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IV. Torture and Other Mistreatment of Prisoners and Detainees

In that cell there were many kinds of torture. Some was severe and some was light, but there was always torture. 
Adi, twenty-two year-old prisoner from Aceh¹⁸

Graphic accounts of torture and other mistreatment were shockingly common among Acehnese prisoners and detainess interviewed by Human Rights Watch.  Many spoke credibly and at length of their ordeals.  Some displayed the scars they received.  All explained that it was the Indonesian military and/or police who subjected them to burning with cigarettes, electro-shock, repeated kicking, and severe beatings while in pre-trial detention in Aceh.¹⁹  Beatings appeared to be regular and common.  Twenty-four out of the thirty-five people interviewed told Human Rights Watch they had been tortured while in detention. 

Many of the people alleging torture told Human Rights Watch that the torture occurred in an effort to gain either a written or oral confession of GAM membership or other involvement with GAM.  As described below, coercive efforts to extract confessions often lasted for days.  In other cases torture was not as clearly linked to efforts to extract confessions.  In these cases the abuse continued whether or not detainees acknowledged the accusations against them.

The use of torture or coercion to extract confessions is illegal under Indonesian and international law.  Article 421 of Indonesia’s Criminal Code states that, “Any official who in a criminal case makes use of means of coercion either to force/compel a confession or to provoke a statement, shall be punished by a maximum imprisonment of four years.”²⁰  International human rights and humanitarian law prohibit the use of torture and ill-treatment to obtain information; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Convention against Torture), to which Indonesia is a party, requires states to “ensure that any statement which is established to have been made as a result of torture shall not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings.”²¹ 

In many cases, prisoners told Human Rights Watch that they had made false confessions to appease their interrogators so that beatings would end.  These same prisoners also told Human Rights Watch that they were unable to later recant these confessions in court because of the lack of defense counsel, restrictions on their ability to testify, or fear of the consequences of making allegations of torture in court (see section V below entitled Violations of Due Process, Unfair Trials). 

Although torture has been an ongoing problem in Aceh, recent incidents can be traced to the first days of martial law.  On May, 19, 2003, at 8 p.m., seven members of a Polsek (sub-district level police) in West Aceh arrested a local resident.  He told Human Rights Watch that he was then taken to the police station and held for a month.  While in police detention he says he was badly beaten and tortured in order to extract a confession:

They took me to the Polres [district level police] and before I had got out of the car one of the soldiers straight away hit me.  For one week I was beaten and ordered to admit that I was GAM but I did not confess it.  After one week I finally confessed to it and I said “to what must I confess?”  I didn’t do anything… I was accused of a murder, but it was not me but other people from my village.  They were wrong in who they arrested…I was burnt on my chest and my shirt was taken off and poked with cigarettes [pungtung]. My body was burnt with matches, they also skinned [menguliti] me with a knife.  I was also kicked, hit with a gun butt until I was bruised and vomited blood.²²   

An Acehnese man told Human Rights Watch that he was arrested by Kopassus officers during a military operation in his village on June 5, 2003.  He described what happened:

After I was arrested I was taken to an illegal post.  It was a torture place.  At that time I was interrogated and ill treated.  They bound my hands and covered my eyes and I was hit repeatedly on my body, then they shocked me with electricity and I was abused until I was bruised.  I was then taken to Lhokseumawe KP 3 [name of military post] for one night.  When I got there they abused me until I was unconscious.  They questioned me about guns.  And I said that I don’t have any guns.  They also asked about my friends, and I said that I was not with any friends, I was alone.  Then I was hit with some wood and the butt of a gun.  And this is the scar from that abuse [showed interviewer a scar].  After one night at KP 3, the next day I was transferred to Lhokseumawe prison.²³   

When asked about his torturers he said:

The people who hit me were about 50 people and at that time they were wearing army uniforms, and they were from a Kopassus unit.  They were [carrying] guns and torture instruments.²⁴ 

Another Acehnese man was arrested on June 6, 2003, by police in Cane Town, sub-district Bulalas in Aceh Tengarra.  He was in police detention for two weeks and then transferred to the barracks of the Brimob (mobile police brigade) unit from Medan.  While at the Brimob barracks he was beaten badly. He told Human Rights Watch:

