NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #30/NN_1992_30.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/9356

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From: [e-mail] (Rich Winkel)
Subject: Political Imprisonment in Indonesia
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/** gen.newsletter: 138.0 **/
** Topic: NL12 Political Imprisonment Indones **
** Written  5:38 pm  Dec 14, 1992 by [e-mail] in cdp:gen.newsletter **
Political Imrisonment in Indonesia Today
by Tapol, The Indonesian Human Rights Campaign, October 1992

"How many political prisoners are there in Indonesia?" A question
frequently asked and impossible to answer with accuracy. An
Indonesian non-government groups estimates that there are
currently at least 2,000 tapol (for tahanan politik meaning
political prisoners). Many believe it could be far more.

The government does not recognise the existence of political
prisoners and feels no compunction to make information available.
In the past few years, groups in Indonesia have been making
concerted attempts to list the political prisoners by visiting the
major prisons throughout the archipelago. The lists are not
complete, but they do enable an analysis of a cross section of
political prisoners in the country.
While numbers of tapol do show the main areas of human rights
abuses by the governmant in suppressing dissent, it cannot be
forgotten that over the years countless numbers of people have
been extra-judically executed, killed and "disappeared" usually by
the Indonesian armed forces (ABRI). Mass graves are known to exist
in East Timor, Aceh and West Papua.

General Profile

The profile is based on 596 identified tapol. Over half (53%) are
imprisoned for the part they played in independence movements in
West Papua, Aceh and East Timor, while one third languish in jail
because of their religious (Muslim) beliefs. Five percent were
sentenced because of their political beliefs (alleged communists)
after the military coup of 1965 and susequent communist purges.
All these arrests, detentions and trials abuse the provisions in
Article 9 to 23 of the 1976 International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights: detention for religious and politcal beliefs
(Article 18 and 19); for the acts of peaceful assembly (Article
21); subjecting people to arbitrary arrest (Article 9); delayed
trials and withholding legal assistance (Articel 14); and
terrorising families and screening mail and telephones (Article
17). Torture and the use of confessions extracted under torture
have been widely reported.
The inhumane treatment of detainees and prisoners shows
Indonesia's blatant lack of respect for the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (Universal Decalration) and the United Nations'
Standart Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Minimum
Rules) adopted in 1955. This scorn is further revealed by the
promotion of a "Southern" Declaration of Human Rights to challenge
the UN document.
Aside from names and places of detention (largely in Java),
details on tapol are patchy. In Eats Timor and West Papua, often
only the names of the prisoner is known. In Java, details
including date of and reason for arrest, length of sentence and
supposed release date may be available. Of course, by section 7 of
the Minimum Rules details of all prisoners should be registered on
arrival.
The justification for the incarceration of twenty six names
appearing on the list are unknown and NGOs have been unable to
contact them on prison visits. Some prisoners are still awaiting
trial: tow years after their arrest.

Profile: West Papuan tapol

There are 144 identified tapol currently in prison accused of
subversion because of their struggle for an independent West
Papua; charges are based largely on involvement in the
independence movement Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM).Arrest and
sentencing of these prisoners centre around five major
"incidents", including the flag raising ceremony of 14 December
1988 declaring the independence of Western Melanesia and the
commemoration event for those imprisoned one year later. Fifty
four percent of sentences stretch for between 5 to 10 years, while
twenty one tapol have sentences between 10 and 20 years. The
majority are aged between 22 and 40.
The most striking fact is that over half (54%) are imprisoned in
Java, many thousands of miles away from their homes, families and
friends. There is only the remotest possibility for families to
visit them. This violates section 37 of the Minimum Rules which
provides that prisoners shold be allowed to communicate with their
family at regular intervals both by letter and by receiving
visits.
Other facts which emerge are that fifty-seven tapol were detained
with no evidence of an arrest warrant; of the arrests made on 5
December 1990 in connection with the first anniversary of the
Independence Declaration, six remain untried; and six tapol remain
in military prisons.

