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On This Page:

UN envoy highlights rights abuses in Papua

NGO receives report on violence in Abepura Prison

UN Says Situation of Human Rights Defenders in Indonesia Still Needs
Improvement 

U.S. House of Representatives Calls for Rights Accountability and Military Reform in Indonesia

 

UN envoy highlights rights abuses in Papua

Source: ABC Radio Australia


JAYAPURA(Antara): PADMA Indonesia, an advocacy service for justice and
peace, has received a written report from inmates at the Abepura
penitentiary in Papua province on violence they were suffering in jail.
"The report is earmarked for the Papua governor while PADMA as a
non-governmental organization (NGO) received a copy of the report," leader
of PADMA Indonesia, Dr Norbeth Betan told Antara by phone from Jakarta on
Sunday.

According to the priest, PADMA would not keep silent after receiving the
report as the NGO is committed to offering advocacy for justice and peace to
all people regardless of ethnic groups, religions, races and social status.
Norbeth admitted various kinds of violence frequently occurred against
inmates in the prison but many of them were not known because the
penitentiary is located on a remote isle.

It was reported that Filep JS Karma who represented other prisoners had the
courage to send a letter telling what had happened in jail to the Papua
governor with the copies to the Law and Human Rights Minister, the Papua
provincial police chief and NGOs including PADMA Indonesia.
"We are trying to get information as soon as possible on the violence case
at the Abepura penitentiary from different parties especially prisoners. We
will also open a representative office in Jayapura soon to enable us to give
advocacy for justice and peace there," Norbeth said.

 

UN Says Situation of Human Rights Defenders in Indonesia Still Needs
Improvement 

Source: Voice of America www.voanews.com/english/2007-06-12-voa15.cfm

The United Nations says Indonesia must take concrete steps to protect human
rights defenders and counter what it says is the culture of impunity often
enjoyed by the authorities. But, as VOA's Nancy-Amelia Collins reports from
Jakarta , a top U.N. official acknowledges that the situation of rights
defenders in Indonesia has improved compared to the recent past.


Hina Jilani, the special representative of the U.N. Secretary General on the
situation of human rights defenders, said Tuesday Indonesia has taken some
steps to protect human rights defenders.

The steps include strengthening the legal and institutional framework for
the promotion of human rights, such as a 2002 constitutional change that
guarantees human rights and fundamental freedoms. She also mentioned the
establishment of several commissions to deal with various aspects of human
rights, such as preventing violence against women.
But Jilani says the lack of coordination and cooperation between these
institutions has limited the impact of human rights work on the community.

"I note that there is a resistance to changing attitudes and institutional
culture which has made it difficult for these institutions to make a full
commitment to eliminate impunity for human rights violations," said Jilani.
"In light of my discussions with authorities in Jakarta and the provinces, I
observe that there is even less commitment to removing impunity for past
abuses."
Jilani cites as an example the murder of a prominent human rights defender,
Munir Said Thalib, who was poisoned in 2004 while en route to Europe on a
plane belonging to Indonesia 's national airline, Garuda.
An independent investigation implicated senior officials of the country's
shadowy spy agency, but the government never took any action or fully
released the report.
Last October, the Supreme Court acquitted the only person convicted in the
case so far, Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, an off-duty pilot accused of
slipping arsenic into Munir's drink.

Jilani says Munir's case is a test for the government to prove it is serious
in protecting human rights defenders.
"I remind the government that this case represents the situation of the
human rights community in general and is a test of the government's will to
protect defenders in the country," said Jilani. "I fear that any lapses in
the conclusion of this case would make all human rights defenders throughout
the country insecure."

Jilani notes the situation for human rights defenders in Indonesia 's Papua
province, which is in the midst of a low-level separatist insurgency, is
particularly grave. She said one human rights defender who tried to help her
during her visit there had been threatened by the security forces.
Jilani, who has been in Indonesia for the last week, will prepare a detailed
report on her Indonesian visit to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

U.S. House of Representatives Calls for Rights Accountability and Military Reform in Indonesia

Source: East Timor and Indonesia Action Network www.prlog.org

The U.S. House of Representatives today signaled continued
congressional concern for human rights, accountability, and military reform
in Indonesia and justice for East Timor. Several provisions in the Foreign
Operations Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2764) require reporting on progress in
these areas prior to the release of certain military assistance funds,
including reporting on the impact of US assistance on Indonesian security
forces and any connections between US assistance and human rights violations
by these forces. .