Without asking any questions they straight away severely beat me, along with two other people who were detained with me, until my mouth was really swollen, it was really sore, but in fact they kept on hitting, kicking, spitting on me.  I felt really humiliated, treated like that by them…They were wearing Brimob uniforms, a mixture of uniforms, there were also some wearing Kopassus uniforms, there were lots of them.  We were ordered to sit on the floor and then beaten until bloody.²⁵

This same man was then transferred to the Binjai police station, where he was held for three days.  While in police detention he claims he was tortured:

For three days we slept standing up, naked, only in the trousers that I am wearing.  We were not allowed to sit even for a little…they took my money, about Rp50,000, then they bought drink and Dji Sam Soe cigarettes.  Then, with those cigarettes, they burnt my chest, until the fire had extinguished, and then I was ordered to inhale the cigarette so that the embers [menyala] came back, and I was burnt again.  It was like that until I was trembling/shaking [gemetaran] waiting to feel that burning.²⁶

Sopyani, the sixteen-year-old boy mentioned at the outset of this report, was detained by the TNI on June 9, 2003.  Soon afterwards he was transferred to police custody.  He told Human Rights Watch what happened to him while in detention at a police station in Aceh:

If it was the morning I was beaten by two men, if it was the evening I was beaten by the guard on duty.  They hit me with some wood, one used the butt of a gun and one kicked me.  I was beaten for three days and three nights…and we were shocked with electric current.  If you are against the TNI then you’re tortured even more severely, and I was accused of being GAM.  They consider that all Acehnese are GAM.  So, while I was at the Polres the torture just continued without any ending.²⁷

When asked if he could identify his perpetrators he said:

There were many, at that time I couldn’t see anymore because my face was already swollen and blood was pouring off it.  I felt really sick and my body was continuously hit with rifle butts and they kicked me, stamped on me.  How could I see them while my eyes were already shut by the flowing blood?  I didn’t get their names, but they were verbally abusing [memaki-maki] me, and it wouldn’t have done any good to ask.²⁸

Another man arrested in Aceh on June 15, 2003, told Human Rights Watch what happened to him at Lhokseumawe Police Station [Polres] after he was arrested:

I was processed like an animal.  They abused me until I was black and blue. Before, my uncle had also been arrested by the Kodim [district military command] and he died when he was tortured, and I was also treated inhumanely.  They hit me with a wood beam [balok] and a gun butt and they poured water over me, and every day I was hit.  Sometimes I could not eat, these are still the scars. [He pointed out his scars.]  In fact until I fainted, after fainting they would pour water over me again and hit me again.  It was like that every day…I was at the police station for more than one month.³¹

A 42-year-old man told Human Rights Watch about his arrest and detention in Aceh:

I was arrested on June 24, 2003.  At the time I was a refugee [IDP], because other people in the community had fled and in my village there was often gun fighting between TNI and GAM, so we fled.  When we got to the refugee place, we were questioned at the post, one by one, then they said that I was illegal and I was accused of being GAM, and they also said that I was a [GAM] state tax collector.  At that time it was untrue, for sure I had helped before but only because I was forced to.  After questioning at 2 o’clock in the afternoon I was taken to the Kodim [District Military Command].  At the Kodim we were questioned again there, and at the Kodim we were also abused, given electric shocks, beaten with a hammer on the head, and all of my body was sick and bleeding, we were continuously hit until bruised.  Fourteen days in the Kodim, then taken to the Lhokseumawe prison and in the military police, and then taken again to police station.  At the police station I was accused of helping GAM.  Fourteen days in the police station and then I was taken again to the prison. On August 22, 2003, I finally arrived at the court.³²

An eighteen-year-old boy in one of the prisons in Central Java described the night he was taken into custody by five marines who interrogated and tortured him.  He was seventeen at the time of his arrest.

I was arrested by marines on June 28, 2003, at midnight.  They arrived in a group of ten, knocked on the door, and then straight away shot at the door of my house.  I was then arrested and my eyes were covered. Then they took me with them and I don’t know where.  The next day when my eyes were uncovered, I was already at their post.  That night I was tortured heavily and they asked about an act of arson and the whereabouts of other GAM.  I said I didn’t know but I was still accused of being GAM.  They abused me until I was black and blue and I was unconscious…There was no time to explain because they continuously asked questions and the answers were “yes” or “no.”  If you gave a different reason then you would be continuously hit, so then I just confessed…It was marines; at that time there were 5 people who hit me, also someone who interrogated me, and this was at the Bireuen post, the marines post.³⁵

One man told Human Rights Watch of his experience in June 2003:

When I arrived at the Kodim I was interrogated and then beaten, kicked, slapped, and like that, most of my body was abused until I was black and blue.  Finally I was threatened that if I did not admit that I was GAM I would be killed. I do not know their names, I did not recognize them. They were from the Kodim.  There were three men who tortured me. I was abused alongside my friend, both of us beaten until black and blue, blood flowing continuously and no medicine whatsoever.

At the time I was interrogated I was ordered to admit that I was GAM.  I didn’t want to because I’m not GAM, my work is only as a rice farmer. Because I didn’t want to [admit to being GAM], I was beaten again, they just continued beating me in turns.  I was beaten for about a week and threatened that if I did not confess to being GAM I would be killed.  I was beaten in my chest until it was swollen and one of my bones was broken.  After that I was burned with cigarettes, then I was slashed with a knife until there were wounds and while they were torturing me they also ordered me to confess that I was GAM.

After one week at the Kopassus post I was taken to the Polres…When I got to the Polres I was tortured in the same way as at the Kopassus post.  Some members of the police abused and tortured me, they also interrogated me.  I was hit with the butt of a gun, and I was tortured in a dark room…I was detained at the Polres for forty days.  I was continuously beaten in my chest until blood came out of my mouth and I was sick for a week, and they continued to punch me in my stomach.  I was ordered to confess that I was GAM.  I really didn’t want to, because I am not GAM, but I was forced continuously.  [This last group of torturers] were Brimob troops, they wore uniforms.³⁶

One man was arrested in June 2003 by members of TNI Battalion 143.  He was initially taken to a TNI 143 Battalion post, but then transferred to the Kodim.  He was held at the Kodim for seven days before being moved to the Lhokseumawe prison detention centre (Rutan LP Lhokseumawe).  He described what happened to him while at the Kodim:

In the Kodim I was interrogated and they also hit me and severely treated me.  At the time I was not taken to the Polres because I was straight away questioned in the Kodim.  During interrogation I was ordered to admit that I was GAM, and I didn’t admit it because I am not GAM.  Then I was beaten until black and blue…I was tortured and shocked with electricity and continuously ordered to admit that I was GAM, but I just did not want to admit this; it is obvious that I am just an ordinary civilian.³⁷

Another man told Human Rights Watch that he was beaten in June 2003 while in detention at the Polres [district level police station].  When asked about the perpetrators he said:

The policemen who were at the Polresand those who were doing the beating, it was four men and they beat us as well as interrogated us.  We were ordered to confess that we were GAM, to fill in the BAP [police investigation report].  It was given to us but I did not read it and we were immediately ordered to sign the BAP.  Then this BAP was taken to the court, and I don’t even understand how this happened without any prior explanation.  We were just ordered to sign it.³⁸

Another prisoner explained how he was repeatedly beaten during the eight days he was in police detention:

Sometimes they hit me with wood or a long roll, and sometimes we were kicked with military style boots.  They did this until I was unconscious.  My head, body, feet, chest, all over my body was sick and I collapsed.  We were beaten until we were bruised and until now the scars are still there from when they beat me, from when they were interrogating me.³⁹

Another man was unable to recall the exact date of his arrest, but told Human Rights Watch:

