INDONESIA: Three indigenous Papuans arbitrarily arrested, tortured and currently waiting for an uncertain justice

INDONESIA: Three indigenous Papuans arbitrarily arrested, tortured and currently waiting for an uncertain justice


ISSUES: Fair trial, arbitrary arrest, torture, remedy
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Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a local network in Papua regarding the arbitrary arrest and torture of three indigenous Papuans, namely ElieserAwom (26), Yafeth Awom (18) dan Soleman Yom (24). They were arrested by four police officers in plain clothes at 11 pm in Deplat, Base-G Jayapura. The police officers drove the three men in a silver car in the direction of West Sentani. On the way they were tortured, intimidated and forced to admit that they had stolen a motorcycle.

CASE NARRATIVE:

On 27 Augsut 2015, four police officers in plain clothes arbitrarily arrested three Papuan men named Elieser Awom (26), Yafeth Awom (18) dan SolemanYom (24) in Deplat, near the Base G Beach in Jayapura, Papua province. The arrest was not carried out in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure (KUHAP), because they had no arrest warrant or clear evidence of the involvement of the victims in a criminal offence.

At 11 am, Yafeth, Elieser and Soleman were walking from the mini market near BLK (Work Training Center) to their homes. On the way, a silver Toyota Avansa was seen parked nearby. As the three men were walking, four police officers approached them and forced them to enter their car. They did not produce an arrest warrant letter. One of the police officers wore the trousers of his police uniform (celana Dinas) and carried a gun while the other officers wore civilian clothing and carried a knife and a revolver.

Inside the car the police officers beat the victims, tortured them with a lighted cigarette and forced them to confess their involvment in a motorcycle theft.

Their eyes were blinded by a flash light so that none of the victims could see properly. One police officer intimidated the victims by threatening to kill them. Elieser stated one police officer tried to stab him in the eye, but failed because he avoided the knife. This led to a cut at the side of his eye. Another officer pushed a gun inside Yafeth Awom’s mouth.

According to the victims all police officers had consumed alcoholic drinks before and during the acts of torture. The victims stated that the car first drove in the direction of Koya, passing the Yotefa Central Market. They were accompanied by a police patrol car from the Papuan Regional Police (POLDA PAPUA). After the police officers stopped their vehicles, they talked to each other. As a result, the car with the victims changed direction, continuing to drive in the direction of West Sentani.

After arriving in West Sentani, Yafeth Awom was forced to leave the car, put his knee on the ground and told to choose between a gun and knife for his execution. When a car passed on a nearby road, Yafeth was asked to stand up and pretend to have a conversation with the police officer to cover up the real situation. Then Yafeth was again forced to kneel down. The officer shot a bullet close to Yafet’s ear, asking “is the sound loud enough?” Yafet then had to go back into the car.

Subsequently, Elieser Awom and Soleman Yom were forced to get out of the car and ordered to run while holding hands. While they were running, the police officers fired at them several times but missed because the victims ran in a zig-zag pattern to avoid the bullets.

Both men were able to escape by jumping down a nearby cliff and hiding in a sago forest. Yafeth was brought to a police officer' s house at Dok 5 at approximately 5 am where he was forced to squat down in front of the house. Subsequently Yafeth was arrested at the Jayapura District Police Office in Doyo Baru.

Yafeth reported that the police officers repeatedly beat him during custody using a cable and a motor cycle helmet. After the beatings Yafeth was brought to Bhayangkara Police Hospital for medical treatment and given 10.000 IDR, as transportation fees to go back to Deplat, Base-G. Elieser Awom and Soleman Yom left their hideout the following day around 5 am. They sought assistance at a house located close to the site of the incident. Local residents gave them clothes and brought them back home to Deplat, Base-G in the afternoon.

Currently the Papuan Regional Police has detained two police officers from Jayapura police resort (Polres Jayapura) who were allegedly involved in the crime.

Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

 http://www.humanrights.asia/news/urgent-appeals/AHRC-UAC-003-2016