Statement under the auspices of
Survival International
COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Fifty-eighth session

Item 11: Civil and political rights

Thank you, Mr. Chairperson,

I speak on behalf of Survival International.

The administration of Justice, the Abepura case

We wish to draw your attention on the Abepura case, which occurred in the Abepura college town near Jayapura, the provincial capital of Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya, Indonesia.

In retaliation to the killing of two police officers and a security guard in Abepura, on 7 December 2000, police officers and members of the mobile brigade committed gross acts of violence and torture, targeting civilian members of the Papuan indigenous community from which the attackers were believed to have originated. They raided student dormitories, arrested
students, beat them and subjected them to torture. One student was shot and killed, two more died of the multiple beatings they received, dozens suffered serious injuries.

This case was taken up by the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) which appointed a commission of enquiry to investigate it, as one of the first case to be considered for prosecution under the country's new human rights courts, created by legislation passed in November 2000. From the very beginning the commission faced tremendous obstacles from the police who was not willing to co-operate in the investigation.

The results of the Commission' s investigation were submitted to the Attorney-General' s office, in May 2001, however they contained two conflicting recommendations: on the one hand, it was confirmed that the police had committed a crime against humanity and should therefore go before the newly established human rights court, and on the other hand, Komnas 
HAM submitted that the Abepura case was just a case of an 'ordinary' crime. 

Once Komnas HAM had reached its conclusions, it submitted its findings to the Office of the Attorney General which returned the case to the commission, for clarification, in July 2001. Komnas HAM complied and sent the case back to the office of the Attorney General which did not react before April this year.

Once Komnas HAM had established and confirmed that the Indonesian police officers were responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture and arbitrary detention on December 7, the police's response, as well as that of the Office of the Attorney General suggest that there is still a difficult path ahead to successful prosecution.

Commitment of the Indonesian Government only during the sessions of the Commission We are encouraged by the fact that Mr. Param Cumaraswamy, Special Rapporteur on the Independence of judges and lawyers, will be visiting Indonesia in order to study these issues. Although the Government of Indonesia had recently sent to Papua a team of 20 judges from the office of the 
Attorney General to conduct an Ad Hoc investigation into this case. So that the Indonesian Government really has to be seriously and not only showing their commitment to bring perpetrators to justice in every session of the Commission on Human Rights.

Recommendations:

We would recommend that this Commission puts pressure on Indonesia so that

1. With regard to the Abepura case, the sound administration of justice notbe stood in the way by politics and interests at higher levels, so that impunity would not be given another chance. The Abepura case constitutes gross human rights violations. It is not to be considered as an ordinarycrime;

2. Other special Rapporteurs be invited to Inodnesia, in particular the special Rapporteur on Torture and the special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions;

3. That a true dialogue be engaged with the Papuan people addressing the core issues of the Papuan demands, and in particular, that the demand of the Papuan people for the respect of their right to self-determination be
respected.


Thank you, Mr. Chairperson.