Response to Sidney Jones' argument to apply Indonesia's anti-terrorism law in West Papua

Excerpts from Ed McWilliams responds to Sidney Jones' argument to apply Indonesia's anti-terrorism law in West Papua

"In a December 5, 2012 lecture at Stanford University's International Policy Studies program (revised January 22, 2013), the respected Southeast Asia analyst Sidney Jones discussed the Indonesian government's unwillingness, thus far, to categorize the Papuan "ethno-nationalists/separatists" as "terrorists." 

...

Jones summarily credits recent violent acts in West Papua to the "ethno-nationalists and separatists." This is surprising insofar as Jones is a highly regarded observer of the Indonesian political scene with a deep human rights background. She knows, or should know, that the authors of violence in the Indonesian archipelago -- especially violence with complex motives -- are never so clear cut as her lecture implies. This is especially true of West Papua where police-military rivalries over access to resources and sources of extortion monies is well known. Jones should know also that military, police and intelligence agencies, have long played the role of provocateur, orchestrating acts of violence which advance agendas that are invariably obscure

....

Jones also fails to acknowledge the reality, widely noted in international and local human rights circles, that the Indonesian government has long sought to smear peaceful dissent in West Papua as "separatist." Jakarta, through the aegis of a corrupt court system and often criminal state security forces, has repeatedly employed the "separatist" label to arrest and prosecute or detain peaceful political dissenters, such as those who display the Papuan morning star flag. Courts regularly resort to charges of treason that date to the Dutch colonial era and widely used by the Suharto dictatorship to intimidate dissidents. Jones' call for Indonesia to define "separatism" as "terrorism" would deepen Jakarta's targeting of peaceful dissent and the intimidation of Papuans generally.  

...

Employing the "terrorist" label against "ethno-nationalist and separatist" groups and individuals in West Papua could have direct legal implications for international solidarity movements. In the U.S., groups or individuals who advocate on behalf of groups designated by the U.S. government as "terrorists" are subject to criminal prosecution. 

Indonesia's 'anti-terror" Detachment 88

Read in full here

West Papua Report - January 2012

West Papua Report January 2013

The 105th in a series of monthly reports that focus on developments affecting West Papuans. This series is produced by the non-profit West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) drawing on media accounts, other NGO assessments, and analysis and reporting from sources within West Papua. This report is co-published with the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN). Back issues are posted online at http://www.etan.org/issues/wpapua/default.htm Questions regarding this report can be addressed to Edmund McWilliams at edmcw@msn.com. If you wish to receive the report directly via e-mail, send a note to etan@etan.org. For additional news on West Papua see the reg.westpapua listserv archive or on Twitter.

CONTENTS

This edition's PERSPECTIVE discusses Indonesian presidential aspirant Lt. General (ret) Prabowo dark role in West Papua's past. In the UPDATE section, we review the Indonesian security forces' expanding campaign of violence targeting self-determination advocates associated with the West Papua National Committee (KNPB). We also summarize the implications for human rights of the proposed new "anti-terrorism" law and describe the continuing destruction of pristine forests throughout the Indonesian archipelago. In CHRONICLE: a new Asian Human Rights Commission "alert" about police violence in West Papua, a report by the Alliance of Independent Journalists regarding the rise of threats and violence against journalists, and the Australia West Papua Association Sydney's review of human rights developments in West Papua. This edition also highlights a critique of the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate project (MIFEE) by Indigenous Peoples Organization of Bian Enim.

Read the full issue here


See also West Papua Advocacy Team Urges Unrestricted Visit by UN Special Rapporteur

West Papua Report November 2012: Malign Neglect, Health, Women, Protests Attacked

Perspective: Genocide in West Papua by Malign Neglect
Update

• Indonesian Security Forces Attack Peaceful Political Rallies Across West Papua
• KontraS Says Scores of Violent Acts Have "Engulfed" West Papua
• Military Sweep Operations Again Force Flight of Civilians
• Indonesia Fails to Meet Basic Papuan Health Needs
• The Need to Empower Papuan Women
• Indonesia Seeks to Deny Obligations to Indigenous by Claiming They Don't Exist

Chronicle

• Tapol: "Britain and Indonesia: Too close for comfort?"
• Survival International Condemns UK Plans to Honor Yudhoyono
• CSW: Indonesia Must Address Human Rights Violations
• Amnesty International: End Police Violence against Demonstrators in Papua
• End Violence against Papuan Journalists

Demonstrators protest SBY's visit to London at 10 Downing Street. Photo via Facebook.

