Amnesty International Report 2004 - Indonesia

Covering events from January - December 2003

The human rights situation deteriorated in some areas as the government resorted to increasingly repressive methods against independence movements. Increases in the number of cases of extrajudicial executions, "disappearances", arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence, forced displacement and destruction of property were reported following the declaration of a military emergency to combat the armed independence movement in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) in May. Military operations against both armed and peaceful independence activists in Papua also resulted in human rights violations, including arbitrary detention and torture. Elsewhere, the police employed excessive force against protesters. At least 30 prisoners of conscience were sentenced to terms of imprisonment. Trials of prisoners of conscience and political prisoners did not meet international standards for fair trial and there were reports that some detainees were tortured. Efforts to hold perpetrators to account for human rights violations suffered a major setback as the trials of individuals charged with committing crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (formerly known as East Timor) ended without having delivered either truth or justice.

Background

Indonesia enjoyed a year of relative political and economic stability, but a lack of political will and pervasive corruption inhibited progress in key areas, including reform of the law and the judiciary. The decision to resort to military operations in NAD was regarded as a reflection of the growing confidence of the military and its renewed influence on government policy.

Security legislation

Legislation on Combating Criminal Acts of Terrorism was adopted. AI was concerned that the act of "terrorism" was not adequately defined and that the rights of suspects were not fully guaranteed under the law.

Over 100 people were arrested under the legislation. The majority were alleged members of Jemaah Islamiyah (Islamic Community), an organization which has pledged to use violent means to set up a pan-Islamic state in Southeast Asia and has allegedly been responsible for a number of bomb attacks in Indonesia, including at the Marriot Hotel in Jakarta in August 2003. Those arrested included three men who were sentenced to death for involvement in the bombings in Bali in October 2002 in which over 200 people died.

Others arrested included five senior members of the armed group, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). The five represented GAM in peace negotiations with the government and were arrested in May on their way to talks with the government. All were found guilty of rebellion and acts of "terrorism" and sentenced to between 12 and 15 years' imprisonment. One complained of receiving death threats and suffering ill-treatment in police custody. AI was concerned that their trials may not have been fair.

Other concerns about lack of protection for suspects under this legislation were raised after reports emerged that a number of Islamist activists held under the security legislation had been tortured or ill-treated and that their families were not initially informed of their whereabouts.

Repression of pro-independence movements

A marked deterioration in the human rights situation in NAD followed the imposition of a military state of emergency on 19 May after the collapse of a peace process between the government and GAM. Tight restrictions on access to NAD by international human rights monitors, humanitarian workers and international journalists, as well as intimidation and harassment of local human rights activists and journalists, effectively prevented independent monitoring of the situation. According to official sources, over 1,100 people had been killed by the end of the year, including some 470 civilians. Local human rights organizations claimed that many more civilians were among the dead. Members of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) publicly stated that both government security forces and GAM were responsible for human rights abuses and that they had documented cases of extrajudicial execution – including of children – arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence and "disappearances".

Tens of thousands of people were displaced by the military operations, some by force. There were serious concerns for the security and well-being of internally displaced persons, including those in government-established camps where there were unconfirmed reports of sexual violence by the security forces.

The government claimed that 2,000 members of GAM had surrendered or been captured by the end of the year and several hundred brought to trial. Detainees were denied access to lawyers. There was concern that they were at risk of torture or ill-treatment, apparently routine in military and police custody.

GAM was responsible for human rights abuses, including kidnapping. Over 150 people were alleged to have been abducted by GAM after May, including local government officials and journalists.

Peaceful expressions of support for independence in Papua were prohibited. Several trials of individuals involved in flag-raising ceremonies or other symbolic actions took place. Three people were sentenced to imprisonment for up to two years for participating in a peaceful pro-independence ceremony in Abepura in December 2002. Nine others who participated in a similar ceremony in Manokwari in late 2002 were also sentenced to terms of imprisonment of up to 15 months. Other ceremonies in late 2003 resulted in the arrest of over 40 people, seven of whom were subsequently charged with rebellion.

Komnas HAM reported that seven people were killed during a military operation in Jayawijaya District in April to recover weapons and ammunition allegedly stolen from the military by members of the armed opposition group, the Free Papua Movement (OPM). Two soldiers were killed in the raid. Villagers were allegedly tortured and ill-treated, and houses and other property were destroyed or damaged during the operation. At least 30 people were detained, including human rights activists. One person died in custody, allegedly as a result of torture; others were reported to have suffered injuries. No one was held to account for these human rights violations, but 16 people were found guilty of offences related to the raid and were reportedly sentenced to up to life imprisonment. AI was concerned that their trials may not have been fair.

Prisoners of conscience and unfair trials

Thirty prisoners of conscience were sentenced to terms of imprisonment during the year. Nineteen people were charged under provisions in the Criminal Code that forbid insulting the President or government. The provisions contravene the right to freedom of expression.

Prisoners of conscience included labour and political activists and peaceful supporters of independence in NAD and Papua. Journalists were also put on trial. AI was concerned that trials of journalists represented a serious threat to press freedom in Indonesia.

