which resulted from Indonesian
rule. President Obama's upcoming visit to Indonesia offers
an opportunity to end the silence on West Papua, and to
craft new policies that advance human rights rather than
lending support to human rights violators. Information about
the ongoing human rights violations in West Papua was heard
on September 22 by the House of Representatives
Sub-committee on Asia, the Pacific The
Obama administration should: Insist upon an investigation
and prosecution of those who recently tortured Papuans in
Puncak Jaya Seek an investigation by relevant United
Nations human rights rapporteurs of this and other instances
of torture in West Papua Suspend cooperation with Indonesian
security forces accused of systematic human rights
violations, including Detachment 88 and the Brimob (Mobile
Brigade) of the National Police and the Indonesian special
forces (Kopassus) Call for full and open access for
journalists, humanitarian assistance personnel including the
International Committee of the red Cross and other
international monitors to all of West Papua Seek meetings
between President Obama and Papuan human rights and civil
society leaders during his visit to Indonesia Call upon the
Indonesian government to carry out an internationally
facilitated, senior-level dialogue process with Papuan
officials and civil society designed to resolve the Papuan
conflict peacefully, as was done in Aceh
province ENDS