Video shows Indonesian security forces torturing Papuans

Video shows Indonesian security forces torturing Papuans

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

JAKARTA, Indonesia – A video was posted on YouTube that showed two Papuan civilians being abused by the Indonesian security forces.

Soon after, Indonesian police said they would investigate reports of torture in restive Papua province, where the video was believed to have been filmed.

In the video, which was released on YouTube last week showed unknown interrogates questioning two Papuan men about the whereabouts of a weapons cache as they burned one of the men’s genitals and threatened to shoot him in the mouth.

The same video also shows another Papuan suspect being threatened with a knife.

The Indonesian security forces has long been accused of widespread abuse and torture against civilians in Papua, where a low-level separatist insurgency has been simmering for decades.

When questioned about this incident, Marwoto Soeto, national police spokesman responded that he will investigate and find out what’s going on.

“We’ll also find out who recorded the video and spread it. If police are involved, we will take firm action,” he added.

Another Police Spokesman, Wachyono, in Papua, raised the possibility that the video was made as an an attempt to discredit the police force, which is known to torture and abuse detainees of all kinds, including women and those held on minor charges.

“I’m afraid this video could have been made up to discredit police or the military. The people making the video could be an armed gang,” he said.

However, he promised to take firm action if it is indeed proved that the police was involved with human rights violations.

US-based Human Rights Watch says Indonesian forces have pursued brutal and indiscriminate sweeps on villages in Papua, sometimes killing civilians, and imprisoned peaceful political activists.

“For us, it’s an old song,” said Forkorus Yabuisembut, a pro-independence activist. “The types of abuses carried by security forces are so far beyond humane … nothing has changed.”

Human rights groups suspect that more than 100,000 people – a fifth of the impoverished province’s population – have died as result of military action.

For more information, please see:

Radio New Zealand – Indonesian security forces accused of torture of Papuans after YouTube posting – 18 October 2010

AFT – YouTube video shows Indonesian security forces torturing Papuanss – 18 October 2010

News Observer – Video shows Indonesian troops torture Papuans – 18 October 2010

Belgrade Gay-Pride Parade Ends in Violence

By Ricardo Zamora
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BELGRADE, Serbia – Serbia’s first gay-pride parade in nearly ten years ended in violence earlier this week.  Anti-gay protesters intimidated local authorities over such demonstrations since Serbia’s last gay-pride parade in 2001.  The 2001 parade ended so violently that authorities postponed the parade for nearly a decade.

A gay pride march planned last year was canceled due to fears violence.  This year, however, after incorporating the use of heavy police presence and armored vehicles, local authorities felt confident that rioters would be deterred.

Before the march, the head of the EU mission in Serbia, Vincent Degert, addressed the group of 1,000 participants surrounded by riot police and armored vehicles.

However, shortly after the march began, rioters attacked parade supporters and participants with Molotov cocktails and rocks.  Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.  Approximately 100 rioters were arrested.  While no deaths were reported, 100 individuals, mostly police, were injured.

“The hunt has begun,” the AFP news agency reported the rioters say saying.  “Death to homosexuals.”

Boban Stojanovic of the NGO Queeria Center stated that “what happened on the street were the remains of the warmongering politics of the 1990s…and is related to a concentrated hate in this region in last 20 years.”

Politics aside, anti-gay sentiment runs deep in Serbian traditions.  Indeed, before the parade took place, the Serbian Orthodox Church condemned the demonstration and warned against violence against participants.  Belgrade’s mayor, Dragan Djilas, said the violence actually had nothing to do with traditional values, blaming the rioting instead on anti-government thugs.

“What’s going on now has nothing to do with the Pride parade.  Unfortunately there are always people who will use every opportunity to destroy their own city.  Fortunately no lives were lost – this is the most important thing,” Mr. Djilas said.

According to the BBC, “This year’s event was being seen as a test of how far the country has come from the ultra-nationalism and violence of the 1990s and on its path to EU membership.”

For more information, please see:

AFP – Serbian NGOs hail Gay Pride Amid Threats of More Violence – October 13, 2010

BBC – Scores Arrested in Belgrade After Anti-Gay Riot – October 10, 2010

ECONOMIST – Hate In Belgrade – October 10, 2010

Suspected Terrorist Financier Arrested in Nigeria

By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter,  Africa 

Car Bombing in Abuja, Nigeria on October 1. (Photo Courtesy of AP).
Car bombing in Abuja, Nigeria on October 1. (Photo Courtesy of AP).

ABUJA, Nigeria – On Saturday, October 16, Nigerian State Security Services (SSS) raided the home of Charles Okah, a suspected terrorist. He was taken into custody and is being investigated for allegedly funding terrorist activities. The Nigerian government believes that Okah financed the terrorist attacks that rocked the capital Abuja, on October 1.  The attacks, which occurred near a parade route, killed twelve people and injured dozens more. Okah was arrested in the Apapa district of Lagos, a city in the southern part of Nigeria, referred to as the Niger Delta.

Charles Okah is the brother of Henry Okah, a former commander of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the dominant terrorist organization operating in the Niger Delta. Henry Okah is a suspected arms dealer who has supplied weapons to the insurgents operating in the Delta. Okah fled Nigeria for Johannesburg in July 2009 after his release from prison after serving time for gun running and treason charges.  He was arrested shortly after the attacks on Abuja and is facing terrorism charges in South Africa for masterminding the October 1 attack.

Charles Okah’s arrest comes a day after media outlets received an email announcing threats of another terrorist attack against the capital. The Nigerian government is extremely concerned because the October 1 bombing followed a similar pattern. On October 1, MEND militants warned journalists that Eagle Square in Abuja should be avoided. Within an hour of this warning, a series of bombs were detonated in Eagle Square.

