INDONESIA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Indonesia is a multiparty ...

INDONESIA 4
reportedly were shot in the legs at close range, subjected to electric shock, burned,
or had heavy implements placed on their feet.
Local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported that torture continued to be
commonplace in police detention facilities. During the year the Legal Aid Institute
of Jakarta conducted a survey on the prevalence of torture in Papua that found 61
percent of survey respondents suffered physical abuse while being arrested and 47
percent of respondents suffered physical abuse during questioning. In a December
2010 report the Legal Aid Institute of Jakarta reported that torture was used
particularly in the course of gathering evidence. The NGO Commission on the
Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) reported that between January and
June, it received reports of five cases of torture with fifteen victims.
In a case of military-instigated torture, on March 13, members of the 744th
Infantry Battalion tortured Charles Mali to death in Futubenao-Atambua in East
Nusa Tenggara Province. The incident stemmed from an altercation between
young men and members of the battalion. Mali reportedly was beaten to death.
Five other men reportedly were tortured as well. During a military investigation,
23 suspects from the 744th were questioned in connection with this incident. Eight
soldiers were convicted of involvement in Mali’s death and received sentences
from a military court ranging from eight to 12 months in prison.
Abuse of detainees in Papua came under heightened scrutiny when, in October
2010, a graphic video was posted on YouTube that showed several Indonesian
Armed Forces (TNI) personnel threatening one detainee, Telangga Gire, with a
knife to the throat and applying a smoldering stick to the genitals of another
detainee, Tunaliwor Kiwo. This was believed to have taken place in late May
2010 during a military operation in the Puncak Jaya region of Papua. On January
24, after a military trial in Jayapura, Papua, Second Sergeant Irwan Rizkianto
received a 10-month prison sentence, Private Yakson Agu received a sentence of
nine months, and Private Thamrin Mahagiri received a sentence of eight months.
All were charged with disobeying orders, but not with the more severe charge of
abuse. At year’s end, none had been removed from the military.
During the year in Aceh, according to one NGO source, 33 persons were caned
publicly in five separate instances for violating Sharia (Islamic law) laws dealing
with gambling, adultery, consuming alcohol, and for selling food in daylight hours
during the fasting month of Ramadan.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011
United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor