Indonesia's Prisoners

I. "PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE"

Prisoners of conscience include labor and student activists, political dissidents, Muslim activists, Acehnese nationalists, and those advocating independence in East Timor and Irian Jaya. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch believe that all of these people should be immediately and unconditionally released.

Members of the People's Democratic Party (PRD) and affiliates

In the aftermath of rioting on July 27, 1996 in Jakarta, the Suharto government began targeting young student activists with leadership positions in organizations collectively branded by the army as the "new PKI," in part because their political manifesto called for "populist social democracy." The organizations included the People's Democratic Party (Partai Rakyat Demokratik or PRD) and its affiliates: Indonesian Student Solidarity for Democracy (Solidaritas Mahasiswa untuk Demokrasi or SMID); Center for the Struggle of Indonesian Workers (Pusat Perjuangan Buruh Indonesia or PPBI) and Indonesian Peasants' Union (Serikat Tani Nasional or STN). Fourteen students or ex-students, twelve in Jakarta and two in Surabaya and all under the age of thirty, were eventually arrested and tried in 1997 on subversion charges. Two of the fourteen have already been released on completion of their sentences.

After no evidence linking the group to the July riots could be found, the students were accused of organizing worker rallies; calling for a referendum on East Timor; and campaigning for a more open political system through the repeal of five laws from 1985 that freeze the political system in its current form. They received the heaviest sentences for political dissent in more than a decade. Budiman Sudjatmiko, chairman of the PRD, was sentenced to thirteen years, while the PRD general secretary, Petrus Haryanto, received a six-year sentence, increased to eight years on appeal. Yakobus Eko Kurniawan was sentenced to eight years in prison. Gusti Agung Anom Astika, known as Anom, was sentenced to five years in prison.

SMID activists also received heavy sentences. Garda Sembiring, Jakarta SMID leader, was sentenced to twelve years, while Suroso and Ken Budha Kusumandaru received seven- and four-year terms respectively. Mohamed Sholeh, chairman of the Surabaya branch of SMID, was sentenced to four years.

Activists of PPBI, the labor wing of PRD, received similar sentences. Dita Indah Sari, head of PPBI, was sentenced to six years, reduced to five on appeal. Ignatius Damianus Pranowo, got a nine-year term, while Wilson bin Nurtiyas was sentenced to five years. Coen Husein Pontoh, head of the STN, received a three-and-a-half-year sentence.

Other Suharto Critics

Agustiana Suryana, 32, a community organizer in Garut, West Java, was sentenced to eight years in prison on subversion charges in December 1997. A former economics student, he was charged with being the intellectual mastermind behind riots in Tasikmalaya, West Java, in December 1996, involving mostly Muslim youth, that left four dead and over a hundred buildings destroyed or damaged, including eleven churches. The riots stemmed from a protest over the torture of Muslim teachers by the Tasikmalaya police after the son of a local police officer was punished at a Muslim school. The prosecution had scant evidence against Agustiana, who was detained on January 8, 1997 and held incommunicado for three weeks. He was not in Tasikmalaya on the day of the riot, and it appeared that the prosecution based the charges on the fact that since 1993, Agustiana had helped organize demonstrations by farmers and workers over land disputes and wage issues respectively. At the time of his arrest, Agustiana was also a deputy secretary-general of the United Indonesian Democratic Party (Partai Uni Demokrasi Indonesia, PUDI) the party founded by former prisoner of conscience Sri Bintang Pamungkas.

Labor Activists

Labor activists were a frequent target of the Suharto government. Several are awaiting trial, although the only labor organizer remaining in prison is PPBI leader Dita Indah Sari, mentioned above. On March 9, 1998, one activist named Farah Diba Agustin [f] from the independent Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (Serikat Buruh Sejahtera Indonesia, or SBSI); two students, Kuldip Singh and Widi Wahyu Widodo, belonging to the political activist organization, Pijar; and a journalist from the newspaper Sinar Pagi named Wandi Nikodemus Taturonggo, also known as Binyo, were arrested while taking part in a demonstration in front of a Jakarta department store. They had gathered there with some seventy others to protest layoffs and to read a list of demands for political reform. The demonstration was broken up by security forces. All were charged under Law No. 5/1963 banning political activities; the two students and the journalist were also charged with failing to disperse when ordered to do so. They were subsequently released on bail, but their trial continues.

Muslim Activists

The Suharto government arrested many individuals for alleged involvement in groups advocating an Islamic state. Many of these people have been convicted solely for their peaceful beliefs and activities.

In June 1992, Abdul Fatah Wiranagapati, 62 at the time, was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment for undermining the state ideology and attempting to establish an Islamic state. The court found that he had not used violence but had spread his ideas by holding meetings and preaching about Islamic law and had, according to the judge "... used his preaching in mosques to disseminate anti-government propaganda." He is believed to be still in prison.

