28 February 2007
PAPUAN ACTIVISTS IMPRISONED FOR PEACEFUL DISSENT
Indonesia continues to keep at least 18 Papuan political opponents in jail for peaceful acts of freedom of expression and opinion, Human Rights Watch said in a report, "Protest and Punishment: Political Prisoners in Papua," released on 21 February 2007.
The 42-page report documents Indonesia's use of criminal law to punish individuals who peacefully advocate for independence in the eastern Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Irian Jaya (known as Papua).
The prisoners were convicted for treason or spreading hatred against the government for nonviolent activities such as flag-raising or attending peaceful meetings on self-determination for Papua.
In almost every case the report documents, the courts handed down sentences harsher than the prosecution sought. "The courts are being used as a tool in political repression," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Peaceful activists in prison include Linus Hiluka, sentenced in 2000 to 20 years for treason and spreading hatred for associating with an independence organisation, and Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage, sentenced in 2005 to 15 years and 10 years respectively for rebellion and spreading hatred against the government for organising a peaceful celebration of Papua's national day.
In 2006, Indonesia acceded to international covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, noted Human Rights Watch. But government restrictions on access make it difficult to scrutinise the human rights situation in Papua.
The report also notes that in many cases, allegations that Papuans charged with crimes against state security had engaged in or advocated violence did not appear to be readily supported by evidence.
In its 2006 annual report, Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) said authorities have refused to lift a ban that prevents the foreign press from working in Papua. An Australian TV crew was expelled from the island in 2006 and a score of Indonesian journalists have been assaulted by police in the province, RSF said.
In a more recent case, West Papua Action, an Irish non-governmental organisation, reported that Indonesian police arrested six Papuan student activists during a demonstration in support of nine political prisoners outside the provincial parliament building in Jayapura on 7 February 2007.
For Indonesia as a whole, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (Aliansi Jurnalis Independen, AJI) said 2006 was a year of intensifying threats and violence against journalists.
Visit these links:
- Human Rights Watch: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/02/21/indone15321.htm
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=20786
- West Papua Action: http://westpapuaaction.bus.org/latest%20news3.htm#2
- SEAPA: http://www.seapabkk.org/newdesign/newsdetail.php?No=567
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