Indonesia: Human Rights and Pro-Independence Actions in Irian Jaya

IX. Appendix: Arrests Since July 1998

1. The Biak Detainees:

All of the following were arrested in connection with the Biak demonstrations, and all are being held in Biak prison as their trials proceed.

• Drs. Filip (Yopy) Jakob Samuel Karma was detained on July 6. Aged thirty-nine, he is an employee of the training and education bureau of the provincial government; he had studied public administration and management in Manila. He was also the secretary for the provincial branch of KORPRI, the civil servants' association linked to the ruling party, Golkar. The prosecution charged him with being the leader of the July demonstration. He was shot in both feet during his arrest by security forces. After not being able to see him for over a week after his arrest, his wife was finally allowed to visit, but she and other members of the family were experiencing harassment from officials at least through August and believed the telephone at the family home in Jayapura was tapped.
• Nelles Sroyer, thirty-eight, is unemployed. He was accused of leading the crowd in hymns at the time the flag was raised and of soliciting contributions from local people to buy food for the demonstrators. He reportedly gave a statement to police under duress and was beaten during interrogation on July 7. He lived in the Asrama Pelayaran, Biak town.
• Thonci Wabiser, aged sixty-six, is a retired policeman. He was accused of leading prayers and collecting funds from sympathizers during the demonstrations. He was released into the custody of his family pending trial but was redetained before the trial began.
• Melki Kmur, twenty-five, is a sometime fisherman from Inggiri village, subdistrict Yendidori, Biak Numfor, who helped carry the flag to the demonstration. He was beaten, forced to lie down on his back, and then walked on by police.
• Celsius Raweyai, forty-six, self-employed as a porter in the Biak airport, he took part in the singing of the hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers" as the flag was being raised. He was arrested at his home on July 6 and reportedly gave a statement to police under duress. For most of his questioning, he was not accompanied by a lawyer; a court-appointed attorney appeared toward the end of his interrogation.
• Agustinus Sada, forty-nine, is an unemployed resident of Biak town. He was previously imprisoned for the non-political murder of a policeman. He helped mobilize the crowd at the time of the flag-raising.
• Eduard Iwanggin, known as Edu, forty-four, was released in August into the custody of his family. He worked as a civil servant involved in traffic control, Biak town. He was arrested at gunpoint on July 6 by three members of the mobile police brigade and one soldier from the regional military command (KOREM). He was not charged with assault, unlike most of the others.
• Andreas Marsyom, thirty-seven, is a civil servant in the district government of Yapen Waropen and is a native of Dobo village, subdistrict Warsa, North Biak. He was accused of taking part in the demonstration and leading the singing of "Onward Christian Soldiers."
• Hengky Yosias Wambrauw, twenty-three, is an unemployed man from Samofa, Biak Numfor, whose main role during the demonstration was to provide guitar accompaniment to the singing. He was arrested on July 6 and gave a statement to police, reportedly under duress.
• Nehemia Ronsumbre, forty-three, is a fisherman from Paray village, East Biak, who turned himself in to the police on July 7 and was eventually released into the custody of his family. He was later redetained before his trial began in October.
• Marinus Ronsumbre, thirty-two, is a fisherman from Paray, Samofa, East Biak. He was beaten with a rifle butt and otherwise ill-treated during his arrest on July 6.
• Clemens Ronsumbre, fifty-seven, is a farmer, Ridge II, Biak Numfor.
• Bernardus Mansawan, nineteen, was a taxi conductor. He was arrested on July 6 but eventually released into the custody of his family. While being questioned, he was reportedly ordered to sign a statement refusing legal counsel.
• Lamekh Dimara, twenty-two, is a farmer from Robuki village, North Biak. He helped provide security for the demonstration and was shot with a rubber bullet by security forces. He was charged with rebellion, spreading hatred, and possession of a sharp weapon under Emergency Law No.12/1951.
• Robert Iwanggin, also known as Roy, thirty-eight, is unemployed and a resident of Biak town. He helped make the flag and later turned himself in to police because he was afraid of the consequences if he did not. He was charged with rebellion and spreading hatred.
• Inseren Sampari Karma, a housewife, came to the demonstration only in order to give her brother, Yopy Karma, a report on their father's health; he had had an operation several days earlier. Once there, however, she stayed to help collect funds and distribute food. A warrant for her arrest was produced two days after she was detained on July 6. She was eventually released into the custody of her family.
• Djoumunda Costan Karma, Yopy's brother, aged thirty, was a self-employed resident of Biak town. He helped make the flag used in the demonstration. Arrested on July 6, he was only presented with an arrest warrant several days later. Although the charges against him do not include assault, they do include carrying or possessing a sharp weapon under Emergency Law No.12/1951.
• Adrianus Rumbewas, twenty-five, unemployed, took part in the demonstration and was arrested on July 9 by members of the district military command. He is from Inggiri village, subdistrict Yenidori, Biak Numfor. He was charged with rebellion and spreading hatred but not with assault.
• Nico Rumpaidus, forty-two, is a civil servant working for the district government's treasury department (Kantor Pebendaharaan dan Kas Negara). He was present when the flag used in the demonstration was made. Originally from Paray village, Samofa subdistrict, Biak Numfor, he was charged, like Costan Karma, with violating Emergency Law No.12/1951.

