Indonesia
03.07.03
Urgent Interventions
Indonesia (Aceh): attack against the office of the Legal Aid Institution
URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
IDN 001/0503/OBS 026.1
Attack / Threats / Arbitrary detention
Indonesia
July 3rd, 2003
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of FIDH and OMCT, requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Indonesia.
New information:
The Observatory has been informed about the recent attack against the office of the Legal Aid Institution (LBH) by security forces on 28 June 2003, in Banda Aceh, Province of Aceh, Indonesia.
According to the information received, at 1.05 pm, seven members of the security forces wearing civilian dress turned up at the office of LBH. The men, who drove up in a Panther vehicle, are thought to be members of the Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob). They entered the LBH office where they met Mr. Afridal Darmi SH, the director of the LBH and asked him where Asiah, the coordinator of the investigation division of NGO Kontras Aceh, was. They left after Mr. Darmi informed them that Kontras, who had previously shared an office with LBH-Aceh, had recently moved to another office. It is believed that the police are looking for Asiah because of her role in gathering information on human rights violations collected by Kontras volunteers in the field.
At 2.00 pm, the same group of men came to the LBH office again and asked to speak to Mr. Darmi and to Mr. Syarifah Murlina, a lawyer from LBH’s litigation staff, but they were not at the office. Having failed to locate the two lawyers, they then entered the LBH office and carried out a search. They kicked down the door of the litigation room and threw down books from the shelf. They tried in vain to force open the filing cabinet in the database room. They threatened to return later on.
These events give rise to serious fears for these human rights defenders’ personal integrity. These fears are substantiated by the fact that other members of NGOs have become the victims of forced disappearance and extra-judicial killings in recent weeks, including Mr. Abdussalam Muhamad Deli, a member of Human Rights and Legal Aid Post (PB-HAM) - who was abducted by plainclothes persons on May 11th and has not been located since - and Mr. Raja Ismail, a member of Peace Brigade International (PBI), who was found dead on May 13th, having allegedly been assassinated for his activities in defence of human rights (see urgent appeal IDN 001/0503/OBS 026.1).
The Observatory notes with concern the grave situation of human rights defenders in Aceh at present, with many of them having reportedly been forced into hiding given that they face potentially fatal risks if they attempt to carry out their activities in defence of human rights in the province. The Observatory wishes to express its support to the Indonesian Human Rights associations and condemns these acts that are aimed at preventing human rights defenders from carrying out their work.
Background information:
On May 26th, during the commemoration of the International Week of the Disappeared, about 30 people from the Pemuda Panca Marga (PPM, The Youth of the Veterans) wearing paramilitary uniforms, demonstrated in front of the office of Kontras. They attacked Kontras, and in particular its founder Mr. Munir, for their criticism of the Indonesian government’s policy in handling the Aceh problem. They accused Kontras’ members of being foreign agents and “selling” human rights. Then, the PPM left the Kontras office, but locked and sealed the entrance gate in the name of the state.
On May 27th, 150 PPM members, attacked the same office once again while Kontras was conducting a press conference in relation to the International Week of the Disappeared. They insulted three officers and personnel by forcing them to sing the national anthem and mocking them as pseudo-nationalists when they refused to sing it. Worse still, they physically assaulted them resulting in physical injuries and eventual hospitalisation. Furthermore, these people entered into the office premises and violently destroyed office equipment and paraphernalia.
During these attacks, the police were present, but did not intervene. Later the police said that the group of persons was too large to control. Three members of Kontras were wounded in the attack. Kontras is filing a case concerning this attack. The Observatory recalls that the previous office of Kontras was raided in March 2002 by members of the Indonesian military (for further information, see Observatory Appeal IDN 001/0302/OBS 020). The Observatory is concerned that these attacks signal the continued involvement of civilian militias and paramilitary groups in Indonesian politics and consider that the attacks against the offices of Kontras are part of a pattern of intimidation of human rights defenders and organisations in Indonesia.
Action requested:
Please write to the authorities urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all human rights defenders in Aceh, notably Kontras Aceh’s Asiah and LBH’s Mr. Darmi and to Mr. Syarifah Murlina;
ii. guarantee an immediate investigation into the circumstances of these events in order to identify those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;
iii. put an end to all forms of harassment and threats against LBH, Kontras and their respective members, and more generally against all human rights defenders and their organisations in Indonesia;
iv. conform with the provisions of the Declaration on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders adopted on the 9th of December 1998, by the U.N. General Assembly (“Declaration on the right and responsibility of individuals, groups and organs of society to promote and protect universally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms”), in particular article 1, which states that "everyone has the right, individually or in association with others, to promote the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels" and article 12(2) which states that “The State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present declaration”;
v. guarantee the application of the Universal declaration on Human Rights and Covenants and international Conventions ratified by Indonesia.
Addresses:
· Mrs. Megawati Sukarnoputri, President, Republic of Indonesia, Presidential Palace, Jakarta Istana Negara, Indonesia; Fax: + 6221 345 2685
· Mr. Marsillam Simandjuntak, SH, Attorney General of Indonesia, Attorney General's Office Jakarta, Indonesia; Fax: +6221 720 8557
· Mr. Ihza Mahendra Yusril, Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Uahi Utoyo Usman S.H., Menteri Kehkiman, JI. H.R. Rosuna Said Kav. 6-7, Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia, Fax: + 6221 525 3095
· Gen. Surojo Bimantoro, National Chief of Police, Jl. Trunojoyo, No. 3 Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia, Fax: + 6221 720 7277
· Ambassador Nugroho Wisnumurti, Permanent Mission of he Republic of Indonesia to the United Nations in Geneva, Rue de Saint-Jean 16, Case Postale 2271, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland, fax: + 41 22 345 57 33, e-mail : mission.indonesia@ties.itu.int
Geneva - Paris, July 3rd, 2003
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken, quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a joint FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency Line:
Fax : 33 (0) 1 55 80 83 92, E-mail observatoire@iprolink.ch,
Tel. : FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 OMCT : + 41 22 809 49 39
IDN 001/0503/OBS 026.1
Attack / Threats / Arbitrary detention
Indonesia
July 3rd, 2003
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of FIDH and OMCT, requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Indonesia.
New information:
The Observatory has been informed about the recent attack against the office of the Legal Aid Institution (LBH) by security forces on 28 June 2003, in Banda Aceh, Province of Aceh, Indonesia.
According to the information received, at 1.05 pm, seven members of the security forces wearing civilian dress turned up at the office of LBH. The men, who drove up in a Panther vehicle, are thought to be members of the Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob). They entered the LBH office where they met Mr. Afridal Darmi SH, the director of the LBH and asked him where Asiah, the coordinator of the investigation division of NGO Kontras Aceh, was. They left after Mr. Darmi informed them that Kontras, who had previously shared an office with LBH-Aceh, had recently moved to another office. It is believed that the police are looking for Asiah because of her role in gathering information on human rights violations collected by Kontras volunteers in the field.
At 2.00 pm, the same group of men came to the LBH office again and asked to speak to Mr. Darmi and to Mr. Syarifah Murlina, a lawyer from LBH’s litigation staff, but they were not at the office. Having failed to locate the two lawyers, they then entered the LBH office and carried out a search. They kicked down the door of the litigation room and threw down books from the shelf. They tried in vain to force open the filing cabinet in the database room. They threatened to return later on.
These events give rise to serious fears for these human rights defenders’ personal integrity. These fears are substantiated by the fact that other members of NGOs have become the victims of forced disappearance and extra-judicial killings in recent weeks, including Mr. Abdussalam Muhamad Deli, a member of Human Rights and Legal Aid Post (PB-HAM) - who was abducted by plainclothes persons on May 11th and has not been located since - and Mr. Raja Ismail, a member of Peace Brigade International (PBI), who was found dead on May 13th, having allegedly been assassinated for his activities in defence of human rights (see urgent appeal IDN 001/0503/OBS 026.1).
