Indonesia's Prisoners

III. PRISONERS ACCUSED OF VIOLENCE

Many political prisoners in Indonesia have been accused of using violence in the course of armed insurgencies or other political activities. In some cases, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch believe the accusations may be false but do not have enough information to make a definitive judgment, often because of restrictions on imposed by the Indonesian authorities on access to sensitive regions by human rights monitors. In other cases, people were arrested in circumstances which were clearly unlawful -- such as the recent "kidnaping" style arrests of political activists in the run-up to the presidential elections -- during which the detainees were subjected to torture or ill-treatment, denied access to independent human rights lawyers, and convicted in grossly unfair trials which frequently relied on testimonies extracted under duress.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch believe that the Habibie government should ensure the review of the convictions of all political prisoners with a view toward amnesty or fair and independent retrial if there is reason to believe that their trials were unfair and/or based on information extracted by torture.

East Timor

Many East Timorese are in prison convicted for their alleged involvement in or support for the armed resistance against Indonesia. East Timorese political prisoners face particular difficulties in terms of getting a fair trial. The language used in court is Indonesian, which many East Timorese, particularly those who were adults at the time of the Indonesian invasion, do not speak fluently. The Indonesian authorities do not always provide adequate translators for trial proceedings or complete translations of trial documents. Many East Timorese prisoners have publicly rejected the convictions against them and refused to pursue judicial reviews of their convictions on the grounds that they do not recognize the right of Indonesian courts to try them.

Since the fall of Suharto, there have been growing calls for the release of Xanana Gusmão, the East Timorese guerrilla leader who is serving a twenty-year prison sentence in Jakarta. Many believe that his release could provide an impetus to resolution of the conflict in East Timor and would be a major gesture of reconciliation towards the East Timorese people. But the Indonesian authorities have said they will not release Xanana Gusmão on the grounds that his conviction was for criminal actions, connected to his armed activities in support of East Timorese independence.

Arrested in 1992, he was charged with rebellion and illegal possession of firearms. While the international spotlight on him meant that his trial was more open than the trial of other East Timorese political prisoners, it still failed to meet international standards of fairness. Prosecution witnesses, many of whom were themselves detainees, appear to have been subjected to undue pressure from military authorities, making their testimony unreliable. Neither the witnesses nor Xanana Gusmão himself were fluent in Indonesian, the language of the court proceedings.

The Suharto government refused an appeal of the conviction against Xanana Gusmão. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch believe that Xanana Gusmão should be released if he is not to be given the opportunity for a retrial by an independent tribunal which meets international standards for fairness.

Aceh

In 1989 the Indonesian security forces began an operation against armed separatists in the special region of Aceh, northern Sumatra. Over the next three years, as many as 2,000 civilians, soldiers and members of the guerrilla group, Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh Movement), were killed, including many who were unlawfully killed by the armed forces of both sides. At least 1,000 people were arbitrarily arrested on suspicion of supporting Aceh Merdeka or because of family connections to members of the group. At least fifty people were tried, convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison sentences for subversion after unfair trials; many of them were subjected to torture and periods of incommunicado detention. A number of these people are still in prison.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch believe that at least seven and possibly more of these people may have been imprisoned for nonviolent activities and may be prisoners of conscience but a lack of adequate information and government-imposed restrictions on access to Aceh has meant that this is impossible to determine. All have been tried unfairly and have not been given the opportunity for a thorough and impartial review of their convictions. As such, the organizations are calling for their immediate release if they are not to be given a prompt retrial which meets international standards of fairness and impartiality.

One such case is that of Nurdin Abdurrachman. A lecturer at the Language Institute (Lembaga Bahasa) at Syiah Kuala University in Banda Aceh and originally from Jeumpa, North Aceh, he was taken from his home by armed men in October 1990. Nurdin had been detained for two years in the late 1970s as an Aceh Merdeka supporter, reportedly after turning himself in, and had been tortured then. In 1991 he was convicted of subversion and sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment. Hazbi Abdullah, around thirty-seven years old, is another Syiah Kuala University lecturer in the economics faculty who was taken into custody in October 1990 and sentenced to seventeen years' imprisonment in 1991 for subversion. He had also been detained once before in 1978 on allegations of involvement with the armed resistance. There were indications that the two men were arrested not because of any indications of involvement in violent activities but because they had come under surveillance by the military which believed that intellectuals were involved in the Aceh Merdeka movement. At the time of their arrests, the then regional military commander, General Pramono, noted in an interview that a flyer had been sent to journalists by the resistance explaining the aims of the movement. "If there aren't intellectuals, there's no way they'd have the capacity to produce such a flyer," he said.

