Thursday, February 21, 2013

1) Australia concerned by soldiers' killings in Papua



1) Australia concerned by soldiers' killings in Papua
2) Gunmen attack military aircraft in Indonesian Papua
3) Army Helicopter Attacked on its Way to Evacuate Dead Soldiers in Papua
4) Police Accused of Torturing 7 in Papua
5) INDONESIA: Torture victims in Papua speak out on how the police had ill-treated them



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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-22/australia-concerned-by-soldiers-killings-in-papua/4534800

1) Australia concerned by soldiers' killings in Papua

By Indonesia correspondent George Roberts
Posted 1 hour 3 minutes ago
PHOTO: The Morning Star Flag is raised in Indonesia's restive province of Papua. (File photo) (AFP)
RELATED STORY: Gunmen kill eight soldiers in Indonesia's Papua
MAP: Papua
The Australian Government has sent condolences to the families of eight Indonesian soldiers killed by separatists in the country's Papua region yesterday.
Indonesia's chief security minister Djoko Suyanto says two different groups are thought to be responsible for the attacks.
A gunman in the Puncak Jaya region killed one soldier and Mr Djoko says intelligence suggests the shooter was part of a group led by a man called Goliat Tabuni.
In another attack, seven soldiers were killed at the Sinak Military Resort Command.
Australia's Ambassador to Indonesia, Greg Moriarty, has released a statement expressing deep concern, adding the violence is detrimental for the people of Papua and West Papua.
Mr Moriarty also conveyed condolences to the victims' families on behalf of Australia.




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2) Gunmen attack military aircraft in Indonesian Papua

22 FEB 2013, 4:58 PM   -   SOURCE: AFP


Gunmen opened fire Friday on a military helicopter in Indonesia's restive Papua region as it tried to retrieve the bodies of soldiers killed in an earlier attack, a military official said.
Gunmen opened fire Friday on a military helicopter in Indonesia's restive Papua region as it tried to retrieve the bodies of soldiers killed in an earlier attack, a military official said.
  
"A Puma SA-330 military helicopter was shot by gunmen at 08:15am local time (2315 GMT Thursday) as it landed in Sinak," Jayapura city military airbase chief Diah Yudhanardi told AFP.
  
The helicopter was forced to return to Jayapura without picking up the seven soldiers shot dead in Sinak on Thursday, he added.
  
"A technician on board suffered a light shrapnel wound to his left hand, while the two others, pilot and co-pilot were all fine," Yudhanardi said.
  
"We're still trying to arrange another helicopter to fly back later today to Sinak to transport the seven bodies," he added.
  
The seven were killed when armed attackers opened fire at nine soldiers walking to an airport in Sinak at around 10:30am (0130 GMT) on Thursday.
  
The attack came an hour after an armed group shot at a military post in Tingginambut village some 60 kilometres (37 miles) away, killing one soldier.
  
His body was successfully flown to Jayapura on Friday morning.
  
National police spokesman Agus Riyanto said four civilians had also been killed in the Sinak attack, raising the total death toll to 12.
  
Officials suspect the shootings in the mountainous district of Puncak Jaya, a known hideout for armed separatists, were carried out by the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM).
  
Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said he and other officials planned to meet the president Friday to discuss security in the region.
  
Violence occasionally erupts in Papua -- the western half of New Guinea island in Indonesia's extreme east -- where poorly-armed separatists have for decades fought a low-level insurgency on behalf of the mostly ethnic Melanesian population.
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3) Army Helicopter Attacked on its Way to Evacuate Dead Soldiers in Papua
Farouk Arnaz | February 22, 2013
A military helicopter that was on its way to evacuate the remains of the eight soldiers who were shot dead in Papua's Puncak Jaya district, was forced to return back to its base after an armed group attacked them in the air on Friday morning. 

The suspected separatists attacked the helicopter at 8:25 a.m., just 10 minutes after the aircraft left its base in Mulia to travel to Sinak to pick up the bodies. 

Antaranews.com said that three soldiers — identified as First Lieut. Amang, Maj. Asep and Capt. Tata — were injured in the attack and were taken to a hospital in Mulia. 

Julian Aldrin Pasha, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's spokesman, told Antaranews.com on Thursday that the president would discuss the latest incidents in Papua in a limited cabinet meeting on Friday afternoon. 

“I have reported to the president and he has ordered to chase and arrest the attackers,” said Indonesian military chief Admiral Agus Suhartono, as quoted by Antaranews.com in a press conference in Malang, East Java on Thursday night.

Agus said that he had lost eight of his best soldiers in the attack. 

“The soldiers are ready and will keep on chasing [the perpetrators] in coordination with the police,” Agus said.

Meanwhile, the National Police on Friday said they had made no plans to send reinforcements to Papua. 

"In principle, we are ready but there is yet no order to reinforce personnel coming from the assistant for operation," said Insp. Gen. Unggung Cahyono, who heads the National Police mobile brigade (Brimob) unit.

Insp. Gen. Badrodin Haiti, the National Police assistant for operations, said the area already had sufficient security personnel to look after the area, adding that there was already one Brimob unit working in the district.

