INDONESIA/PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Indonesia interferes in the investigation in the death of a West Papuan activist

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the death of Danny Kogoya, regional commander of the Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka, OPM), in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea. The cause of death was reported to be liver failure due to the presence of unusual chemical substances in his body. A Vanimo court has classified his death as a case of murder and called for an autopsy. However, the Indonesian state authorities intervened and prevented an autopsy from taking place, raising the suspicion of their involvement in Danny Kogoya’s death.

CASE NARRATIVE:

According to the family of Danny Kogoya and several West Papuan activists, Danny passed away on Sunday, 15 December, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea. Danny Kogoya arrived in Vanimo in October 2013. Danny was receiving medical treatment in Vanimo General Hospital for his right leg which was amputated without his consent by the doctors of a police hospital in Bhayangkara Kotaraja, Papua, Indonesia. His leg was amputated after he was shot by Indonesian security forces at the time of his arrest on 2 September 2012. During his time at the police hospital, Danny was not permitted to receive visits from his family. (Picture: Danny Kogoya. Courtesy of TAPOL)

Danny was later released, as his detention period had run out, and stayed in Kamp Victoria at the border of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. He later fled to Papua New Guinea, out of fear of being re-arrested.

Apart from medical treatment for his amputated leg, the doctors in Vanimo also tried to identify the cause of the swelling in some parts of Danny’s body. He had his blood checked four times by the hospital, which results are claimed by the doctors to be ‘complicated’. The medical report was given to the family following Danny’s death on 15 December 2013.

On 17 December 2013, Danny’s family requested the Vanimo Court House to give permission to bring Danny’s body back to Indonesia so he could be buried in West Papua. In submitting the request, the family attached Danny’s medical report issued by the Vanimo General Hospital. After seeing the document, the Court concluded that Danny’s death should be treated as a murder. The medical report stated that Danny was suffering from liver failure, brought on by the presence of unusual chemicals in his body. A doctor at Vanimo General Hospital alleged that these chemical substances were put in Danny’s body when he was held at Vanimo General Hospital. At 1 p.m. on 17 December 2013, the Court issued an order calling for an autopsy.

A relative of Danny Kogoya was with the specialist doctor when the autopsy was about to take place at 3 p.m. on the same day. At the same time, four individuals met with the management of the hospital and prevented the autopsy from taking place. Two of the four were identified as staff of the Indonesian Consulate in Vanimo, one of whom was known as Bapak Hari. The identity of the other two individuals is yet to be verified as is the institution they represent.

Consulate staff did not provide any reason to cancel the autopsy. Danny’s family was told that it was done ‘for your sake and ours’ (‘biar sama-sama enak dari pihak kalian dan pihak kami‘)

On 19 December 2013, the Indonesian Consulate General held a meeting with the Governor of Saundaun province of Papua New Guinea but the topic of the meeting is not known. On 22 December 2013, a meeting was held between the representative of Danny’s family, members of the consulate and the Papua New Guinea local authorities. The Indonesian consulate agreed to the autopsy, but emphasised that it should be done no later than Monday, 23 December 2013.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Danny Kogoya was the Jayapura regional commander of the OPM, an organisation campaigning for West Papua’s political independence from Indonesia. He was arrested by Indonesian security forces on 2 September 2012. He was blamed for several attacks, one of which took place in Nafri in 2011. Danny reportedly confessed to being responsible for these attacks, yet his lawyer in an interview mentioned to TAPOL that Danny was forced to confess.

Both the constitutions of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea guarantee the right to life to everyone. According to international law, the right to life entails the obligations of the state not only to refrain from arbitrarily taking the life of individuals, but also to conduct investigations into the unnatural deaths of individuals. By obstructing the investigation of the death of Danny Kogoya, Indonesia has violated its own constitution and its international human rights obligation.

Coupled with the presence of unusual chemical substances in Danny Kogoya’s body and a Vanimo doctor’s statement that such material was put there while Danny was in the police hospital in Jayapura, Indonesia’s interference in the investigation raised the allegation that Danny Kogoya had been slowly poisoned to death by the Indonesian state authorities. Previously, the Indonesian Intelligence Agency (Badan Intelijen Negara, BIN) was involved in the murder of Said Munir Thalib, an Indonesian human rights activist, who was poisoned with arsenic on a flight to Amsterdam in 2004.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the Indonesian authorities listed below, urging them to refrain from obstructing the criminal investigation called by the Vanimo Court House. Please write to the relevant authorities in Papua New Guinea, encouraging them to conduct a criminal investigation into the death of Danny Kogoya, in accordance with its law and international human rights standards.

The AHRC, Human Rights and Peace for Papua (ICP), Franciscans International, TAPOL and West Papua Netzwerk have separately submitted letters of allegation to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, summary or arbitrary executions, calling for his intervention in this matter.

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