Profile: Communist Party tapol

The military coup of 1965 led to the merciless and bloddy massacre
of an estimated one million people suspected of being members or
sympathisers of the PKI (Partai Komunis Indonesia). At the same
time, over 750,000 suspected communists were detained, many of
whom were arbitrarily executed. Of those who survived the purge,
less than a thousand were tried. Almost all were sentenced to over
ten years. Some were sentenced to death or imprisoned for life.
During the late 1970s many were released under a general amnesty
but since 1985 22 suspected communists, all of whom had been on
death row for nearly 20 years, have been executed.
At least twenty-nine political prisoners, accused of involvement
in the 1965 coup attemt, remain in prison. Nine were originally
sentenced to death: in 1980 the sentences of two were commuted to
life imprisonment. Seven are still waiting on death row after up
to 24 years in prison. Seventeen have been sentenced to life
imrisonment, fifteen of whom were imrisoned between 1965 and 1968.
Communtation of sentences and release is subject to the whim of
President Suharto. In August 1991, Ponke Princen of the Institute
for the Defence of Human Rights (LPHAM) supplied a list of
political prisoners whose releases are all long overdue; 17 on
that list are definitely still in prison.
Why? By a decree of 1950, after serving 5 years, life sentences
were automatically reduced to 20 years, but in 1987 Suharto
granted himself total discretion over the afte of political
prisoners. After the 1987 act, commutation is no longer automatic
and can only obtained if Suharto decides it is politically
expedient.
The majority of the lifers were either due to be released in the
late 1980s or Suharto himself reduced life sentences to twenty
years (such as prisoners Sutan Pasaribu, Atmo, Purnomo and Sunari)
so making their release imminent; yet they remain in jailto this
day.
Most of these prisoenrs are elderly: twenty-four are over 60 years
old. Kamba al Haji Aji Kamba, incarcerated in Sulawesi since 1965,
is over 91 years old. He was sentenced to life and expected to be
released in the late 1980s. Suharto must still consider him to be
very dangerous.

Profile: Muslim tapol

Muslim activists make 36% of the tapol, by far the largest group.
212 Muslim activists are identified by name and are serving up to
life sentence for subversion. However, estimated are that there
are at least 100 more.
Information about these tapol is very sparse. The reasons for
arrest and imprisonment are in direct contravention of Articles 18
(freedom of religion), 19 (freedom of expression) and 20 (freedom
of peaceful assembly) of the Universal Declaration. Anmesty
International considers at least 50 to be prisoners of conscience,
held for the non-violent exercise of their religious beliefs (AI:
Indonesia/East Timor: The Suppression of Dissent. July 1992).
Muslim resistance to adopting Pancasila as their sole princile
formed the basis of the confrontations between Suharto and Muslim
activists. Having been the targets for military death squads in
the early 1980s, Muslim communities were intimidated by the
military to crush resistance to a bill enforcing acceptance of its
sole ideology law. This led to the Tanjung Priok massacre in
September 1984, the most brutal operation of the regime against
the Muslim community. Hundreds were killed or wounded and the
massacre provided the springboard for a whole series of trials
whioch began in January 1985. Many are still in prison today.
The lists name seven preachers who were arrested after the Tanjung
Priok massacre and given sentences from 14 to 20 years. Ten with
sentences of 10 to 20 years, accused of bombings in Jakarta,
Malang (East Java) and Borobudur (Central Java), along with nine
others in jail for subversion. More than forty were then arrested
and convicted between January and August 1986 for their
involvement with Usroh groups, which advocate closer ties amongst
Muslims and stricter adherence to Muslim teachings. Their
sentences range from 7 years to life imprisonment. Another spate
of Usroh detentions took place in 1987, with nine serving 7 to 15
years.
Muslims have also been persecuted and tried because of their
former involvement with the Darul Islam (a movement for the
creation of an Islamic state dating back to the late 1940s, which
was launched by Sekarmadji Kartosuwirjo). This was part of a plot
to undermine Muslim activists masterminded by a leading
intelligence officer of the regime in the late 1970s. Thirteen
have been in jail since 1981, with sentences between 9 and 20
years, while another ste of prosecutions occured in 1986/87,
leaving twenty-five in prison with sentences from 10 to 20 years.
In 1989/90, twenty-four others were sentenced to between 4 and 10
years, accused of undermining Pancasila and attempting to
establish an Islamic state. Three Muslims arrested in 1990 remein
untried (see box).
In that same period the Lampung affair added a further nineteen to
the list of Muslims detained for their religious beliefs: six have
life sentences and seven between 10 and 20 years.
In many cases, only the name of the detained person is known: the
sentence is unknown in 75 percent of cases, age is unknown in 80%,
and expected release date or the whereabouts of family are unknown
in over 90%.

Profile: East Timor tapol

There are over 120 East Timorese known to be held for alleged
subversion, which represents at least 22% of the total tapol held
by the Indonesian regime. Reports are that there are far more. It
is not even clear that Indonesian law has any jurisdiction over
the East Timorese since Indonesia illegally annexed the country in
1975.
Whether or not this is so, these arrests have violated the human
rights of the detainees, who have subjected to torture, have had
legal advice withheld, family visits denied, experienced long
peroids of detention without charges, and unfair trails.
The paucity of information on East Timorese tapol is shocking. It
is basically impossible for anyone to visit prisoners in Eats
Timor. Consequently, out of the 120 known prisoners, the ages of
over ninety and the sentences (if sentenced at all) of ninty-four
are unknown. For many prisoners, not even the family name is
known. The lists mention at leats seven tapol held in KODIM 1628
(Baucau) who have not been identified at all.
Only nine are currently in prison in Jakarta (including the four
sentenced after the demonstration in Jakarta last Npvember):
however, looking at the situation with the West Papuan tapol, it
is possible that many of these will be transferred to Java.
From the information we do have, it is clear that the vast
majority of the detainees are young: out of the twenty-nine tapol
whose ages we know, five are under 21 years of age, twenty between
22 and 40, and four between 41 and 60.
The majority are detained for Fretilin activities (including the
other four held in Cipinang Prison, Jakarta since 1984, with
sentences ranging from 12 to 17 years). Membership of or sympathy
with Fretilin is equated to subversiion and sentences are heavy,
so enabling Indonesia to keep "troublesome elements out of
mainstream society".