"There is already one company of men there, or about 100-150 personnel,” Badrodin explained. “They [Brimob unit] are already there as part of the security framework for the Papua regional elections and now they are assisting in hunting down the assailants.”

Eight soldiers were shot dead and two more were wounded in two separate incidents among the mountains of the Puncak Jaya district, a known hideout for rebels where attacks on police and soldiers are common.

Government minister Djoko Suyanto late on Thursday said the assailants were members of both the Goliat Tabuni and Murib groups, which he accused of targeting police and military officers in the past.

In the day’s violence, the soldiers were shot while on patrol and didn’t have a chance to shoot back, said Djoko, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs. “It was a total ambush,” he said. “[This] was not a gun battle where both sides fired shots.”

Djoko ordered the Papua Police and the Cendrawasih Military Command to mobilize troops to capture those responsible. He said the recent attacks could disrupt efforts to settle ongoing tensions in Papua, the site of an ongoing campaign for autonomy.

In the day’s first attack, an armed group shot at the Tingginambut military post in Puncak Jaya, killing one solider and wounding another, said Lieut. Col. Jansen Simanjuntak, a Papua province military spokesman. He said that First Private Wahyu Wibowo died instantly when he was shot in the chest, while First Lt. Reza was wounded.

An hour later, a group of soldiers traveling from Sinak in Puncak Jaya to the Ilaga Air Base three kilometers away were attacked by an armed group, killing four officers.

The four soldiers killed were identified as First Sergeant M. Udin, First Sergeant Frans, First Sergeant Ramadhan and First Private Mustofa.

Finally, three soldiers — identified as Private Edi, Private Jojo and Private Idris — were killed when they were attacked elsewhere in Puncak Jaya district.

(Updated at 12:29 p.m)


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4) Police Accused of Torturing 7 in Papua
Banjir Ambarita | February 22, 2013
Police officers have been accused of torturing seven civilians in Papua when they tried to get information regarding pro-independence activists Seby Sambon and Terianus Soto. 

The incident allegedly took place last Friday at the Depapre and Jayapura police stations. 

Three civilians — identified only as Daniel, Arsel and Eneko — claimed that a Depapre officer hit them in the face repeatedly with his shoes, injuring their mouths, noses and foreheads. One of the three has had hearing problems due to the torture, they said. Four other civilians claimed officers at the Jayapura station gave them electric shocks. 

Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. I Gede Sumerta Jaya denied the allegations of torture. 

“It’s true that they were apprehended because they allegedly knew the whereabouts of two pro-independence Papua activists. They were even about to hold a secret meeting but the was no torture during the arrest,” Sumerta said. 

Sumerta said that the police had worked professionally and notified the families of the seven people before questioning them

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5) INDONESIA: Torture victims in Papua speak out on how the police had ill-treated them

  
February 22, 2013
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(Hong Kong/Jakarta, February 22, 2013) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has released the video of interview with two Papuans who were tortured by theIndonesian Police. The video is available on AHRC's YouTube Channel onhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMI1HouWMv4.

On the video which was originally recorded and disseminated by a local activist, Eneko Pahabol and Obed Bahabol told how they were arrested and tortured by the police on 15 February 2013 on the false allegation of being related with two pro-independence activists, Terianus Satto and Sebby Sambom. Five other Papuans named Daniel Gobay, Arsel Kobak, Yosafat Satto, Salim Yaru, and Matan Klembiap experienced the same abuse on the same day for the same allegation.

"At the police station we were ordered to take off our clothes," Obed testified in the video. He continued, "A police officer forced his gun in my mouth and face. He also pushed it into my ears and nose. He jammed his gun into my mouth that one of my teeth was broken." In addition to it, Obed was beaten by the police who kept asking whether he knew anything regarding the whereabouts of Sebby Sambom and Terianus Satto.

Eneko was having similar experience. He was repeatedly beaten and kicked by the police until he was unconscious. "They stabbed my head with a rattan stick, a sharp one, that now I have indentations on my head," he mentioned in the interview. "They electrocuted me in my legs, and then my whole body".

As turned out later, none of those arrested and tortured had any connections with Sebby Sambom or Terianus Satto that the police released Eneko, Obed, Arsel, Yosafat and Salim without any charge on the next day. The latest information the AHRC received reveals that Daniel and Matan are still being detained yet they are charged with provision on bladed articles possession -- totally unrelated with the police's initial unreasonable allegation.

"Indonesian authorities should take this matter seriously. The absence of impartial investigation and proportionate punishment for those who perpetrated the abuse will only deepen the resentment of Papuans towards the government thus will only aggravate the tense situation in the region," said Bijo Francis, AHRC's Executive Director.

The AHRC has written to relevant Indonesian authorities urging for their intervention in this case yet there have been no response received by the organisation as of today. It has also separately sent a submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and highlighted that torture is still widely practised despite the Rapporteur's criticism and recommendation in his report onIndonesia in 2008.

For further details on the case, see AHRC's urgent appeal "INDONESIA: Seven Papuans are arrested and tortured on false allegations of having a relationship with pro-independence activists".
Document Type :
Press Release
Document ID :
AHRC-PRL-005-2013
Countries :
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