Nigerian security officials believe Charles Okah sent the email warning about the attack on Eagle Square. The email was sent from a MEND Yahoo! email account and was signed by nom de guerre of Jomo Gbomo. It is believed that several militants associated with MEND sign their statements with this name including Henry and Charles Okah.

Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa with substantial oil reserves, particularly in the Niger Delta. Nigeria is competing against Angola to be the largest oil exporter in Africa. Normally a peaceful nation, Nigeria has experienced a wave of tribal differences that have led to flashes of violence. It is believed that the violence orchestrated by MEND militants is attributed to their outrage over policies that allow the central government to collect billions of dollars in oil revenue while the Niger Delta remains impoverished.

For more information, please see:

Canadian Press — Security official: Brother of alleged militant leader arrested over Oct. 1 car bombings –- 17 October 2010.

IOL News.co.za — Another blast warning after court appearance –-17 October 2010.

Macon.com — Another blast warning after court appearance –- 17 October 2010.

Reuters Africa — Nigeria arrests Okah brother after bomb threat: source –- 17 October 2010.

WRONGLY DEPORTED U.S. CITIZEN BRINGS SUIT: DEPRIVED OF RIGHTS AND DUE PROCESS

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                       Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

ATLANTA, United States– The family of Mark Lyttle, a United States citizen of Puerto Rican descent born in North Carolina, brought suit in federal court alleging violations of his Constitutional rights to due process and equal protection.  In December of 2008, an immigration judge entered an order for Lyttle’s deportation after denying him the opportunity to present evidence or deny that he was Mexican.  Lyttle, who speaks no Spanish, was flown to Texas and set off on foot into Mexico where he was quickly picked up and arrested.

U.S. Citizen Mark Lyttle was wrongly deported, raising questions about procedural rights and due process. Photo courtesy of the Huffington Post.
U.S. Citizen Mark Lyttle was wrongly deported, raising questions about procedural rights and due process. Photo courtesy of the Huffington Post.

While a patient at a mental facility, Lyttle inappropriately touched a halfway house staffer’s rear and was convicted of a misdemeanor for which he was serving prison time in Atlanta.   State prison officials involved immigration officials after questioning his citizenship status.  The suit claims that “Mr. Lyttle did not understand what he was signing or that he knowingly consented to being deported.”  Officials failed to assign Lyttle an advocate or attorney to represent him despite the fact that his illness and mental disabilities were well known and apparent to those coming in contact with him.

The Legal Director of the North Carolina division of the American Civil Liberties Union, Katy Parker, recently indicated that the lawsuit seeks damages and policy changes to prevent unfounded deportations of other American citizens.  Lyttle statements regarding his Social Security number and his birth place of Rowan County were ignored by officials.  After deportation, Lyttle was forced to wander in the streets for four months, spending his time in shelters or prisons in Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala.  

Lyttle’s family was not informed that he was in immigration proceedings when they called regarding his release from state prison.  “It’s really scary how you can get on the slippery slope and there are not proper checks and balances, even if you are a U.S. citizen,” Parker was quoted as saying. “In this case, there’s just not adequate protection.”

Lyttle was able to reach the U.S. embassy in Guatemala where officials contacted his family and issued a passport after receiving his citizenship information.

For More Information Please Visit:

Washington Post – Lawsuit: Mentally ill US citizen wrongly deported 13 October 2010

Progressive Pulse – ACLU: Mentally ill man wrongly deported  14 October 2010

Star Tribune – Lawsuit: Mentally ill US Citizen Forced to Wander Central America After Wrongful Deportation 13 October 2010

Warning: Peruvian Pipeline Will Harm Indigenous Peoples

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America  

LIMA, Peru – Survival International, an organization supporting tribal peoples worldwide, has warned the United Nations that a massive oil pipeline set to be constructed in Northern Peru will be very harmful to indigenous peoples living in that area. 

In a letter from Survival International to the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, James Anaya, the organization claims that “permitting companies to operate in this region of Peru flagrantly violates international law.” 

 The letter exhorts the Special Rapporteur to initiate an immediate investigation and to urge Peru’s government to prohibit the companies from working in the area.  The human rights NGO believes that if work on the pipeline proceeds, “some of the world’s most vulnerable citizens could be wiped out.”

Independent from the environmental concerns, there are significant fears that outsiders who enter the Indians’ land to work on the pipeline may introduce new diseases into the indigenous peoples’ population that their bodies are not prepared to fight.  Perenco, a Peruvian gas company, has recently admitted to transporting 50,000 tons of material into this region, the equivalent of ‘seven Eiffel towers.

While the pipeline has not yet been approved by the Peruvian government, there are signs that the pipeline will be given the go-ahead.  Survival’s appeal to the UN comes as the Peruvian government attempts to expel a British environmentalist, Paul McAuley, for speaking out against environmental and human rights abuses in northern Peru.

Survival’s director, Stephen Corry, said, “[t]his is as serious as it gets for indigenous people anywhere in the world. Massive oil operations are planned which will destroy the rainforest and could decimate two tribes.”

The other companies interested in petroleum operations in that region are Spain’s Repsol-YPF and U.S.-based ConocoPhillips, which have applied to cut 282 miles of seismic lines in their bid to find oil.

For more information, please see:

Indymedia.org – UN Warned about Oil Pipeline in Peru – 15 October 2010

Latin American Herald Tribune – Group Says Peru Pipeline will Harm Indians – 15 October 2010

Domain-b.com – Survival International Warns US about Oil Pipeline in Peru -14 October 2010

Survival International – Letter to to the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people – 14 October 2010