Violence and torture against Papuan detainees

16 September 2011: FIFTEEN PAPUANS MISTREATED AND TORTURED BY ARMY AND
POLICE

*TAPOL strongly condemns the use of violence and torture against Papuan
detainees*

A report has been released following a joint investigation into the
mistreatment and torture of a group of 15 Papuans in connection with two
criminal incidents that occurred recently in West Papua. The report,
published by Papuan church leaders, the NGO network Foker and the Papua
Human Rights Commission, states that 15 Papuans were arrested in
Jayapura on 31 August and were mistreated and tortured for nine hours by
a joint force of military and police. They were reportedly beaten with
rifle butts, punched, kicked in the stomach with army boots and
subjected to continual verbal abuse in an attempt to force them to
confess to the as yet unsolved murders at Nafri and Skyline in Jayapura.

One of the men said he had been threatened with death if he failed to
confess to owning items including a bullet and some documents which he
said he had not seen before, and another was reportedly tortured until
he confessed to the murders and named another of the men as his
accomplice. During police interrogation, the two were threatened with
death if they did not confess to the crimes. They were then charged with
the murders and remain in detention.

After the remaining thirteen men were released, they said that they had
also been forced to lie on their backs on the ground facing the blazing
sun for seven hours. They further commented that they felt as though
they were being treated like cattle. They were deprived of water and
food for lengthy periods while being beaten and tortured and no
attention was paid to the injuries and bruises that they suffered during
their ordeal. They said that they were weak and in some cases fell ill
as a result of their treatment but were denied access to a toilet and
ordered to urinate and defecate out in the open.

Apart from the appalling treatment to which they were reportedly
subjected, the detainees were arrested without arrest warrants and
during their interrogation, they were not accompanied by lawyers despite
the associated requirement for persons in detention when they are given
notice that they are about to be questioned.

Moreover, according to legal requirements they should have been released
within 24 hours, a binding requirement for persons who are held without
being charged for any crime. They were in fact held for 27 hours.

TAPOL strongly condemns the atrocious treatment of these Papuans. We
call on Komnas HAM, the National Human Rights Commission, to conduct an
investigation into the treatment of these Papuan detainees. TAPOL also
calls on the Minister of Justice and Human Rights to call to account all
those persons who were responsible for using extreme violence and
torture against this group of men.

The government of Indonesia should make it absolutely clear that all
persons who work for government agencies within the military and the
police, including those which were involved in the detention and
mistreatment of these fifteen men should at all times treat persons
being held in detention without resorting to violence and torture and
should be instructed to refrain from using such methods or face
dismissal if they do so.

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