The Observatory notes with concern the grave situation of human rights defenders in Aceh at present, with many of them having reportedly been forced into hiding given that they face potentially fatal risks if they attempt to carry out their activities in defence of human rights in the province. The Observatory wishes to express its support to the Indonesian Human Rights associations and condemns these acts that are aimed at preventing human rights defenders from carrying out their work.
Background information:
On May 26th, during the commemoration of the International Week of the Disappeared, about 30 people from the Pemuda Panca Marga (PPM, The Youth of the Veterans) wearing paramilitary uniforms, demonstrated in front of the office of Kontras. They attacked Kontras, and in particular its founder Mr. Munir, for their criticism of the Indonesian government’s policy in handling the Aceh problem. They accused Kontras’ members of being foreign agents and “selling” human rights. Then, the PPM left the Kontras office, but locked and sealed the entrance gate in the name of the state.
On May 27th, 150 PPM members, attacked the same office once again while Kontras was conducting a press conference in relation to the International Week of the Disappeared. They insulted three officers and personnel by forcing them to sing the national anthem and mocking them as pseudo-nationalists when they refused to sing it. Worse still, they physically assaulted them resulting in physical injuries and eventual hospitalisation. Furthermore, these people entered into the office premises and violently destroyed office equipment and paraphernalia.
During these attacks, the police were present, but did not intervene. Later the police said that the group of persons was too large to control. Three members of Kontras were wounded in the attack. Kontras is filing a case concerning this attack. The Observatory recalls that the previous office of Kontras was raided in March 2002 by members of the Indonesian military (for further information, see Observatory Appeal IDN 001/0302/OBS 020). The Observatory is concerned that these attacks signal the continued involvement of civilian militias and paramilitary groups in Indonesian politics and consider that the attacks against the offices of Kontras are part of a pattern of intimidation of human rights defenders and organisations in Indonesia.
Action requested:
Please write to the authorities urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all human rights defenders in Aceh, notably Kontras Aceh’s Asiah and LBH’s Mr. Darmi and to Mr. Syarifah Murlina;
ii. guarantee an immediate investigation into the circumstances of these events in order to identify those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;
iii. put an end to all forms of harassment and threats against LBH, Kontras and their respective members, and more generally against all human rights defenders and their organisations in Indonesia;
iv. conform with the provisions of the Declaration on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders adopted on the 9th of December 1998, by the U.N. General Assembly (“Declaration on the right and responsibility of individuals, groups and organs of society to promote and protect universally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms”), in particular article 1, which states that "everyone has the right, individually or in association with others, to promote the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels" and article 12(2) which states that “The State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present declaration”;
v. guarantee the application of the Universal declaration on Human Rights and Covenants and international Conventions ratified by Indonesia.
Addresses:
· Mrs. Megawati Sukarnoputri, President, Republic of Indonesia, Presidential Palace, Jakarta Istana Negara, Indonesia; Fax: + 6221 345 2685
· Mr. Marsillam Simandjuntak, SH, Attorney General of Indonesia, Attorney General's Office Jakarta, Indonesia; Fax: +6221 720 8557
· Mr. Ihza Mahendra Yusril, Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Uahi Utoyo Usman S.H., Menteri Kehkiman, JI. H.R. Rosuna Said Kav. 6-7, Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia, Fax: + 6221 525 3095
· Gen. Surojo Bimantoro, National Chief of Police, Jl. Trunojoyo, No. 3 Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia, Fax: + 6221 720 7277
· Ambassador Nugroho Wisnumurti, Permanent Mission of he Republic of Indonesia to the United Nations in Geneva, Rue de Saint-Jean 16, Case Postale 2271, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland, fax: + 41 22 345 57 33, e-mail : mission.indonesia@ties.itu.int
Geneva - Paris, July 3rd, 2003
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken, quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a joint FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency Line:
Fax : 33 (0) 1 55 80 83 92, E-mail observatoire@iprolink.ch,
Tel. : FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 OMCT : + 41 22 809 49 39