INDONESIA: Eight people in Aceh convicted of disseminating pamphlets

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that eight human rights activists accused of disseminating pamphlets on the allegation of land expropriations were sentenced by the district court on 14 August, 2008 in Aceh, Indonesia. The case is currently pending in the High court after the prosecutor lodged an appeal. It is yet another case of restricting freedom of expression by criminalizing the actions of human rights defenders.

CASE DETAILS:

On 2 July, 2007, eight members of staff from the Aceh Legal Aid Institute (LBH-Aceh) went to some villages in Aceh and distributed informational pamphlets about alleged land expropriations involving PT Bumi Flora Company and the local government. While distributing the pamphlets, they were stopped and detained by the Aceh police.

Then, the LBH-Aceh staff members were taken to the Resort Police Station of East Aceh where they were interrogated. The police charged them with Articles 160 (orally or in writing committing a violent act against the government) and 161 (disseminating hate against the government) of the Indonesian Criminal Code. The case was brought to the District Court of Langsa in December 2007 and they were convicted and sentenced on 14 August, 2008 to three months imprisonment with six months probation.

This case is currently pending in the High Court of the Special Administrative Region of Aceh   Darussalam after the prosecutor lodged an appeal. The prosecutor had earlier indicted them with the same sentence but with no reason given for the appeal.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

Article 160 of Indonesia’s criminal code states: “Any person who orally or in writing incites in public to commit a punishable act, a violent action against the public authority or any other disobedience, either to a statutory provision or to an official order issued under a statutory provision, shall be punished by a maximum imprisonment of six years.” However, the law is vague and is often applied selectively by the government in order to limit the activities of people including human rights defenders.

This pattern of criminalizing the actions of human rights defenders harms the work of all Indonesian human rights organizations. According to research by the Semarang Indonesia Legal Aid office, over ninety such prosecutions of human rights defenders in its province have been identified since 2004. Repression of human rights work continues today, through intimidation and selective prosecution. These practices drain important human resources, distract organizations from vital projects, and threaten those who would speak out against injustice.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

PT Bumi Flora is a plantation company that operates in East Aceh. There have been allegations of the company’s involvement in human rights violations in the area.

Conflict between PT Bumi Flora and the people of East Aceh began in 1990. The company intimidated villagers into selling their land to them at a low price. Anyone resisting was accused of being a member of a separatist movement. Under the New Order regime at the time, an accusation of this kind was very serious and had implications of severe punishment.

Local state agents (the government and the military) actively spread rumors saying that anyone who refused to sell their land would be murdered. Fear among the villagers intensified when they found three people who had actively refused land extortion, dead, with bruises all over their bodies and strangulation marks around their necks. There were strong allegations that these killings were committed by local military officers. As a result, villagers unwillingly sold their land to the company for a low price.

In 2001, 31 people at a palm oil plantation run by PT Bumi Flora Company in East Aceh were killed by a group of men with masks. According to witnesses, the men were dressed like Indonesian soldiers and spoke Indonesian, not the local Acehnese dialect. There were strong allegations that the perpetrators of these killings were Indonesian army officers. The National Commission of Human Rights had conducted an inquiry into this case, but up to this time no one has been brought to justice.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the persons listed below urging them to stop the arbitrary criminalization of actions by human rights defenders in Indonesia and put in place legal safeguards to protect their activities. A proper investigation over the possible collusion between the PT Bumi Flora Company and local law enforcement should also be conducted.

Please be aware that the AHRC has written a separate letter to the UN Special Representative on human rights defenders and freedom of opinion and expression calling for intervention in this matter.

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