INDONESIA: Victim of torture and fabrication of charges in Surabaya is left without reparation

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information from a local organisation on a case regarding the torture and fabrication of charges of a man by the police. The Supreme Court has found the man to be not guilty of theft as accused and ordered suitable rehabilitation to be granted to the victim. Rehabilitation as ordered by the Court has not been provided as of today even though the man, as a result of the abuses, has lost his job and family life. The other aspect of the victim’s right to reparation, that is, the punishment of those responsible for his torture and fabrication of charges is also yet to be fulfilled.

CASE NARRATIVE:

According to The Commission for “The Disappeared” and Victims of Violence (KontraS), Syamsul Arifin was waiting for his friend to go to work together when two police officers from East Java Regional Police approached him. The two officers, identified as Police Brigade Idihuda and Police Brigade Gatot Mulyono, were wearing civilian clothes and riding a bike. Using the bike, they took Syamsul to an empty mosque and started interrogating him about the theft of a television.

As Syamsul was innocent, he told the police that he had not been involved in the crime as accused. The police officers responded to his claim of innocence by beating him all over his body with a wooden stick. One of the officers told him that he had to confess otherwise ‘he would be treated like an animal’. Syamsul was requesting the officers to tell him their identity and provide him with valid proof that they were genuine police officers yet this only resulted in further torture.

After the interrogation in the mosque, Syamsul was taken by the officers to East Java Regional Police station by a car. There were two more police officers in the car who, along with the other two, also beat Syamsul repeatedly. During their journey to the police station, Syamsul had his hands handcuffed and head wrapped with three layers of black plastic bag. The plastic bags were tied to Syamsul’s neck so tightly that he was strangled and it was difficult for him to breath.

Syamsul could not be visited during his detention for fifty three days. He was proven not to be guilty and thus acquitted on 4 July 2011 by Surabaya District Court (Judgement No. 1213/pid.B/2011/PN) and released the next day. The prosecutor submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court which was dismissed by the Court in 2012 (Judgement No. 2152/Pid./2011). Both the judgements of the District and the Supreme Court ordered the grant of rehabilitation to Syamsul, that is, to recover his rights, status and dignity. Yet there has been no rehabilitation provided by the state as of today, despite the fact that the final judgement from the Supreme Court was delivered last year.

Syamsul is seeking for rehabilitation not only for the fabrication of charges and torture he had experienced but also the consequences of those abuses. Prior to the manipulated charge, he was working as a furniture maker yet due to the theft allegation he was fired by the company. He currently is working as a farmer and a brick maker which is very low paid (IDR 7000 or less than USD1 per 1000 bricks). The fabrication of the charge also resulted in the cancellation of his wedding by his girlfriend’s family.

For pursuing his right to rehabilitation, Syamsul had submitted a complaint to PROPAM, the internal division of the Indonesian National Police who is responsible for examining allegation on breach of the police’s code of conduct. He also had reported the abuses he experienced to the National Police Commission (Kompolnas), the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), the Ombudsman and the President. All these attempts had been unfruitful as Syamsul’s right to rehabilitation is still denied as of today.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Based on the AHRC’s observation to documented cases on fabrication of charges in Indonesia, such abuse always comes hand in hand with the practice of torture. As the charge imposed is manipulated, there is no evidence available that confession from the ‘perpetrator’ should be obtained by using any means including torture. The abuses experienced by Syamsul Arifin in this case was also similarly faced, for instance, by two individuals in Medan who were charged for a murder they have never been involved in and were sentenced to death by the Court in 2011.

According to Articles 95-97 of the Criminal Procedure Code, victims of arbitrary arrest and detention as well as fabrication of charges are entitled to the right to compensation and rehabilitation. However, those abuses are still treated merely as breach to administrative provisions instead of a crime. There is no law which criminalises fabrication of charges that police officers may arbitrarily arrest, detain and charge any individual without any reason but simply for their own personal benefit such as demanding for bribery. The worst consequence they may get is being investigated by PROPAM and sentenced to administrative sanction such as removal from office. Similarly, the current Indonesian law is yet to criminalise torture either, despite the fact that the country has been a state party to the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment since 1998.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please intervene by writing to the authorities listed below, asking them to ensure that relevant institutions provide Syamsul with rehabilitation as ordered by the Supreme Court. Equally important, please urge them to ensure that police officers responsible for his arbitrary arrest and detention as well as the torture and fabrication of charges are criminally and proportionately punished.

The AHRC is writing separately to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment as well as the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER