Indonesian Govt Must Take Action To Address Papua Violations

INDONESIA: The Indonesian Government Must Take Action To Address
Serious Violations Of The Freedoms Of Assembly And Expression In The
Papuan Provinces

The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) wishes to alert the Human Rights
Council (HRC) to the human rights situation in Indonesia’s Papuan
provinces, notably concerning the freedoms of expression, opinion and
assembly, as these are under consideration during the HRC’s 20th
session. The ALRC warmly welcomes the work of both Special Rapporteurs
working on these issues and hopes that the GoI will cooperate fully with
their mandates, including by enabling country visits without delay and
which include full access to Papua.

The freedoms of expression and assembly are a core battle-ground between
State repression, exercised through abusive prosecutions, violence and
heavy military deployment, and the legitimate aspirations of indigenous
Papuans for peace, security, development and human rights. Human rights
and political activists in Papua are being arrested and detained by the
Indonesian authorities for expressing political views, while
demonstrations are being met with excessive and disproportionate force,
including beatings and even fatal shootings of participants.

The ALRC recalls that, in establishing the Special Procedures mandate on
the freedom of association and assembly in October 2010, the Human
Rights Council reaffirmed the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and
of association; recognizing these freedoms as essential components of
democracy, providing individuals with invaluable opportunities to
express their political opinions; and recognizing further that
exercising the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association
free of restrictions is indispensable to the full enjoyment of these
rights, particularly where individuals may espouse minority or
dissenting religious or political beliefs.

According to London-based NGO TAPOL, which focusses on political
prisoners in Papua, at least 77 Papuans have been detained and charged
with treason or other related charges since 2008. Despite a number of
persons deemed internationally to be political prisoners continuing to
be detained in Papuan, Indonesia’s Minister of Law and Human Rights,
Amir Syamsuddin, told to the media “there is no political prisoner in
Papua,” after a visit to Abepura correctional facility last March.
According to the Minister, those being detained are simply “unlucky
citizens, as they have committed illegal activities.” A similar
statement was delivered to the press in December 2011 by the
Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Djoko
Suyanto.

The political prisoners whom Amir Syamsuddin and Djoko Suyanto labelled
as ‘criminals’ were charged with treason (makar) and other
treason-related crimes under Articles 106, and 110 paragraph (1) of the
Indonesian Penal Code (KUHP). These articles are open to abusive use by
the authorities, notably to punish persons engaging in exercising their
rights to the freedoms of assembly and expression. Article 106 comprises
vague terms enabling the authorities to sentence persons to life
imprisonment - a maximum of twenty years imprisonment - for any attempts
undertaken with the intent of bringing the territory of the state wholly
or partially under foreign domination or to separate parts thereof.
Article 110 (1) allows for a maximum of six years imprisonment for
conspiracy to commit ‘crimes against the security of the state’ under
articles 104 to 108. KUPH Article 160 concerning incitement to use
violence against state officials carries a maximum punishment of six
years imprisonment and is frequently being abused to prosecute human
rights and independence protesters.

The ALRC has documented a number of cases that show a pattern of
repression against persons participating in peaceful demonstrations or
seeking to express their political views, as well as persons working in
favour of human rights. For example, the ALRC condemns the arrests and
shooting of persons participating in the Third Papuan People’s Congress,
which began on October 17, 2011 and lasted for three days. The Congress
was attended by more than 4000 indigenous Papuan participants at the
Taboria oval (Zaccheus Field) in Abepura, Papua. On the final day of
this peaceful assembly, a declaration concerning the right to
self-determination of indigenous Papuans was read out, following which
security personnel started violently dispersing Congress participants.
They beat participants and arrested a number of them, including Forkorus
Yaboisembut, Edison Waromi, August Kraar, Dominikus Sorabut and Selfius
Bobii, who were charged under articles 110 paragraph (1), 106 and 160 of
the KUHP. On March 16, 2012, the Jayapura District Court found them
guilty of makar under article 106 and sentenced them to three years
imprisonment.

The arrests, trials and convictions violate these persons’ human rights,
including the freedom of expression, as they were based on overly vague
provisions that unduly restrict this freedom. The Siracusa Principles on
the Limitation and Derogation of Provisions in the ICCPR as well as the
Human Rights Committee in its concluding observations on Belarus in 1997
have reaffirmed that laws restricting freedom of expression should be
clear and any vague provisions which limit such a right represent
violations of Article 19 paragraph (3) of the ICCPR. Moreover, their
arrest and detention amount to the violation of the right to liberty
which requires states to ensure that the deprivation of liberty is
conducted in accordance with law that is precisely formulated and only
when there are objective and reasonable justifications.

Furthermore, the ALRC has received credible information from KontraS and
other local sources regarding the arrest of fourteen people in Sentani
on May 2, 2012. On that day, a demonstration commemorating the 49 years
of annexation of West Papua by Indonesia was held. Protesters marched to
Sentani where the grave of Theys Hiyo Eluay, a former Papuan leader who
was assassinated by the army in 2001 with impunity, is located. There
they attempted to raise the Morning Star flag, which is a symbol of the
Papuan identity permitted under the 2002 autonomy law, but they were
stopped by the officers of Jayapura District Police, who arrested
fourteen of them. Twelve of these were later released, but the two
others were charged under KUHP Article 106 paragraph (1). In other
instances where individuals have raised the Morning Star flag, armed
soldiers and police officers have attacked their villages. On September
5, 2009, officers burnt 30 houses and killed livestock in Jugum Village,
Bolakme District, local villagers raised the Morning Star Flag and
refused to take it down.

Violations of the freedoms of assembly and expression in Papua are not
restricted to the misuse of articles under the penal code, but also take
place through a wider climate of fear that is created as a result of
acts of violence, including killings. Alongside the arrests of fourteen
people for attempting to raise the Morning Star flag, other protesters
who had participated in the commemoration were shot while on their way
home in the area between Koramil 1701 Jayapura and the Headquarters of
the Indonesian National Military (TNI AD). One of them, Terjoli Weah,
was shot in the stomach and was taken to the nearest hospital, but died
as a result of his wounds. There has been no effective investigation or
suspect named by the police to date.

Such killings of persons who have participated in peacefully
demonstrations have been documented elsewhere. For example, workers of
PT Freeport Indonesia in Timika conducted a strike which began on
September 15, 2011, asking the company to adjust their wages. The
management of the company, with the help of the police, intimidated the
workers. PT Freeport Indonesia later fired the striking workers. On
October 10, 2011, the fired workers came to the office of the company to
protest the arbitrary termination of their employment. Over 1000 workers
participated in the peaceful demonstration, but they were blocked by
officers of the Timika District Police, who opening fire against the
protesters, resulting in the death of Peter W. Ayamiseba and the
injuring of nine other protesters.

Journalists are also under threat and attack in Papua. Ardiansyah
Matra’is, a former journalist of Tabloid Jubi and a local TV station in
Merauke, was found dead on July 30, 2010 in the Maro River, Merauke,
after having received threats and intimidating messages for publishing
videos and articles on illegal logging and land rights issues. Despite
wounds indicating that Matra’is had been subjected to physical violence
before his death, the police claimed he had committed suicide.

The GoI continues to restrict access by foreigners to the Papuan
provinces; they require police travel permits in order to travel outside
of the Papuan capital Jayapura. Special visas are required for foreign
journalists seeking to report from Papua and mobile phone communication
is reportedly monitored by the intelligence services. In 2010, two
French journalists were detained after filming a public rally. During
his visit to Indonesia in February 2009 the German Federal Commissioner
for Human Rights was not able to visit Papua. Cordaid and the ICRC are
also prevented from operating in Papua. German biologist Pieper was shot
at on May 29, 2012 in Papua by unknown persons.

During Indonesia’s Universal Periodic Review on May 23, 2012, a number
of states expressed concern and made recommendations with regard to the
Papuan provinces. France urged the GoI to fully guarantee freedom of
expression and ensure free access for civil society and national
journalists to the Papuan provinces. The United Kingdom noted an
increase in violence in the provinces. Australia recommended that the
GoI uphold freedom of expression, including political expression…for all
its citizens, including by ensuring effective state protection for
minorities. Germany recommended that the GoI ensure that provisions of
the Indonesian Criminal Code, such as articles 106 and 110, are not
misused to restrict the freedom of speech.

While the government of Indonesia accepted the recommendations made
above, the following did not enjoy its support. Japan called on the GoI
to immediately halt reported human rights violations by military and
police officers and address the general climate of impunity in Papua.
The United States of America called for the GoI to end prosecutions
under Articles 106 and 110 of the criminal code for exercising the
internationally protected right of freedom of expression, and
re-evaluate the convictions and sentences of individuals prosecuted for
those actions. Canada called on the GoI to take steps, particularly in
Papua, to increase protection for human rights defenders against
stigmatization, intimidation and attacks and to ensure respect for
freedom of expression and peaceful protest, including through a review
of regulations that can be used to restrict political expression, in
particular article 106 and 110 of the criminal code, and the release of
those detained solely for peaceful political activities.

The fact that the Government chose not to accept recommendations that
are amongst those that are most likely to directly and positively
address these human rights violations, speaks to the government’s
unwillingness to tackle these violations effectively.

Given the above, the ALRC requests the intervention of the Human Rights
Council and its expert mechanisms in order to urge the government of
Indonesia to:

a. Fully cooperate with and invite the Special Rapporteur on the
promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and
expression, as well as the Special Rapporteur on freedom of association
and assembly, to conduct country visits to Indonesia, with full access
being granted to the Papuan provinces in particular. Both of these
mandates have requested visits, and Indonesia’s credibility concerning
its assertions made during the UPR, in which it “reaffirmed its absolute
and total commitment to…respect and promote freedom of expression,” will
be measured by its willingness to take such actions;

b. Revise articles 106, 110 paragraph (1) and 160 of the Penal Code in
accordance with international human rights laws and standards, and
prevent any further abusive use of the law as a tool to target and
punish human rights, the media and independence activists in the Papuan
provinces;

c. Take credible steps to tackle impunity, notably by impartially and
effectively investigating all allegations of human rights violations,
including the excessive use of force by security personnel that has
resulted in the death and injury of protesters as well as activists in
Papua, and by punishing those responsible in civilian courts, in a
transparent manner.

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*/About the ALRC/*/: The Asian Legal Resource Centre is an independent
regional non-governmental organisation holding general consultative
status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It is
the sister organisation of the Asian Human Rights Commission. The Hong
Kong-based group seeks to strengthen and encourage positive action on
legal and human rights issues at the local and national levels
throughout Asia./

ENDS

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