From the moment I was detained I was beaten in my chest, slapped, my body was abused completely.  For 40 days it was like that, I was beaten and ordered to confess that I was GAM but I didn’t want to because I am not GAM.  But they continued to beat me.  A soldier poured diesel oil over my body and they kicked me.  I was ordered to stand up but I was unable to stand up again because my body was so weak.  Then their commander told them not to beat me anymore and I was thrown into a cell.  With that diesel oil, lots of people are tortured until they die. In that cell there were many kinds of torture.  Some was severe and some was light, but there was always torture.  Those who carried out the torture?  It depended on the guard.  But indeed there was one who was really evil, a man who was very hot tempered [beringas] and his task/duty was to continuously torture people.⁴⁰

A 45-year-old man was arrested by Kopassus soldiers and accused of helping GAM.  He told Human Rights Watch that he regularly paid off members of the security forces to secure his business, but it was when GAM arrived, also demanding money, that his troubles began.  He explained:

Every week I gave administration money to Brimob, about Rp50,000 [US$5.40] and every month Rp200,000 [US$21.70], for the Polsek [sub-district police] every month Rp100,000 [US$10.85] and for the Koramil [sub-district military command] every month Rp240,000 [US$26].  In March some GAM members arrived to ask for monetary contributions and at that time I gave it to them, because I was scared, I gave it only to secure my motorbike taxis [ojek] so that they were not taken by GAM.  At that time I had two business rivals and they were members of the police.  And they reported that I helped GAM.  Soldiers arrested me on May 22, 2003 just because I gave money to GAM, and I was considered to be financially contributing to GAM.  I was taken to the BKO Kopassus SGI post for two nights.  The first day at 3 o’clock I was beaten, tortured and tied up.  I was like that for more than two hours. And now the scars are still sore.  And I was also kicked with military boots [propos], I was tortured until I was unconscious.⁴¹

Another man told Human Rights Watch:

At the time I was questioned at the police station I was interrogated and also beaten, they hit me with a machine gun butt [bothi] on my back, and my head was kicked by a marine.  Some policeman tortured me severely, my hands were tied behind my back, my feet were also tied using just a normal rope and then I was interrogated and beaten and abused until I was black and blue.  Up to now the scars are still there.  They ordered me to write a confession admitting that I am GAM because they had five guns as evidence.  Even though those guns were not mine, I had to write a letter in which I confessed. ⁴²

Another man was held in detention in August 2003 at an unidentified, unofficial post for one week.  During that time he was handcuffed and blindfolded and was unable to identify his perpetrators.  After a week he was transferred to police custody. He believes that the men who arrested and unofficially detained him were from either the Polda [provincial level police] or the Kodim [district military command].  During his detention he was severely beaten.  He told Human Rights Watch:

I was ordered to confess to a Kapolda [Kepala Polisi Daerah, Head of provincial level police] bombing.  When I did not confess they continued to beat me until I was black and blue.  So, I confessed…They hit me with a block of wood [balok], iron, the butt of a gun, and my head was smashed and this hand was broken, they continuously beat me…It was only because I was hit that I confessed.  They said that if I did not confess I would “be taught another lesson” [disekolahkan, lit., “sent to school”].⁴³

An Acehnese man told Human Rights Watch that he had been accused of the bombing and burning of a Brimob house.  At the close of his trial he was found guilty of treason and sentenced to nine years of imprisonment.  He told Human Rights Watch that he was intimidated covertly [dari belakang, lit., “from behind”]to not speak at his own trial.  No witnesses appeared at his trial.  The confession he gave to Brimob soldiers during his pre-trial detention at Bireuen prison appears to have been the only evidence against him.  He described to Human Rights Watch what took place during his detention:

I was ordered to acknowledge it [the bombing] and I was continuously hit and my hand was broken and I was continuously forced to confess what I was accused of…If I did not confess to it [the bombing] then I would be beaten continuously…After they arrested me they took me to Bireuen prison where I was tortured and I was ordered to admit to something which did not happen.  They also ordered my friend who was not guilty of anything [to confess]…I am not GAM…At the time I was questioned I was ordered to confess that I was GAM and I was threatened I would be killed if I did not want to confess it.  [It was] members of Brimob.  Brimob hit me and I was ordered to point out my friend and then they ordered me to say that my friend is also a GAM member.  But I didn’t want to and then they tortured me until I was bruised and finally I had to confess.⁴⁴