The video uploaded on Youtube last October where Indonesian solders tortured Papuan civilians. (Photo courtesy of the Jakarta Times)

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia, Oceania

JAYAPURA, Papua – Three Indonesian soldiers who were accused of torturing two Papuan men were brought before a military court in Papua province on Thursday.

In October 2010, these soldiers featured in a 10-minute video in which they poke a burning stick to the genitals of unarmed bound Papuans and threatened to kill another with a knife. The video was uploaded onto Youtube by human rights activists and it immediately created an international furor.

The incident occurred earlier last year near Gurage village in Papua where Indonesian troops often violently clashes with poorly armed separatist rebels from the indigenous Melanesian majority.

The charge against the soldiers has been subject to doubts, however, as military prosecutors have charged the men with insubordination, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 months in prison.

“Before they were sent to their post, their commander instructed them not to commit any acts of physical or emotional violence against civilians. But they were disobedient,” said the lead prosecutor, Maj. Soemantri. 


On the question of whether the soldiers should be charged with the more serious offense of assault under the civilian Criminal Code, Mr. Soemantri said he and other prosecutors had been unable to obtain the necessary physical evidence and statements from the victims.

“We need physical evidence like medical examinations and witness testimonies, that is what we failed to get,” he said. 

“We only have the video to rely on as evidence.” 


Human rights activists say, however, the video is clear evidence of human rights abuse and that the three soldiers should face Indonesia’s Human Rights Tribunal. In addition, members of the Papuan Customary Council were able to meet with Kiwo, one of the victims in the video who had gone into hiding, and recorded his testimony. 



In the testimony, Kiwo said he had been tortured for more than 48 hours, was repeatedly beaten, suffocated and burned with cigarettes. He said his toes were crushed with pliers and that soldiers rubbed chili paste, detergent and salt into his open wounds. 


Despite these ample evidence of inhumane torture, defendants claim that they believed the victims were members of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) because Kiwo was wearing a type of blue necklace commonly worn by OPM members.

Many are coming together to condemn this trial.

Haris Azhar, chairman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), is one of them. 

“This trial is biased, unreliable and offers no protection for the victims,” he said. 

Mr. Azhar added that the National Commission on Human Rights should declare the incident a gross human rights violation, take over the investigation and push for the military chief to move the prosecution to the civilian courts.


Another joining this condemnation is Rafendi Djamin, Indonesia’s representative to the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, who claims the government needed to hand out harsher punishments to stop such violations in the future. 



The Military Tribunal Law is not enough of a deterrent and should be revised, he said. Most of the articles in the law treat infringements by soldiers as disciplinary violations, he added. 



The closed-door trial is scheduled to resume on Monday. 


For more information, please see:

ABC News – Torture accused soldiers front Papua tribunal – 5 November 2010

The Jakarta Times – Military Court Tries Soldiers Accused of Papua Torture – 14 January 2011

Radio New Zealand – Three Indonsians charged over Papua torture – 14 January 2011

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga – After the historic November 2010 general elections in Tonga, which marked a transition away from the 165-year rule of the monarchy, two unsuccessful candidates are alleging fraud in the election results.

According to the Tongan Supreme Court, a candidate of the Vava’u 14 constituency, Siale Fifita alleges that the winner overspent the permitted amount on the campaign, carried out election propaganda beyond the cut-off date and used bribery.

According to Mr Tuita, supreme court registrar, says a businessman, Siosaia Moehau who was just four votes behind the winner of the Tongatapu 6 constituency is convinced he won the seat as he thinks there were a number of irregularities.

“Some of the grounds stated are: voting twice, which is false impersonation; another one was lack of police control; and the other grounds is voting after declaration of the ballots; and the last but not least is voting after 4pm, that was when the voting was supposed to have ceased.”

In November 2010, general elections under a new electoral law were held in Tonga, which determined the composition of the 2010 Tongan Legislative Assembly – a first popularly-elected parliament. For the first time in the nation’s history, a party formed by a pro-democracy movement emerged as the biggest winner in the election.

Four years prior to the election, anger over government’s forced political reforms led to riots in the Capital, Nuku’alofa. During the riots, gangs targeted businesses run by ethnic Chinese people. Hundreds were injured and eight people were killed as much of the town was burned down. Tonga suffers high unemployment and a quarter of its population live below the poverty line.

The November election drew 89% of the 42,000 registered voters to cast ballots, according to election officials. King George Tupou V called the election “the greatest and most historic day of our kingdom”.

Amid expectations and concerns for this new democratic nation, this election petitions came to light.

However, the Supervisor of Elections in Tonga, Pita Vuki, says it is common for one or two unsuccessful candidates to file petitions after an election as the Electoral Act permits.

“It’s quite normal for any candidates to file a petition if they feel there was something wrong in the conduct of elections or any behavior of any other candidates.”

For more information, please see:

Radio New Zealand – Tonga Supreme Court receives election petitions – 10 January 2011

BBC News – Strong showing for Tonga democrats in election – 26 November 2010

Radio New Zealand – Two failed Tongan candidates question election results – 10 January 2011

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