Profile: Acehnese tapol

We have the names of 52 Acehnese tapol incarcerated for their
association or involvement with the Aceh Freedom Movement (Aceh
Merdeka). Sentencing has been draconian. Two have received life,
four have 20 years sentences and fifteen between 11 and 15 years.
Sentences of between 5 and 10 years have been meted out to
eighteen Acehnese. Sentences for the other twelve are unknown.
The majority of those convicted are aged between 22 and 40 years
and their occupations and status cover a diverse spectrum. Among
them are intellectuals and soldiers as well as government
officials and small businessmen.
The sad truth is, like in so many of the independence struggles,
the majority of activists (or suspected activists) do not get to
prison. Many thousands of dead have been buried in mass graves or
were simply left on the roads after purged by Indonesian troops.
Little wonder the Acehnese refugees hold up in the Ambassy in
Malaysia refuse to be repatriated.

Profile: Student tapol

There are 10 students currently known as being held for their
political activities in Indonesia. Their cases have been reported
in previous tapol bulletins but their detentions clearly flaunt
the freedom of expression and assembly provisions of the Universal
Declaration.

Sources

List of tapol prepared by an NGO in Indonesia in February 1992;
List of West Papuan tapol prepared by ABU BILD of the LBH
Jayapura, September 1991; List of Muslim tapol at Nusakambangan
Prison, Cilacap in Central Java prepared by a tapol; Lists of East
Timorese and Acehnese tapol kept by TAPOL.


Incarceration of a family

The case of the WAINGGAI family is extraordinary: nine members
have been imprisoned for their alledgedly subversive activities.
Dr. Thomas Wainggai was sentenced to 20 years for organising the
flag rasing ceremony in Jayapura on 14 December 1988, where he
made a statement declaring the independence of the state of
Western Melanesia. His wife, Teruko was sentenced to 8 years for
sewing the flag. Both were moved to prison in Java (Cipinang and
Tangerang respectively).
While 28 years old Yance and 40 years old Nicolas received 7 and 5
years respectively for their part in commemorating the flag
raising ceremony in 1989, Leonard Wainggai, aged 57, received 5
years and 8 months for deserting from the Indonesian army. Four
other family members were incarcerated for unknown reasons (likely
to be in connection with the flag raising ceremony) for periods
between 1 1/2 and 7 years. Paulina Wainggai is known to have been
released.


Two Years in Prison without Trial

Hasan Tito (aged 28) father of two, Yasus bin Karmo, (aged 36) and
Slamet Suryadi (aged 43) were arrested in June 1990 and May 1990
respectively and to this day their families have not been told the
reason for their detention or whether they have been charged and
tried. All efforts by the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI)
to see their clients have so far failed (Kompas, 26 August 1992).
After over 2 years, the families have only been told orally that
their husbands are being held for their involvement in the "bloody
incident" in Talang Sari, Way Jepara, Lampung. Hasan Tito's
involvement was taking in two children orphaned after the
massacre. The families have received no notification of arrest and
detention to which they are titled.
The "bloddy incident" was a masscre perpetrated by the military
against the villagers of Talang Sari in Fbruary 1989. The
self-sufficient Islamic farming community was accused by local
military forces of abusing Pancasila as regards religion and
labelled religious fanatics.
The accusations culminated in a slaughter of the villagers. The
status and legal authority of the military in carrying out the
mass killings has never been clarified nor has the number of
victims ever been confirmed.
in May and June 1990, the three men were arrested by plainclothes
military, which is prohibited and are now being held by KOREM 043
Garuda Hitam-Lampung. The Anti-Subversion Law states that an
individual charged with subversion may be held for up to three
months without trial, while only the Attorny General has the
authority to detain a defendant for up to one year without trial.
All three have also been denied their full visiting rights.
Herlani Maryati, Hasan Tito's wife, was allowed to see her husband
for the first time 17 months after his arrest. Since February
1992, both Herlani and the YLBHI have been denied access to Hasan.
The KOREM 043 has refused to give any information to Jayu's
family, telling them that "Jayus' case will clarified after his
trial in court" (YLBHI "News and Action", No 1, June 1992).
In the meetings ehich have taken place, Hasan Tito has said he has
been tortured: psychological trauma and paranoia now afflict him.
Slamet Suyadi has also said that he has been tortured.

Tabelle
---------------------------------------

NEWSLETTER
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