2. The Wamena Arrests

Most of the following people were not shown an arrest warrant until twenty-four hours after they were detained, and none was accompanied by a lawyer during interrogation. All were on trial as of December 1998.

• Marinus Muabuay, fifty-eight, retired civil servant, arrested on August 6. He watched the flag-raising as an elder in charge.

• Yakobus Tanawani, twenty-seven, self-employed, arrested on August 6. He helped raised the flag.
• Soleman Manufandu, thirty-six, a teacher in a government school. He turned himself in on August 8; he had been tasked by the flag-raisers with making banners and the flag, the model for which was given to him by another one of the accused, Ishak Windesi.

• Ones Pariaribo, twenty-nine, self-employed. He helped make banners and the flag, and was arrested without a warrant at the Wamena airport.
• Amos Ramanday, forty, civil servant. He was responsible for mobilizing local people to witness the flag-raising. He was arrested at his home on August 6 without a warrant.
• Piter Samalo, thirty-seven, self-employed. He helped Soleman Manufandu and Yakobus Tanawani in making banners and the flag. He was arrested at his home on August 7.
• Paulus Guiliano Marlo Muabuay, twenty-five, unemployed. He watched the second flag-raising and witnessed the agreement to this event by the district military and civilian officials, members of the district council, and one journalist (Linda Korwa). He was arrested on August 8 and was reportedly beaten by a police captain during interrogation.
• Margaretha Wakman, twenty, a contract worker in the district forestry office in Wamena. She was a witness to the second flag-raising and was arrested on August 8.
• Jemmy Togotly, seventeen, a high school student, accused of helping raise the flag. He told local human rights defenders that in the course of his interrogation, he was hit with a club eighteen times, his knees were kicked, and he was kicked in the head and beaten with a stick. He was also told that he would be given electric shocks, although they were in fact not administered.

• Isak Windesy, a civil servant who reportedly worked with Yan Manuel Menay in planning the flag-raising.

3. The Arrests of Pro-Independence Advocates in Jayapura, late September and October

Immediately following the Manokwari demonstrations, two students were arrested, Martinus Werimon and Ronald Tapilatu. Martinus was head of the student senate at Cenderawasih University, and Ronald was a student at a Protestant technical high school. The detention of the two on October 2 sparked a protest rally by other students at the police station where they were held, with protestors saying Ronald and Marthinus, like other students, were only playing their role as a moral voice for the people and that part of that role was to hold an open forum on campus where people could say whatever they wanted. In a meeting with the protesters, in response to questions about why the two were detained without warrant, the police chief said it was an intelligence operation, and those were the procedures.⁽²¹⁾

The six pro-independence advocates arrested in and around Jayapura were:

1. Theys Eluay, sixty-one, head of the Irian Jaya Customary Council

2. Drs. Don A.L. Flassy, fifty-three, secretary of the provincial Planning and Development Board.

3. Rev. Agustinus Ansanai, forty-one, minister.

4. Barnabas Yufuwai, forty-five, civil servant.

5. Laurence Mehuwe, fifty-one, director of the provincial Planning and Development Board.

6. Semuel (Sem) Yaru, thirty-nine, civilian employee of the regional military command.

21. "Rektor III Uncen dan Mahasiswa Datangi Polres Jayapura," unpublished report of students who attended meeting with police commander of Jayapura, October 2, 1998.