Urgent Action: Fears for Papuan activists

TAPOL Urgent Action: Fears for Papuan activists

16 October 2012

Papuan political activists and human rights defenders are living in increasing fear as a result of an intensifying crackdown by Indonesian police, military and intelligence officers against activists, particularly members of the non-violent West Papua National Committee, KNPB. There are concerns that further acts of terror, intimidation, arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings against activists are imminent.

According to reports received by TAPOL, in the early hours of Tuesday 16 October Indonesian intelligence officers raided student dormitories at the University of Cenderawasih (UNCEN) in Waena, Jayapura in an unsuccessful attempt to arrest Fanny Kogoya, a member of the TIKI network of women human rights defenders, and other activists. 

Last week, on 9 October, Simson Yohame, another activist was unlawfully detained and forced by intelligence officers to reveal the whereabouts of Fanny Kogoya and Viktor Yeimo, leader of the KNPB.    

These incidents followed the arrests in late September of eight people in the highland town of Wamena after police targeted homes and offices of KNPB members.

The targeting of KNPB activists appears to have intensified after the killing of the KNPB leader Mako Tabuni, on 14 June 2012. Officers of Indonesia's counter-terrorism unit, Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88), funded and trained by Australia, the US and the UK, are thought to have been involved in the killing of Mako Tabuni and the arrest of the KNPB members in Wamena. 

Please call or write to the authorities urging them to:

• End the campaign of terror, intimidation and violence against human rights defenders and political activists, particularly members of KNPB
• Guarantee the safety of Fanny Kogoya, Viktor Yeimo, and others who have been targeted. 
• End the deployment of Densus 88 to Papua, investigate all allegations of human rights violations by Densus 88 officers and other security forces personnel and bring those responsible to justice.

Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
President of Republic of Indonesia
Istana Negara
Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara
Jakarta Pusat 10010 Indonesia
Tel: +62 21 386 3777
Fax: +62 21 344 2223
E-mail: presiden@ri.go.id

Inspector General Tito Karnavian
Papua Police Chief (Kapolda)
Jl. Samratulangi No. 8 Jayapura,
Papua, Indonesia
Tel: +62 811 161 777
Fax: +62 967 531717 

-----------------------

West Papua Report - August 2012

Read the full report here

SUMMARY

Indonesian security forces have detained Papuans attempting to raise funds for medical care for Papuan political prisoners. Indonesia has long fallen short of its international obligations to provide medical care for prisoners. Meanwhile, private efforts to raise funds for medical care for Papuan political prisoner Filep Karma are progressing well. Australian researchers have noted evidence of expanding operations by Indonesia's notorious Detachment 88 which is heavily funded by the U.S. and Australian governments. An observer is raising questions about the impact of international solidarity movements aimed at helping Papuans, contending that the involvement of western-based organizations in the solidarity movement may instigate Jakarta's security approach in West Papua. WPAT invites comment on this argument. A number of international groups named in a list of OPM supporters have issued a statement rejecting the Indonesian charges, challenging the government's strategy of seeking "to blame others for problems created by the Indonesian government's and security forces' own policies and actions." An Indonesian lawmaker has charged Freeport with "arrogance" as negotiations between the U.S. mining giant and the Indonesian government fail. WPAT notes the larger tragedy that Papuans have never played a significant role in such negotiations over the exploitation of Papuan natural resources. The Asian Human Rights Commission has published an excellent article on the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE).