Another possible prisoner of conscience is Drs. Adnan Beuransyah, sentenced to nine years by a Banda Aceh court for subversion. A journalist with the newspaper Serambi Indonesia, Beuransyah was arrested on the night of 15/16 August 1990 by a military team. In the local headquarters of the internal security agency, he was stripped, burned with cigarette butts, and given electric shocks. The torture continued for three days until he signed an interrogation deposition confessing to membership in Aceh Merdeka. He told the court during his trial:

I tried to tell the truth, to retract what I said in the interrogation deposition, but Mr. Prosecutor would not accept that what I had said before was not true. He pushed me in deeper and said officially that I had joined Aceh Merdeka on April 20, 1990 and was charged with collecting information for them. I never joined AM and was never given any assignment by them, never took an oath and was never offered a leadership position...He asked me about the flag and logo of AM. I said I didn't know because I had never seen them. Then he explained what they were. Everything in that deposition came from the prosecutor. I just stayed silent and didn't deny anything, because if I tried to defend my position -- which was not the same as the original deposition -- the prosecutor said I would be turned back over to the Laksus [internal security]...Five days later, the prosecutor came with a typed text..and all that remained was for me to sign it.⁽⁴⁾

Two other men who are also possibly prisoners of conscience are Mulkan Usman and Imran Hasan, both of whom were tortured after their arrest and forced to sign confessions. Mulkan Usman was trained as a lawyer but was self-employed at the time of his arrest in September 1990. He was held in unacknowledged detention for nearly six months and brought to trial in March 1991. Accused of soliciting funds for Aceh Merdeka and attending "clandestine" meetings, he was convicted of subversion and sentenced to fifteen years' imprisonment. During his interrogation, Mulkan Usman was tortured and forced to sign an already prepared statement which listed the names of several individuals, including Imran Hasan, who were alleged to have taken part in meetings at the Kuta Alam tailor shop in June and July 1990 during which activities of Aceh Merdeka were allegedly planned. During his trial, Mulkan Usman denied the allegations and claimed that he had been forced into making the confession after being subjected to beatings, kickings, and electric shocks. He claimed that he had been denied access to a lawyer and that the meetings at the shop never took place. Trial observers noted that when he first appeared in court he was unable to walk and had to be supported by security guards. Mulkan Usman had been arrested for political activities in 1977 when he was sentenced to three yeas for raising an Aceh Merdeka flag at two public schools in Banda Aceh. In 1983 he was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison for helping the brother of another prisoner flee Indonesia.

Imran Hasan, 37, was a coffee shop owner and a graduate of the Faculty of Islamic Law of the Islamic Institute in Banda Aceh. He was accused of sympathizing with Aceh Merdeka and of allowing his coffee shop to be used as a meeting place for Aceh Merdeka. During his time in military custody Imran Hasan claims that he was subjected to torture and ill-treatment including electric shocks on his genitals, beatings, and kickings. The evidence for his alleged involvement with the armed resistance came from confessions extracted under torture and duress from both himself and other detainees. He was convicted of subversion and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. He is believed to be imprisoned in Banda Aceh.

Two other people, a husband and wife sentenced in January 1995, are also believed to have been imprisoned because they provided medical treatment to a member of the armed resistance who lived in their neighborhood and not because they were involved in violent activities. Nurhayati Hasani, [f], around 49, and her husband, M Amin bin Samidan (alias Amin Panga), were convicted of subversion in 1995 and sentenced to six and nine years' imprisonment respectively after being found guilty of involvement with Aceh Merdeka.

A recent upsurge in Aceh Merdeka activities has led to further political trials. In 1997, at least seventeen people were tried for their alleged involvement in activities linked to Aceh Merdeka, including armed robbery. Some were charged with subversion. There are serious concerns that several of those tried were held incommunicado, subjected to torture, and tried unfairly.

Irian Jaya

The Suharto government arrested many people in Irian Jaya in the context of counter-insurgency operations against guerrillas. Those arrested and tried have included individuals accused of involvement with the armed resistance, the Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka, OPM). Many were tried under the Anti-subversion Law but others charged and imprisoned more recently have been tried on charges of murder.

At least nine political prisoners remain in custody after having been found guilty of activities in support of independence, including at least four convicted under the Anti-subversion Law. Beni Kagoya was sentenced to eighteen years in prison in 1988 for his alleged involvement in an attack against the Indonesian Armed Forces in March 1988. Elieser Awom received a life sentence in February 1989, after having been found guilty of subversion for his alleged activities with the OPM. He is believed to be in Kalisosok Prison. Melianus Rumbiak was also accused of involvement with the armed resistance and found guilty of subversion and sentenced to at least seventeen years in 1988. He is believed to be in Kalisosok Prison. Also in Kalisosok is Samuel Wenda who received a twelve-year sentence in 1989 for his alleged role in an attack against the military.