Between 1983 and 1986, some forty members of Islamic study groups in Central Java, known as usroh, were convicted of subversion for allegedly seeking to establish an Islamic state and undermine the state ideology. The founder of the usroh movement was a man tenuously linked to a series of violent crimes in central Java in the late 1970s, including the murder of a university administrator in Solo in 1979. None of the young men arrested for participation in usroh meetings, however, were ever accused of using violence; the prosecution did charge that they were planning a three-stage revolt against the government, although no substantiating evidence was presented at their trials. Among the few who may still be detained are four men from Brebes, on the north coast of central Java. Agil Riyanto bin Darmowiyoto was a sociology student at Gajah Mada university in Yogyakarta when he was arrested; he was sentenced to fifteen years in March 1987 for running an usroh training course on campus. Agil Riyanto was charged with criticizing Pancasila in his lectures and saying that Muslims had no obligation to obey Indonesian law if it did not accord with the Quran; he was also accused of trying to organize a network of militant Muslim cadres. Three other men, then in their twenties, were sentenced at the same time to fourteen years each for giving lectures at usroh courses. They were Achmad Syafei, a cobbler, and Gazali and Ramdhon, both traders. Achmad Syafei was accused of helping provide materials for Agil Riyanto's lectures, including a copy of a banned Muslim newspaper called al-Ikhwan (The Brotherhood).

Irian Jaya

Many people from Irian Jaya were imprisoned by the Suharto government for their peaceful activities in support of an independent state of West Papua or West Melanesia. At least eleven prisoners of conscience from Irian Jaya are believed to remain in prison, most of whom were imprisoned for their alleged roles in organizing peaceful demonstrations in support of independence for the province in 1988 and 1989.

In December 1988, a group of people staged an entirely peaceful flag-raising ceremony proclaiming the independence of "West Melanesia". Thirty-seven of those involved were tried and imprisoned for their role in the ceremony. Among those believed to be still in prison as a result of their role in the ceremony is Habel Tanati, who was imprisoned for eleven years under the Anti-subversion Law. In 1989 and 1990 forty other people were arrested and tried for allegedly planning demonstrations to mark the anniversary of the proclamation of West Melanesian independence. Among them were Drs. Alberth S Kailele,⁽¹⁾ Edison Waromi, Jacob Matui, Drs. Jacob Rumbiak, and Martinus Kambu. Alberth Kailele, a provincial civil servant and law school graduate, was arrested after he reportedly led a prayer service on December 14, 1989. He was found guilty of subversion and sentenced to 17 years imprisonment. Edison Waromi, a lawyer, was sentenced to twelve years in prison in June 1990. Jacob Matui (alias Jack), a former employee of the office of the Governor of Irian Jaya, was sentenced to twelve years in prison in 1989 or 1990 under charges of subversion. All three are believed to be currently detained in Kalisosok Prison, Surabaya, along with Habel Tanati. A former employee at the office of the Governor of Irian Jaya, Drs Jacob Rumbiak, a lecturer in geography in Jayapura, received a seventeen-year prison sentence in January 1990 and is detained in Cipinang Prison in Jakarta. Martinus Kambu, a former government employee, was convicted in January 1989 under the Anti-subversion Law and is believed to be serving his twelve-year sentence in Irian Jaya.

John Sorondanya was sentenced to ten years in prison in 1989 after being found guilty of subversion and is believed to be detained in Irian Jaya. He was arrested following his and others' efforts to convince a leader from the armed resistance, the Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka, OPM) in Irian Jaya to surrender to the authorities. John Sorondanya and two others were apparently arrested on the grounds that their ability to secure the surrender of a leader of the armed resistance was evidence of their own involvement with the OPM.

East Timor

Five East Timorese prisoners of conscience remain in custody following their conviction for allegedly organizing the peaceful march to the Santa Cruz Cemetery in Dili, the capital of East Timor, on November 12, 1991, which resulted in what has become known as the Santa Cruz massacre. They received sentences of up to life imprisonment, and all, like many of the prisoners from Irian Jaya, are detained on the island of Java, thousands of miles away from their homes and families.

All five men were imprisoned for organizing the procession to the cemetery on November 12, 1991. Gregorio da Cunha Saldanha, 35, a nurse in Dili, East Timor, was arrested after he was shot and wounded during the massacre. He was accused of being the principal organizer of the demonstration and was charged with subversion. During his trial, he admitted that he had been involved in organizing the peaceful march. He received a life sentence. Saturnino da Costa Belo was arrested several weeks after the massacre; he was sentenced to twelve years in prison. Francisco Miranda Branco, around 47, was arrested in Dili in December 1991 and charged with subversion; he was sentenced to a fifteen-year prison term. Jacinto das Neves Raimundo Alves, a government employee, was arrested in November 1991; he received a ten-year term. João Freitas da Camara, 42, was arrested in Jakarta on 20 November 1991 following demonstrations there against the Santa Cruz massacre. He received a ten-year sentence for expressing hatred towards the government.