³Military reform in Indonesia remains stalled and human rights
accountability lacking,² said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of the
East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN). ³The Bush administration¹s
policy of nearly unrestricted military assistance to Indonesia has clearly
failed.²

³The House appropriations bill highlights many of the most needed reforms.
In contrast, the Bush administration appears to have no real strategy to
promote basic reform of the Indonesian military (TNI),² added Miller.
³Jakarta's failure to pursue effective reform underscores the need for the
U.S. to use the only real leverage it has to press for change -- strong and
binding restrictions on military assistance.²

³After the dictator Suharto fell in 1998, Indonesia took important steps
toward reform. However, once the U.S. began to re-engage with the Indonesia
military, such efforts have all but stopped,² according to Miller.
³Historically, the Indonesian military's (TNI) worst abuses took place when
the U.S. was most engaged.²

Background

In November 2005, the State Department pledged that the Bush administration
would ³carefully calibrate² any assistance to the Indonesian military.
Instead, the administration's actions have demonstrated a policy of nearly
unrestrained engagement with the TNI.

Efforts to break up the military's legal and illegal business empire appear
to have failed. Indonesia¹s Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono confirmed
recently that according to the government criteria, only six military
enterprises out of a total inventory of 1500 qualify as businesses to be
turned over to the government. The military will retain control of its
foundations and cooperatives.

Colonel Burhanuddin Siagian, regional military commander in West Papua ,
recently threatened to ³destroy² any Papuans seeking their political rights.
He has been twice indicted for crimes against humanity by the UN-supported
serious crimes court in East Timor . Recently, Indonesian marines killed four
civilians engaged in a protest over a land dispute with the Indonesian navy
in East Java . In addition, human rights defenders in Jakarta are currently
protesting the promotions of two military officers involved in the 1998
forced disappearances of democracy advocates.

This past April, representatives from ETAN and other human rights groups met
with Sudarsono. Many of his comments demonstrated a lack of urgency about
key issues of military reform and the failure to address past human rights
violations. Despite Mr. Sudarsono¹s assertions, shortfalls in the military
budget do not excuse the failure to take decisive action based on Indonesian
and international law.

In the name of counter-terrorism, the TNI has sought to strengthen the
territorial command system, which places soldiers in every Indonesian
community. At the same time, its close association with domestic militias -
which have terrorized civilian populations in East Timor , Aceh, West Papua
and elsewhere - raises serious questions about its anti-terror bona fides.
Under Indonesian law, the police -- not the military -- are to take the lead
in addressing terrorist threats.

Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), chair of the State, Foreign Operations and Related
Programs Subcommittee, is currently leading the effort in the House of
Representatives to emphasize human rights in U.S.-Indonesia relations.

ETAN advocates for democracy, justice and human rights for East Timor and
Indonesia . ETAN calls for an international tribunal to prosecute crimes
against humanity committed in East Timor from 1975 to 1999 and for continued
restrictions on U.S. military assistance to Indonesia until there is genuine
reform of its security forces. For additional background, see www.etan.org.

Highlights of the Bill (H.R. 2764)

The bill would cut the administration's request for Foreign Military Finance
(FMF) funds nearly in half from $15.7 million to $8 million and would delay
the release of $2 million of those funds until the State Department reports
on: steps taken by the Government of Indonesia to prosecute and punish,
in a manner proportional to the crime, members of the Armed Forces who
have been credibly alleged to have committed gross violations of human
rights; cooperation with “civilian judicial authorities and international
efforts to resolve cases of gross violations of human rights in East Timor
and elsewhere"; and military reforms "to increase the transparency and
accountability of their operations and financial management”.

The bill would also delay provision of International Military Education and
Training (IMET) until the Secretary of State reports on steps taken by
Indonesia to deny promotion to and to remove from service military
officers indicted for serious crimes; Indonesian government responses to
East Timor's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in
Timor-Leste; implementation of the 2004 Indonesian law requiring the
Indonesian military to divest itself of businesses; and the removal of
restrictions on travel to the provinces of Papua and West Irian Jaya.

The House Appropriations Committee has also requested from the State
Department a report on the impact of U.S.-provided equipment and training on
human rights violations since 2000 by the police, military and other
security agencies and ³any strategy linking United States military
assistance to Indonesia to progress on human rights.²

The Senate has yet to take up its version of the Foreign Operations
Appropriations Bill. Before becoming law, any differences between the House
and Senate bills must be reconciled.

 

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