Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the following information from the Commission of Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras) in Indonesia regarding illegal detention and shooting incident of two men by the Bangsalsari Sector Police in East Java in August 2002. The police illegally detained the victims for about two months without giving any reason. The victims were later released without any charges by the police. For the last four years since then, the victims have never been informed the reason for their arrest and detention. Despite their complaints to several relevant authorities, no action has yet been taken to investigate this case.
At midnight on August 2002, the officers from the Sector Police Bangsalsari, Jember, East Java came to Mattasan’s house of Jl. Tengah Kebun Jurusan Selodakon Dusun Dukuh II Dusun Banjarsari Kec. Bangsalsari Kab. Jember, East Java, Indonesia. The police also went to the house of his brother Samo who lived nearby. The officers told the brothers that the Chief of Sector Police, Letda. Pol. Djumadi, SH, wanted Mattason and Samo for some reason which was not clearly informed to the victims in detail. Due to fear, Mattasan and Samo did not object to the police’s order. The police then took the two men into their custody and brought them to Jember Sector Police Headquarter.
Mattasan and Samo were illegally detained for 6 days without being given any reason for their arrest. The police then put them into a car after handcuffing them and covering their eyes. They drove to a plantation in Klatakan Kecamatan Tanggul and dropped them there. They then shot directly at the legs of the brothers. After that, the police took the wounded victims to the Bangsalsari Hospital where the victims received inadequate medical treatment for a short time. The police then took them to the Resort Police Headquarters, Bangsalsari.
Since then, the two men were again illegally detained for about two months without being given any reasons. After two months of detention, they were released without any charges by the police and returned to their family. For the last four years, the two men have never been informed why they had been arrested and detained from the police. The victims sent written complaints to the Police Chief of East Java Headquarter, the Chief of the Jember Resort Police and the National Commission of Human Rights on 19 May and 19 July 2006, but received no response from them. No investigation has been conducted in this case. The victims are now in a hopeless situation with regard to justice.
It is common in Indonesia that the police arbitrarily arrest people without any charges or evidence to “solve” their cases. In many of those cases, the victims are forced to confess the crimes to which they know nothing about. The poorest sectors of the society become the victims of such illegal acts by the police and they have nowhere to go to gain justice. The two victims in this case also are reportedly from a poor family living in a small hamlet.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant authorities listed below and urge them to order a thorough and prompt investigation into this case and bring the alleged perpetrators to justice. Please also urge them to ensure adequate compensation to the victims.
To support this appeal, please click:
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
INDONESIA: Illegal detention and shooting incident of two men by the Bangsalsari Sector Police in East Java
Name of the victims: Samo and Mattasan (siblings), farmers by occupation
Address of the victims: Jl. Tengah Kebun Jurusan Selodakon Dusun Dukuh II Dusun Banjarsari Kec. Bangsalsari Kab. Jember, East Java, Indonesia
Alleged perpetrators: Officers of Bangsalsari Sector Police, Jember, East Java (one of Butar Butar, two unknown)
Period of illegal detention: Arbitrarily arrested in August 2002 and illegally detained about two months without any charges; shot by the police in their legs 6 days after their arrest
I am deeply concerned by an alleged illegal detention and shooting of two men mentioned above by the Bangsalsari Sector Police in East Java.
According to the information I have received, the two victims were arrested by the officers from the Sector Police Bangsalsari, Jember, East Java separately from their houses at midnight in August 2002. The victims were told that the Chief of Sector Police, Letda. Pol. Djumadi, SH, wanted them. The police brought them to Jember Sector Police Headquarter, where they were illegally detained for 6 days without being given any reason since their arrest.
I was also informed that after 6 days of their arrest, the police took the victims to a plantation in Klatakan Kecamatan Tanggul where they shot at the legs of the two victims. After that, the police took the gun-shot victims to the Bangsalsari Hospital where the victims received inadequate medical treatment for a short time. The police then took them to the Resort Police Headquarters, Bangsalsari, where the victims were again illegally detained for about two months. They were never given any reasons for their arrest. After that, they were released without any charges by the police. For the last four years, the two men have never been informed the reason for their arrest and detention. Even though the victims complained to the Police Chief of East Java Headquarter, the Chief of the Jember Resort Police and the National Commission of Human Rights on 19 May and 19 July 2006, there has been no response from those authorities and as a result, no investigation has been launched in the case.
I am clearly aware that it is common feature in Indonesia that the police arbitrarily arrest people without any charges or evidence to "solve" their cases. In many of those cases, the victims, who are mostly from the poorest sector of society, are forced to confess the crimes of which they know nothing about. The two victims in this case also are reportedly from a poor family living in a small hamlet.
In light of the above, I strongly urge you to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation into this case. The officers responsible for illegal detention and shooting must be brought to justice as soon as possible. I also urge you to take steps to provide adequate compensation and rehabilitation to the victims.
Yours truly,
------------------------
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Gen. Sutanto
Chief of National Police
Jl. Trunojoyo No. 3
Jakarta Selatan
INDONESIA
Tel.: +62-21-721 8012
Fax: +62-21-720 7277
2. Chief of East Java Police Headquarter
Jl. Ahmad Yani No. 116 Surabaya
Jawa Timur
Tel: +62-31-5022273
Fax: +62-31-8280333
3. Chief of Jember Resort Police Headquarter
Tel: +62-331-483270
Fax: +62-331-424699
4. Mr. Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara
Chairperson
KOMNAS HAM [National Human Rights Commission of Indonesia]
Jl. Latuharhary No. 4B Menteng
Jakarta Pusat 10310
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 3925230
Fax: +62 21 3151042/3925227
E-mail: info@komnasham.or.id
5. Mr. Abdul Rahman Saleh
Attorney General
Kejaksaan Agung RI
Jl. Sultan Hasanuddin No. 1
Jakarta Selatan
INDONESIA
Tel: + 62 21 7221337, 7397602
Fax: + 62 21 7250213
Email: postmaster@kejaksaan.or.id
6. Ms Leila Zerrougui
Chairperson
Working Group on arbitrary detention
Attn: Mr Miguel de la Lama
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTENTION: WORKING GROUP ARBITRARY DETENTION)
7. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Safir Syed
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR TORTURE)
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)
