PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS, PEACE AND DEMOCRACY IN INDONESIA

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The following letter was sent by TAPOL to British Foreign Office Minister, Mike O'Brien, on 22 January 2004

See also press release dated 22 January 2004

Mike O’Brien,
Minister of State,
Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
Whitehall,
London SW1

Dear Mr O'Brien,

It has been reported in the Indonesian press this week that 143 Acehnese prisoners, allegedly members of GAM (the Free Aceh Movement) with sentences of 3 years imprisonment and more will be removed to several detention centres in Java. According to the report the prisoners were due to be sent yesterday, 21 January 2004, to Semarang, the capital of Central Java (and concurrently the seat of the Diponegoro Central Java Military Head Quarters). From there, the prisoners will be dispatched to different detention centres in Central and East Java.

Major -General Endang Suwarya, the present military commander of the Aceh district and concurrently the caretaker of martial law (since May 2003) explained that the measure was meant to break the connections between the prisoners and their colleagues in the mountains and forests and to destroy their separatist ideas. The transfer of the prisoners to locations far away from their homes and families is a breach of international standards concerning the treatment of persons in detention.

The report in Suara Pembaruan of 19 January 2004 also details alarming trials occurring in Aceh at the moment. A total of 1553 allegedly GAM members have been detained and interrogated. Of those, 1268 have been handed over to the prosecutor's office, 994 of those 1268 have been tried and 756 of those tried have been convicted of crimes against the state (makar) and sentenced to terms of imprisonment varying from one to twenty years.

Information from local colleagues, human rights workers and lawyers in Aceh suggests that many of the prisoners have been subjected to torture or ill-treatment and confirms the irregularities of the trials and the circumstances in which they took place. The majority of the trials ended in record time and often verdicts were given after one hour or after 2 or 3 brief sessions. Very often the only witnesses presented were police or military officers who carried out the arrests and there was no other clear evidence against the accused. Most of the judges and prosecutors came from outside Aceh and were seemingly brought in by the authorities to ‘clear’ the large amount of prisoners in a ‘legal’ way. More than often a defence lawyer was not present or somebody, appointed by the court, functioned as defence. The Legal Aid Bureau (LBH) in Banda Aceh has limited capacities and has been able only to handle a few dozen cases and had to function under extremely difficult circumstances (no access to the defendants, extreme short period of trial sessions).

We want to raise some crucial issues with you, based on the above information.

1. A serious deterioration of human rights is taking place, in particular in a place of war like Aceh. The condition of martial law in Aceh has created a situation where the military are practically running the place and the existing legal procedures in Indonesia are no longer valid. The gradual closing up of the territory and the lack of credible information tallies with the increase of human rights violations. Due to international pressure the Jakarta authorities are at present allowing some international humanitarian organisations to continue their activities in Aceh. Increased pressure should be exerted on the government in Jakarta to allow more openings, including human rights and elections monitoring both by Indonesian NGOs and organisations abroad.

2. Indonesia faces the problems of a country that has just emerged from a long period of authoritarian rule, in particular in the implementation of the rule of law. The way trials are happening in Aceh today is below any international standard and should be seriously questioned. We believe the authorities in Jakarta are in violation of articles 18, 19, 20, 22, 28 and 29 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and also violate the rights of prisoners enshrined in the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. We should also seriously question whether the many persons put on trial are really GAM combatants or are mostly Aceh villagers who may or may not have GAM sympathies. As minimum standard the defendants should receive similar protection (access to lawyers, defence facilities etc) as in other parts of Indonesia.

Given the unfair nature of the trials and the fact that many of the prisoners have been detained solely because of their alleged or actual political beliefs or allegiances, it is clear that a large number are political prisoners who should be released immediately and unconditionally.

3. We realise the differences with the East Timor case, but we cannot but conclude that the way martial law is proceeding in Aceh is comparable with the conditions in East Timor in the mid nineties, notably the heavy-handed security approach applied by the military and the massive mobilisation of the population to join militia units. We know what the end results were in East Timor: devastation and massive destruction. The international community should issue the strongest warning to Jakarta about the dead end of this kind of military strategy. A negotiated settlement is the only way to proceed.

We hope that HM Government will increase its efforts in contributing to an everlasting peace in Aceh by using its good relations with the government of Indonesia through input and exchange of thoughts. A similar letter will be send to the EU in Brussels with the same purpose and intentions.

Yours sincerely,

Liem Soei Liong
For TAPOL

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