Prisoners of conscience and political prisoners were convicted after unfair trials. Irregularities included incommunicado detention and denial or restriction of access to lawyers and family members. Cases of torture or ill-treatment of suspects were also reported.

• Six members of the Governing Front of the Poor were arrested after participating in a demonstration in Kendari town, South Sulawesi, in January during which portraits of the President and Vice-President were burned. The six were reported to have been beaten, punched and slapped and had objects thrown at them while in police custody in Kendari. Access to legal representation was restricted. All were found guilty of insulting the President. They were sentenced to four months and 15 days' imprisonment, the time already spent in pre-trial detention. It appeared that there was no investigation into the allegations of torture and ill-treatment, although one police officer allegedly involved in the beatings was reportedly transferred to another police station.

• Two editors of the daily tabloid Rakyat Merdeka were sentenced to suspended prison terms for publishing material deemed insulting to political leaders. Karim Paputungan was found guilty of defamation and sentenced to five months in jail for printing a cartoon considered insulting to a leading politician. Supratman was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for "insulting the President" after printing headlines critical of the government's plans to increase fuel and basic commodity prices.

Human rights defenders at risk

Human rights defenders continued to be at risk, particularly in NAD where human rights organizations were among those publicly accused by the security forces of links to GAM. Two members of human rights organizations in NAD were believed to have been extrajudicially executed and three others "disappeared" during the year. At least 11 human rights activists were briefly detained under the military emergency. A workshop on human rights monitoring organized by Komnas HAM in NAD was broken up by the security forces in October. There was no progress on resolving the cases of 18 other human rights defenders believed to have been extrajudicially executed or who had "disappeared" in NAD since 2000.

Elsewhere charges of defamation were brought against several human rights defenders apparently to discourage them from carrying out their legitimate work.

• Mukhlis Ishak, 27, and Zulfikar, 24, "disappeared" after they were arrested in March by plainclothed men believed to be from a military intelligence unit. The arrest, which was photographed, took place as the men were accompanying villagers demonstrating outside the office of the head of Bireuen District, NAD. Both are members of the Link for Community Development, which assists internally displaced people.

• A defamation suit against Inda Fatinaware, Director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Wahli), was filed by the Police Commander of South Sulawesi Province in October after three farmers were shot dead during land protests against a plantation company in Bulukumba District in July and October. Wahli had issued a press statement which accused the police of responsibility for the killings and called on the local police commander to resign.

Accountability for human rights violations

The verdict in the last of 12 trials relating to the violence in Timor-Leste around the ballot on independence in 1999 was delivered in August. Major General Adam Damiri, former Regional Military Commander for Timor-Leste, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment. He was one of six people found guilty of crimes against humanity but, like the others, he remained free pending the outcome of an appeal against the conviction. He also continued in active service in the military. Twelve others were acquitted in trials that began in 2002. Problems with the earlier trials were not resolved and later trials were also characterized by weak prosecutions that failed to present credible cases in court. The failure to provide effective protection meant that many victims and witnesses from Timor-Leste were unwilling to appear before the court.

Indonesia's reluctance to bring to justice those responsible for the violence in Timor-Leste in 1999 was reinforced by its continued refusal to transfer to Timor-Leste some 280 suspects who live in Indonesia against whom there were indictments issued by the Timor-Leste Prosecutor General. Among them were individuals charged with committing crimes against humanity.

Other landmark trials began in September when 13 military officials, including the current commander of the Special Forces Command (Kopassus), appeared before a Human Rights Court charged in relation to the killing of Muslim protesters in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, in 1984. The trials were ongoing at the end of the year, but shortcomings similar to those that undermined the effectiveness and credibility of the Timor-Leste trials had already emerged, including allegations of intimidation of victims and witnesses.

Seven members of Kopassus were sentenced to between one year's and 42 months' imprisonment by a military tribunal after being found guilty of causing the death of the leader of the Papuan civilian independence movement, Theys H. Eluay, in 2001. The trials were criticized because command responsibility for the killing was not established and because of the light sentences. After the verdict the Army Chief of Staff publicly described the seven as "heroes".

There were a few investigations by the military into alleged human rights violations under the military emergency in NAD. However, these represented a tiny fraction of the total reported cases and the investigations were not considered sufficiently independent or impartial. Ten soldiers were known to have been convicted in military courts, including three soldiers who were sentenced to up to three and a half years' imprisonment for the rape of four women in North Aceh District in June.

The majority of alleged human rights violations were not investigated or, when they were, prosecutions did not follow. In October the US Senate voted to maintain a ban on training Indonesian armed forces because of lack of progress in the investigation into the killing of one Indonesian and two US teachers near the US-owned Freeport Indonesia mine in Mimika District, Papua, in August 2002. It was alleged that the military were involved in the attack.

Death penalty

At least 61 people were believed to be on death row, nine of whom were sentenced during the year. No executions took place.

Lack of judicial independence: report of UN Special Rapporteur

The report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers' visit to Indonesia in July 2002 was published. The report expressed extreme concern about the lack of a culture of judicial independence and of widespread corruption in the judiciary, police, prosecutors' offices and the Office of the Attorney General.