Obama's Potemkin Visit to Jakarta

Ed McWilliams

Published in December 17 issue of Arena, Australia

by Edmund McWilliams

In early November President Obama indulged himself with a nostalgic visit to the place he called home for four years of his youth. He charmed ordinary Indonesians with formal and informal remarks drawn from recollections of Indonesia of four decades ago. More troublingly, President Obama also praised Indonesians in ways that betrayed a broad ignorance of the ugly reality faced by many in this archipelago today.

Obama made much of the "tolerance" that Indonesian (and US) officials contend the post-Suharto Indonesian governments have fostered within Indonesian society. "Here can be found the ability to bridge divides of race and regions and religions", he said. He described Indonesia as a "country that has figured out how to create a genuine democracy despite great diversity". Obama also commended the triumph of that democracy: "Indonesia has charted its own course through an extraordinary democratic transformation from the rule of an iron fist to the rule of the people". While President Obama can be forgiven a bit of dewy-eyed reminiscing, his false depictions of Indonesia today, presumably shaped by his advisers, are a dangerously unstable basis for US policy formulation.

The Indonesia Obama chose not to see is one of significant social tensions often aggravated by a government and especially a security force which stoke these tensions for political and economic gain. The democratic progress of the last ten years, moreover, has been a victory for the Indonesian people who struggled against a brutal, corrupt military and an unaccountable police system that is a threat to further democratic progress. The real Indonesia was reflected in the interviews I conducted with Indonesians in Jakarta who were not invited to the major events celebrating the US President's brief return.

An activist from the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam described the ongoing assaults targeting that group's several hundred thousand adherents. In recent years mobs have destroyed twenty-seven Ahmadiyya mosques, most recently in the province of Riau on September 27. A video clip of a mosque's destruction shows a mob almost casually attacking the building, eventually destroying its central pillars and causing the massive roof to collapse. At one point a uniformed Indonesian police officer leisurely walks through the video frame, seemingly oblivious to the ongoing violence. Government complicity in this persecution extends beyond security force failure to take action. Indonesian Minister for Religious Affairs Suryadhama Ali recently told the media that the solution to the ongoing strife between the Ahmadiyya and the more traditional Muslims was the banning of the Ahmadiyya sect. His recommendation, which has drawn no rebuke from Indonesian President Yudhoyono, only encourages further thug violence targeting the Ahmadiyya and a continued failure of the security forces to rein in the attackers.

State condoned and executed violence is especially apparent in West Papua, where generations of Papuans have faced extraordinary brutality since the coerced annexation of the land over four decades ago. Tens of thousands of Papuans have been killed by security forces while the surviving Papuan population has been marginalized by government-organized migration of non-Papuans to West Papua. The systematic brutalizing of the Papuans, described in recent testimony before a US House subcommittee as "creeping genocide", was revealed most recently by release of secret Indonesian military documents. These documents, which surfaced during the Obama visit on the blog of investigative journalist Alan Nairn, show that Indonesian special forces (Kopassus) targeted leading church and other civil society and government leaders for intelligence collection, intimidation and worse. The importance of these documents lies in their revelation that criminal human rights abuse by the special forces targeting Papuans is not simply a matter of individual security personnel operating outside regulations as is regularly claimed by the Indonesian government and US officials. Rather, the documents make clear that the beating and torture of individual Papuans constitutes a military policy that ignores internationally recognized civil and political rights and Indonesian law. The documents together constittute a doctrine that has been funded and implemented, requiring approval at senior level and thereby implicating senior military leaders.

President Obama meets with President Yudhoyono at the Istana Merdeka State Palace Complex in Jakarta, Nov. 9, 2010.
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Two weeks before Obama's arrival in Jakarta, other indisputable evidence of security force brutality in West Papua surfaced. Video footage of the torture of two Papuans and the beating of villagers by security forces shocked the international community. While the beating was perpetrated by regular military personnel (Kontras), it remains unclear what forces carried out the torture. Possible culprits include the national police mobile brigade (Brimob) and the US and Australian sponsored "Detachment 88". Detachment 88, purportedly an anti-terror unit, was involved in the December 2009 murder of Papuan rebel figure Kelly Kwalik, who bled to death from a leg wound while in the organisation's custody (see Carmel Budiardjo's article in Arena Magazine no. 106). NGOs and journalists have reliably reported Detachment 88's use of torture in Maluku, Poso and Aceh. It is also possible that the torturers in the video were from either the civilian or military intelligence agencies, both of which operate widely in West Papua. President Obama's silence on these breaking stories disappointed but did not surprise human rights advocates in Indonesia.

