Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the punishment of three police officers who tortured and shot a 23-year-old man, Yusli, in 2011. The court sentenced two of the officers to two years of imprisonment and the other one to five years. It found the officers were responsible for the maltreatment and the death of the victim yet was of the view that the case was one of manslaughter instead of a murder.
UPDATED INFORMATION:
Yenny, the sister of the victim has informed the AHRC that the Tangerang District Court has sent three police officers involved in the torture and shooting of her brother to imprisonment on 4 March 2013. Riki A. Sembiring and Hermanto were found guilty for maltreatment resulting in severe injuries as prohibited under Article 351 (2) of the Penal Code and were sentenced to two years of imprisonment. The panel judges in this case found another officer, Aan T. Haryanto, responsible for the death of Yusli but convicted him with the provision on manslaughter (Article 359) instead of murder. In correspondence with the police version of the story, the judges were of the view that Yusli was trying to wrestle the gun away from the officer and that the shooting was accidental despite the fact that the gunshot wound was found right on his chest and that Yusli had been severely tortured before the shooting took place. The court did not take into consideration the expert testimony delivered by a legal expert from the University of Indonesia who concluded that the torture and shooting of Yusli should be treated as a case of premeditated murder. Yusli’s family has not received the copy of the full judgement as of today, yet the sister recalls that in handing down the sentence, the judges considered the fact that the accused are officers who serve the country as a mitigating factor. There has been no report that the prosecutor in this case had applied for an appeal.
Despite the fact that Yusli was taken away by four officers on 26 December 2011, the criminal proceedings that took place was only held against three of them. As reported earlier by the AHRC last year on AHRC-UAC-028-2012, the persons who took away Yusli were armed with rifles. They offered no warrant or explanation to his family as to the reason for his arrest. Neither did they reveal information on where Yusli was going to be taken. The family looked for Yusli at several sub-district police stations but were unable to find him. Only later on the same day they were informed by the head of the village that Yusli had died and his body was being kept at Kramat Jati hospital. When the family saw his body on the next day, they found an injury on Yusli’s head. They also found a gunshot wound on his chest, lacerations on his face, and several bruises on the forehead, chin, hands and body. It was reported later that his ribs were also broken.
Yusli’s sister has learned recently that even though the court has handed down its judgment, the three officers are being detained at Tigaraksa Sub-District Police Station instead of at a correctional facility. On 20 May 2013 the sister met with the Deputy Head of the Criminal Unit of Tigaraksa Sub-District Police who did not deny that the three officers are being detained at his office. Yet he could not explain how it was possible for the officers not to be detained at a correctional facility but instead claimed that Yusli’s sister should address her enquiries about it to the court.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the authorities listed below to express your concern about the lenient punishment handed down by the Tangerang District Court in this case. Please also urge the relevant authorities to promptly execute the punishment handed down by detaining the convicted officers in a correctional facility instead of a police station.
The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ___________,
INDONESIA: Lenient punishment for police officers who tortured and shot a young man to death
Name of victim: Yusli
Names of alleged perpetrators: Riki A. Sembiring, Hermanto, Aan T. Haryanto, Tangerang District Prosecutor Office, judges of Tangerang District Court
Date of incident: 4 March 2013
Place of incident: Tangerang
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the lenient punishment handed down by Tangerang District Court to three police officers who tortured and shot Yusli, a 23 year old man, to death at the end of 2011. I have been informed that on 4 March 2013 the judges found two officers named Riki A. Sembiring and Hermanto guilty of maltreatment resulting in grave injuries as prohibited in Article 351 (2) of the Penal Code and sentenced them to two years of imprisonment. The court also found an officer named Aan T. Haryanto guilty of manslaughter under Article 359 of the Penal Code and sentenced him to five years.
Whereas I appreciate the fact that criminal proceedings have taken place on the case of the torture and death of Yusli, I regret that the punishment handed down was disproportionate in that it was lenient. I am disappointed to learn that the court accepted the police’s claim that Yusli’s death was an accident as a result of him trying to wrestle a gun from the officer. I find such claim implausible given the fact that the gunshot wound was found right on Yusli’s chest. Apart from that, it is difficult to believe that Yusli was capable of wrestling a gun with an officer as he had been severely tortured at that time. Yusli’s family has reported that the torture was so bad that he had injuries on his head, bruises on all over the body and some of his ribs broken. My suspicion that the shooting was not an accident was supported by a legal expert who testified before the court and whose testimony was unfortunately not considered by the court. She was of the view that the torture and death of Yusli should be treated as a case of premeditated murder.
I am aware that Indonesia is a state party of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. However, knowing what had happened in this case, I am not convinced that the state has done its best effort to eliminate torture. This is not the first time I have heard about lenient and disproportionate punishment being handed down to state officials engaged in torture. Earlier this year, the Muaro Sijunjung District Court in Sumatera sentenced four police officers to 18 months to three years of imprisonment for torturing two minors. Although the two minors were found dead, the court did not find the officers responsible for their deaths but instead accepted the officers’ claim that the minors had committed suicide.
I wish to emphasise that justice for torture victims is not merely about the severity and proportionality of punishment handed down to the perpetrators. As equally important as that, justice shall also include full recognition of what had happened and the wrongdoings that had taken place.
In addition to the lenient and disproportionate punishment, the family of Yusli has informed me that the three convicted officers are being detained at Tigaraksa Sub-District Police Station instead of a correctional facility. Not only is this arrangement not in accordance with the law but is also illogical. The convicted in this case are police officers so there is an obvious conflict of interests if they are detained by their own fellow officers. By doing so, the authorities have also put the convicted in a privileged position thus disrespecting the principle of equality before the law.
Given this, I urge you to promptly execute the punishment handed down by Tangerang District Court to the convicted in this case by transferring them from Tigaraksa Sub-District Police Station to the relevant correctional facility in accordance with the law.
I look forward for your swift and positive responses in this matter.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudoyono
President of the Republic of Indonesia
Jl. Veteran No. 16
Jakarta Pusat
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 386 3777, 350 3088
Fax: +62 21 344 2223
2. Prof. Harkristuti Harkrisnowo
General Director of Human Rights
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights
Jl. HR Rasuna Said Kav. C-1 Kuningan
Jakarta Selatan 12920
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 252 1344
Fax: +62 21 45555 5676
E-mail: info@ham.go.id
3. Gen. Timur Pradopo
Chief of Indonesian National Police
Jl. Trunojoyo No. 3
Jakarta Selatan
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 721 8012
Fax: +62 21 720 7277
E-mail: polri@polri.go.id, info@polri.go.id
4. Mr. Basrief Arief
Attorney General
Jl. Sultan Hasanuddin No. 1
Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 722 1269
Fax: +62 21 725 1277
E-mail: humas_puspenkum@yahoo.co.uk
5. Mr. Ridwan Ramli
Head of Tangerang District Court
Jl. TM Pahlawan Taruna
Tangerang, Provinsi Banten
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 552 4157
Fax: +62 21 52 4158
6. Mr. Eman Suparman
Head of the Judicial Commission
Jl. Kramat Raya No. 57 Jakarta Pusat
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 390 5876
Fax: +62 21 390 6215
kyri@komisiyudisial.go.id
7. Ms. Siti Nur Laila
Chairperson
KOMNAS HAM (National Human Rights Commission)
Jl. Latuharhary No. 4B Menteng
Jakarta Pusat 10310
INDONESIA
Tel:+62 21 3925 230
Fax: +62 21 3151042/3925227
E-mail: info@komnasham.or.id
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
