PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS, PEACE AND DEMOCRACY IN INDONESIA

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23 April 2003

The lenient punishments handed out to the Indonesian soldiers who killed West Papuan independence leader, Theys Eluay in November 2001 and the failure of the authorities to identify the senior officers and officials who ordered the assassination are 'outrageous' says TAPOL the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign today in a letter to British Foreign Office Minister, Mike O'Brien.

Seven Kopassus special forces soldiers were convicted on Monday by a military tribunal in Surabaya, East Java of ill treatment resulting in death. They were sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from two to three-and-a-half years.

TAPOL describes the result of the case as a triumph for military impunity in Indonesia and says it follows a long-established pattern whereby lower-ranking soldiers are punished lightly while the truth about state involvement in the crime at a higher level is covered up.

It also expresses the belief that the injustice of the process and the general lack of accountability for serious crimes in West Papua are likely to intensify the anger felt by the West Papuan people at their treatment by Jakarta.

In its letter, TAPOL points to the many disturbing aspects of the case including the lack independence of the official Commission set up to investigate the killing, the failure of the Commission to find the masterminds behind the killing, the conduct of the trial in a military tribunal, the decision by the prosecution not to charge the accused with murder, the fact that the punishments did not reflect the seriousness of the crime, and the failure of the authorities to investigate the disappearance of Theys Eluay's driver, Aristoteles Masoka, who has not been seen since the killing.

TAPOL once again calls for a credible independent investigation by Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights into the killing of Theys Eluay, the circumstances surrounding it, and the motive behind it.

Theys Hiyo Eluay, the chairperson of the pro-independence Papuan Presidium Council, was abducted by Kopassus soldiers on 10 November 2001, shortly after attending an event at the Kopassus base near Jayapura, the capital of West Papua. His body was found the following day showing signs of strangulation.

ENDS

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