The Obama administration, like its predecessors, has been reluctant to publicly acknowledge either ongoing security force abuses in West Papua or these forces' unaccountability. The Indonesian government was clearly troubled by the surfacing of the torture videos on the eve of President Obama's and Prime Minister Gillard's visits. President Yudhoyono convened his senior ministers, and a government spokesperson assured there would be a prompt military investigation. Calls by Papuans and other human rights advocates for an independent investigation were ignored. On November 5 army personnel faced a judge in Jayapura; senior military officials told the media that the tribunal was convened to hold the perpetrators of the video abuses accountable. In a classic bait and switch, the military produced for trial not those responsible for the torture but rather the troops depicted beating villagers. The identity of the torturers remains unknown. In one respect, it appears the government demonstrated both alacrity and sophistication in responding to the surfacing of the torture videos. Within days of the videos appearing on the internet, five major NGOs who carried the footage on their websites suffered simultaneous cyber attacks. Analysts assessed that the coordinated attack could only have been the work of a government, or government agencies with substantial resources. US officials have yet to comment on either the bait and switch trial or the cyber attack.

President Obama's limited travel within Jakarta was carefully crafted to obscure a reality that his public comments carefully ignored. He did not see a march by thousands of labor supporters who were protesting new proposed labor legislation that would impede workers' right to organize, to obtain insurance or to press for a minimum wage. Nor did he see the extraordinary wealth gap between rich and poor Indonesians. While he marveled at the gleaming skyscrapers that dominate the Jakarta landscape, he did not see the filthy hovels that crowd beneath them and along the city's canals, where millions of Indonesians survive without access to adequate food, health care or education. Notwithstanding the manifest non-egalitarian nature of Indonesia's economy, Obama congratulated the nation's leaders that in Indonesia "development and democracy reinforce one another". In reality, development continues to be at the expense of democratization, much as it was during the three decades of Suharto dictatorship. Indonesian human rights advocates and journalists describe an endemic atmosphere of intimidation enforced by security forces which collude with major domestic and international firms bent on "development" of the archipelago's vast natural resources and enormous labor pool. Those who report on corrupt dealings or the destruction of the environment are subjected to physical or threatened abuse targeting them and their families. A journalist in Papua who reported critically on plans for a massive agriculture plantation that will dispossess local people was found murdered earlier this summer. Human rights advocates who reveal security force brutality suffer similar threats, and both often fall victim to legal suits which employ Indonesia's notoriously corrupt judicial system as a weapon in service of commercial and security forces interests. Usman Hamid, a prominent human rights advocate and former director of the key human rights advocacy group Kontras, is facing a legal suit alleging defamation. The false charge arose as a result of his determined pursuit of justice in the murder of his predecessor at Kontras, the renowned Munir Said Talib.

Ignoring the reality of security forces that operate brutally and without accountability before the law, the Obama administration is expanding financial, equipment and training assistance to those forces. After a decade of withholding assistance to the Indonesian special forces, the Obama administration announced in July that it was resuming collaboration with the organization, notwithstanding its repression of Papuans and lengthy record of human rights abuse throughout the archipelago. The administration is also continuing assistance to Detachment 88, which has been credibly accused by human rights groups and the media of torture, beatings and kidnappings.

The US government's willingness to co-operate with security forces that continue to commit human rights abuses, operate illegally and remain unaccountable was enshrined in the "comprehensive partnership" signed by Obama and Yudhoyono. US support for security forces that threaten human rights and democratic development is born of blindness to the reality of current day Indonesia. President Obama's brief visit only reinforced a deliberate misperception by US policy makers of Indonesia's complex and growing challenges.

