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As a gesture of willingness to institute genuine human rights reforms, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch urge the Habibie government to:
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Release Prisoners Of Conscience Now! A Joint Human Rights Watch - Amnesty International report June 1998 |
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The pattern of systematic human rights violations that characterized former President Suharto's thirty-two year rule is perhaps best symbolized by the people he imprisoned for political activities. President Habibie could take no step more calculated to distance himself from the abuses of his predecessor and mentor than to release all of those still in jail for nonviolent opposition to the government of Suharto. As of June 4, he had only released four: Muchtar Pakpahan, a labor leader; Sri Bintang Pamungkas, a former parliamentarian and head of the Indonesian United Democratic Party (PUDI); Nuku Soleiman, a political activist; and Andi Syahputra, printer of an underground magazine. Several others, on trial when the new government came to power, have since been acquitted. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch join with Indonesian human rights organizations in calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all men and women imprisoned for nonviolent expression of their views and for the repeal of the laws and presidential decrees that have been used over the last three decades to punish peaceful dissent. The prisoners who should be released without delay include members of the People's Democratic Party (PRD) and its affiliates who remain in prison in Jakarta and Surabaya, the East Timorese accused of organizing the march to Santa Cruz cemetery in November 1991, a community organizer in Tasikmalaya, several university lecturers from Aceh, and organizers of peaceful pro-independence demonstrations in Irian Jaya. Several labor and political activists charged for their involvement in nonviolent political activities since the beginning of 1998 are currently either on trial or awaiting trial. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch believe that the charges against these people should be immediately dropped. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are also calling for the immediate release of the thirteen remaining prisoners accused of involvement with the Indonesian Communist Party (Partai Komunis Indonesia or PKI), many of whom have been in prison for more than three decades, all of whom had trials that were unfair by international standards, and many of whom are suffering severe health problems. The two organizations believe that all those who have been imprisoned for alleged involvement in violent political activities -- including those from Aceh, Irian Jaya, and East Timor, the three areas where armed insurgencies are active, and those accused of trying to establish an Islamic state -- must now be given the opportunity to have their convictions reviewed by an independent body which meets international standards of fairness and impartiality. Such a body could operate under the Indonesian National Commission of Human Rights (Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia, Komnas HAM). Many of these people were tried and convicted on the basis of information extracted by torture or without adequate access to counsel. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are concerned about statements made by President Habibie and Justice Minister Muladi that prisoners and detainees who are considered Marxist, opposed to the constitution and Pancasila, or criminals will not be released. Not only should Indonesians have the right to freely express their opinions on any subject, including Marxism and Pancasila, but in the case of those detained, the determination of who was a Marxist or who opposed the constitution was made by a politicized court system at the direction of a discredited government. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch therefore urge the Habibie government not to exclude any category of prisoners of conscience from release. Who are "Political Prisoners" and Prisoners of Conscience? Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch make a distinction between political prisoners who have used violence and those detained or imprisoned solely for nonviolent activities. The latter, whom Amnesty International calls "prisoners of conscience," are defined as people detained anywhere for their beliefs or because of their ethnic origin, sex, color, language, national or social origin, economic status, birth or other status, who have not used or advocated violence. A list of known prisoners of conscience in Indonesia and East Timor is appended to this report, and Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch believe all of them should be immediately and unconditionally released. Political prisoners are those who have been convicted on the basis of their political activities who may have used violence in support of their activities. There are over one hundred political prisoners serving prison sentences for subversion, murder, illegal possession of weapons, and rebellion, who were charged with using or inciting the use of violence. These include most of the prisoners in East Timor, Irian Jaya, and Aceh. Some may well be prisoners of conscience, but too little information is available about them to determine this. In other cases, the use of violence was well-substantiated. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch believe, however, that few if any members of this group received trials which met international standards of fairness, and that as a result the government should immediately allow for the independent review of all their convictions. Legislation and regulations used to detain opponents A range of legislation has been used by the Indonesian Government to imprison government critics and opponents, whether engaged in peaceful activities or armed struggle. The Anti-subversion Law (Presidential Decree 11/1963), which has been employed extensively to punish peaceful critics and political opponents, contains vague and sweeping language that permits the prosecution and conviction of anyone whose words or actions can be disruptive of public order, the state ideology, the government, its institutions, or its policies. Many articles of the Indonesian Criminal Code have also been used to imprison peaceful critics. Articles 154, 155, and 156, the so-called "hate-sowing" articles, punish "spreading feelings of hatred toward the government" with prison terms of up to seven years. Articles 134, 136 and 137 allow for the imprisonment for up to six years of individuals alleged to have insulted the President or Vice-President. Article 160, which punishes incitement to violence, has also been used to detain nonviolent critics; it carries a penalty of six years in prison. More rarely, the government has used two other decrees in political cases. Law No. 5/1963 banning all forms of political activity was dusted off after decades of disuse and brought out in the government's response to growing opposition demands in the early months of 1998. It allows for the imprisonment of peaceful critics for up to five years. Emergency Law No. 12 of 1951, which bans the use or possession of certain kinds of weapons, has also been used extensively. Articles of the Criminal Code relating to rebellion (Articles 104, 106, 107, 108 and 110) have been used against suspected insurgents in East Timor, Aceh, and Irian Jaya. Under the Suharto government, prisoners of conscience and political prisoners in Indonesia and East Timor were often denied their right to a fair trial. Procedural violations occurred at all stages of arrest, detention, investigation, and trial. Suspected political offenders were frequently taken into custody by army intelligence officers, who under Indonesian law have no authority to make arrests. Those arrested frequently were not informed about the precise charges against them and their families were often not notified of the arrest. Detainees, especially those outside Jakarta or other major cities, were often held in incommunicado detention where they were denied access to independent human rights lawyers and their families. If access to lawyers was granted, that access was frequently restricted. In some cases, detainees were told that if they chose independent lawyers, they would receive a heavier prison sentence. Torture and ill-treatment were used commonly to extract information, testimonies or confessions. Trial irregularities often included restrictions on defendants' right to present witnesses, intimidation of defense witnesses and the denial of the defense's right to cross-examine prosecution witnesses. Convictions were also frequently based on testimony or confessions extracted under duress. When pre-trial irregularities were brought to the attention of the courts, they were routinely ignored, and the legal procedure for challenging such irregularities almost never resulted in a victory for the defendant. In many cases, witnesses who might have helped the defendants were too afraid to testify, particularly in areas such as East Timor, Irian Jaya, and Aceh. Political trials almost always resulted in convictions. Another common feature of imprisonment under the New Order Government was the practice of jailing many prisoners of conscience and political prisoners hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of miles away from their homes, placing great difficulties and financial constraints on members of their families seeking to visit them. This was particularly true of prisoners from East Timor and Irian Jaya. As a gesture of willingness to institute genuine human rights reforms, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch urge the Habibie government to:
A brief description of Indonesia's political prisoners follows, divided into "prisoners of conscience"; alleged PKI members and supporters; those accused of violence, including suspected insurgents and Muslim militants; and the "disappeared". |