In 1996, five other men were imprisoned for up to ten years for their alleged role in military attacks against the Indonesian army. They are: Kowil Kasimrus Iwop, who was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment; Basilius Arinjab Apay, seven years; Benediktus Beraip, ten years; Benediktus Kua Wamba, seven years; and Henrikus Kowil, who received a seven year sentence. While Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch acknowledge the government's right to arrest individuals engaged in recognisably criminal actions, the organizations believe that the frequent use of unfair arrests and detention procedures by the Suharto government, as well as a well-established pattern of unfair trials, warrant a review of these cases.

Islamic Prisoners

In 1989 and 1990, scores of other Muslims were tried on charges including subversion following a series of violent incidents involving alleged Islamic militants in Way Jepara, Lampung, a province in southern Sumatra. A religious teacher there named Warsidi had attracted many followers after a series of land disputes in the area, and local authorities began to get reports of quasi-military training taking place on the grounds of Warsidi's school. After Warsidi refused to obey a summons, then Colonel Hendro Priyono, now Transmigration Minister in the Habibie government, ordered local forces to approach Warsidi directly. On February 6, 1989, the subdistrict military commander, Captain Soetiman, took twenty men and went to the school. Soetiman entered the compound and was killed, apparently by poisoned arrows shot by the group's followers. The next day, Colonel Hendro took about 100 men to the school where, according to the official version, their warning shots were met by arrows and Molotov cocktails. They opened fire on the hundreds of people in the compound, leaving an official death toll of twenty-seven and a suspected death toll of over one hundred. The shootings have never been adequately investigated. That night, about forty kilometers away, a public minibus was hijacked, and the driver and a soldier riding it were killed. Warsidi followers were suspected of mounting the attack. On February 8, seven youths attacked the district military command in Metro, Lampung, with arrows and Molotov cocktails; six were shot dead by soldiers. These incidents were followed by a crackdown on Muslim activists in Jakarta, West Java, Bali, and Lombok suspected of links to the Warsidi group. At least six of the dozens arrested at the time are believed to be still in prison. They include Zainal Arifin, serving a twelve-year sentence in Rajabasa prison, Lampung, and Fauzi bin Isman and Nur Hidayat, both serving seventeen-year terms in Cipinang prison, Jakarta. Sudarsono, from Lombok, is also detained in Cipinang Prison. Other people arrested in connection with the Lampung case are in prisons on Nusakambangan island and in Kalisosok prison, Surabaya.

During the 1990s, hundreds of other Indonesians were arrested for their alleged links to groups which the authorities claimed were advocating an Islamic state.

PRD activists

Five people with alleged connections to the PRD have been arrested in connection with an explosion in a flat in the Tanah Tinggi area of Jakarta on January 18, 1998. The explosion was believed to have been caused by a homemade bomb. Two men were arrested immediately after the explosion in January. Agus Priyono was arrested at the scene of the explosion and remains in police custody under Emergency Law 12/1951 accused of making or possessing explosives. Rachmat Kustianto Basuki, detained in Yogyakarta on January 31, was released after two weeks in custody.

Three other alleged members of a PRD-affiliated organization, Mugiyono, 25; Nesar Patria, 28 and Aan Rusidanto, 24, were arrested by the military in East Jakarta on March 13. They are believed to have been tortured during two days in military custody following their arrest, including being subjected to electric shocks on their genitals. The three men were originally threatened with subversion charges in connection with the January explosion, however this threat appears to have been dropped in the absence of any evidence linking them to the explosion. They remain in police custody in Jakarta.

The national chairman of SMID, Andi Arief, "disappeared" from his sister's house in Lampung on March 28, 1998. He had gone underground following the July 1996 riots and was one of the most wanted men in Indonesia. A month after his "disappearance," he resurfaced in police custody in Jakarta, accused of involvement in the January bomb blast. Andi Arief was subjected to electric shocks on his genitals along with other torture and ill-treatment. He remains in police custody awaiting trial. There are strong indications that the medical treatment available to those in custody for the treatment of the mental and physical consequences of torture are insufficient. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International believe that pending trial, Andi Arief should be able to seek adequate medical treatment, if necessary outside prison. In this context, it is worth citing international human rights standards which state that "it should not be the general rule that persons awaiting trial shall be detained in custody...".⁽⁵⁾