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West Papua Advocacy Team: Open Letter to President Obama on The Eve of His Visit to Indonesia

November 4, 2010

Dear President Obama,

The West Papua Advocacy Team welcomes your upcoming visit to Indonesia as an opportunity to deepen U.S.-Indonesia ties and to encourage further democratic progress in Indonesia. This progress has been impressive in the decade since the overthrow of the Suharto dictatorship and has facilitated the expansion of U.S. cooperation with this important nation.

Critical to Indonesia's democratization is the expansion of respect for human rights. However, respect for human rights -- and democratic progress more generally -- continue to face threats from security forces that continue to evade full civilian control and remain largely unaccountable before Indonesia's flawed judicial system.

However, respect for human rights -- and democratic progress more generally -- continue to face threats from security forces that continue to evade full civilian control and remain largely unaccountable before Indonesia's flawed judicial system.

The United States maintains significant influence with Indonesian military, due in large measure to the Indonesian military's long-standing desire for U.S. training and equipment.  It is imperative that your administration employ this influence as leverage to promote the full subordination of the Indonesian military to civilian control and accountability before the law. The recent decision to renew contact with the notorious Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus) and continued U.S. support for Detachment 88 ignore numerous credible reports of human rights abuse and unaccountability before the law by both organizations.
This policy of support for Indonesian forces acting criminally and with impunity sabotages the courageous efforts by Indonesian NGOs and citizens, who often face intimidation as they work to secure fundamental reform of all the Indonesian security forces.

Nowhere in the Indonesian archipelago is military insubordination, corruption, abusive behavior and unaccountability more on display than in West Papua, where the military continues to operate in a manner that reflects the rules and practices fostered under the Suharto dictatorship. Papuan human rights activists face  intimidation, arrest, torture and extra-judicial execution.

Recent video evidence of Indonesian security force employment of torture targeted against Papuan civilians, continued security force involvement in illegal activities including unlicensed logging, prostitution and extortion, reveal rogue state forces bent on repression and the plundering of Papuan resources.

Recently, the international community has been shocked by graphic video footage of Indonesian security personnel torturing Papuan civilians. Less than ten days before your scheduled arrival in Jakarta a cyber attack was launched against international websites that carried the video. The resources required for such an attack indicate that elements within the Indonesian government were behind it. This is in line with determined Indonesian government efforts to prevent the international community from monitoring developments in West Papua.

Also in recent weeks, Indonesian security forces destroyed the Papuan village of Bigiragi. For decades, especially in the Puncak Jaya region, security force "sweeping operations" have driven villagers into the surrounding mountains and forests where hundreds have died due to lack of access to food, medical care and adequate shelter. Security force refusal to allow humanitarian relief to these displaced civilians has exacerbated their plight.

WPAT: Torture video reveals "Indonesia's Abu Ghraib" on eve of Obama visit

UPDATE: Interview with Ed McWilliams on Radio Australia's Connect Asia program

Contact: Ed McWilliams (WPAT) +1-575-648-2078

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 to offer graphic footage of Indonesian security force torture of Papuans. In it, a Papuan man is held to the ground while a hot stick, still smoldering from a fire, is held against his genitals. A plastic bag is wrapped around his head several times, a rifle held against him. Another man has a large knife held against him while he pleads: "I'm just an ordinary civilian, please..." One of his interrogators responds: "I'll cut your throat... Do not lie, I will kill you! Burn the penis!" The video appears to have been taken on the cell phone of one interrogator.

Still from video via Sydney Morning Herald

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  targeting its own people and the people of East Timor for decades. President Bill Clinton acknowledged this when East Timor gained its independence in 2002, saying : "I don't believe America or any of the other countries were sufficiently sensitive in the beginning and for a long time, a long time before 1999, going all the way back to the '70s, to the suffering of the people of East Timor." It was the suffering of the people of East Timor that led to Congress deciding tosuspend military cooperation with Indonesia.

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 through the IMET program, and support through the Anti-Terror Assistance Program to the notorious Detachment 88 of the Indonesian National Police, credibly accused of torture and other rights violations. It has resumed cooperation with the Indonesian special forces (Kopassus) notwithstanding that unit's  decades-old record of human rights abuse including recent, credible accounts of brutality targeting Papuan civilians.  In so doing the Obama Administration, like its predecessors, has wittingly or unwittingly made itself complicit in the repression now underway in West Papua.

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

This releasee is also posted on ETAN's website at  http://etan.org/news/2010/10video.htm

see also

• West Papua Report
  
• House of Representatives: Crimes Against Humanity: When Will Indonesia's Military Be Held Accountable for Deliberate and Systematic Abuses in West Papua
• ETAN: Guide to U.S. Security Assistance to Indonesia and East Timor
• ETAN/WPAT: Suspend Training and Funding of Indonesian Police Unit Detachment 88
• ETAN Condemns U.S. Plan to Get Back in Bed with Indonesia's Kopassus Killers
• WPAT: Statement Regarding the U.S. Government's Decision to Resume Cooperation with Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus)
• Background on Kopassus and Brimob

Call to Suspend Training and Funding of Indonesian Police Unit Detachment 88

Contact: John M. Miller (ETAN) +1-718-596-7668

Ed McWilliams (WPAT) +1-575-648-2078

September 29, 2010 - The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) and West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) today urged that the U.S. government to suspend all funding and training of Indonesia's Detachment 88 police unit pending review of charges leveled against the unit for systemic human rights violations, including use of torture.

"U.S. funding and training should not go to a security force that has repeatedly and credibly been charged with human rights violations including torture of those engaged in peaceful dissent," said WPAT's Ed McWilliams.

"Indonesian authorities have consistently failed to prosecute Detachment 88 personnel for these widely reported abuses," he added.

"Detachment 88 has been funded and trained by the U.S. from its inception. With that history, how can anyone believe that U.S. assistance will improve the human rights behavior of other units, like Kopassus," said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of ETAN.

"While the reported withdrawal of Detachment 88 from the province of Maluku will end its persecution of peaceful protesters there, we are concerned that the unit will continue to operate in West Papua," said McWilliams. "We urge the Indonesian government to stop treating pro-independence activists as terrorists and to deal with the underlying issues."

Indonesian and international non-governmental organizations and media regularly report on the counter-terrorism police unit's brutal methods, including torture against nonviolent protesters and suspects.

In addition to suspending assistance to Detachment 88, ETAN and WPAT urge:

a) that the U.S. Government urge the Indonesian government to investigate credible charges of human rights violations and other illegal activity by Detachment 88 personnel and to prosecute these personnel as necessary;

b) that the U.S. Government review its own procedures for providing funding to foreign security units to ensure that in the future all credible reports of human rights violations and other illegal activity by these units are promptly and thoroughly investigated by U.S. officials to ensure that U.S. funds and other forms of assistance are not used to support such activities;

c) that the U.S. Government review its "vetting" procedures which is supposed to ensure that no personnel involved in human rights violations or other illegal activity are members of units receiving U.S. government assistance.

Background

Detachment 88 (Densus 88) was created by the Indonesian government statement in 2003 with the assistance and encouragement of the U.S. Government. The U.S. State Department's Diplomatic Security Services used funds appropriated under the Anti-Terror Assistance Program to support the initiative, which was in response to the 2002 Bali bombings. In addition to providing funding for the unit, the U.S. government has trained its personnel, drawing on the resources of various agencies.

Though the unit has drawn praise for its successful actions against small numbers of militants, it has also gained a reputation for brutality in its more than 500 arrests, including allegations of torture.

The unit has increasingly been used by the Indonesian government in its suppression of separatist activities around the country. In 2007, Detachment 88 members arrested and tortured 22 civilians after they unfurled the Maluku independence flag in front of Indonesia's President. Yusuf Sipakoly, who in 2007 was sentenced to 12 years for possessing a "separatist flag" recently died in prison. He had told the Sydney Morning Herald: "I was tied with nylon [by the Detachment 88 officers] and my head was covered with a bucket," he said. "Then they started beating me until I urinated in my underwear..."


The Herald also reported that the United States had secretly banned some Detachment 88 members in Maluku from receiving assistance in May 2008 because of concerns over human rights violations. However, abuses continued. In August 2010, 12 activists were allegedly detained and tortured at the hands of Detachment 88 members. The activists had planned to "to float dozens of the distinctive rainbow flags attached to helium-filled balloons during Ambon's Sail Banda regatta" which Indonesias President planned to attend. Following an outcry, the unit was disbanded in Maluku in September, but the unit's commander Brig. General Tito Karnavian has said that the unit will stay in Papua.

In April 2010, members of Detachment 88 detained 28 West Papuan activists for organizing a peaceful demonstration in Manokwari. Some of these detainees were sentenced to three and three and a half years in prison for talking about freedom and for holding a Morning Star Flag. In December 2009, Detachment 88 personnel shot Papuan independence figure Kelly Kwalik, allowing him to bleed to death without medical intervention. On October 18, 2007, the prominent Papuan human rights lawyer Iwanggin Sabar Olif was arrested by Detachment 88 on charges of "incitement of hatred and rebellion," after forwarding a text message to colleagues criticizing the Indonesian President and military. The U.S. reportedly provided Detachment 88 with the technical capacity and other support to intercept SMS and possibly other messages among civilians.

The U.S. government has paid for training costs, instructors' salaries, weapons and wire tapping devices. For example, as of late 2005 Washington had provided at least $12 million for Detachment 88 for training an initial 400 officers. Australia has also provided substantial aid to the unit. In 2004, Australia pledged US$35 million over five years for Indonesia to build a training center.

One Indonesian legislator has warned that "We have to be really careful about [Detachment 88] because we don't want anyone to turn the clock back to the old days when Kopassus got training in the U.S. and tortured their own people when they're back home.''

The Indonesian government has recently announced the creation of an umbrella organization, the National Antiterrorism Agency (BNPT), to coordinate the actions of the National Police, especially Detachment 88, the Indonesian military, the State Intelligence Agency, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs. There are concerns that this new agency's scope will broaden to target to not just terrorism suspects but "separatist" activists as well, as well as deepen the military's controversial internal security role.

The National Police have now put Detachment 88 under direct control of the National Police chief, General Bambang Hendarso Danuri. Over the weekend Danuri said "Please understand that our officers, particularly those of Densus 88, have never violated human rights in the course of their duty."

ETAN was formed in 1991 to advocate for self-determination for occupied East Timor. The U.S.-based organization continues to advocate for democracy, justice and human rights for Timor-Leste and Indonesia. For more information, see ETAN's web site: http://www.etan.org. The West Papua Advocacy Team produces the monthly West Papua Report.

May 2010 West Papua Report

The May 2010 West Papua Report, the 72nd in a series of monthly reports that focus on developments affecting Papuans is now out. The series is produced by the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) and co-published with the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN). Back issues are posted online at http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/default.htm. The summary is below, full issue is here.
 

Summary

Indonesia's Special Forces (Kopassus) and U.S.-backed Detachment 88 troops joined in an assault on peaceful demonstrators in Manokwari. It is unclear if any of those initial detained remain in custody. The Jakarta Post reports chronic malnutrition among Amungme and Kamoro children who live in the shadow of the massive Freeport McMoran copper and gold mine. A prominent leader of PDI-P has called for creation of truth and reconciliation commissions for Aceh and West Papua. Pressure appears to be building for a military response to dissent in West Papua, including the targeting of NGOs. Leading human rights organizations and churches have called for an end to mistreatment of political prisoners in West Papua and an investigation of security force killing of activists. Indonesian intelligence and special forces are attempting to create a false front organization in Biak to replace a legitimate one established by the local people.