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INDONESIA: A theft suspect is tortured to death by police in Aceh

August 26, 2009

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-105-2009

26 August 2009

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INDONESIA: A theft suspect is tortured to death by police in Aceh

ISSUES: Arbitrary arrest; torture; extra judicial killing
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Krueng Raya police arrested a man without a warrant and tortured him in custody. He died in hospital on the day of his arrest, however no legal action has been initiated against the officers responsible.

CASE DETAILS:

According to the Aceh Legal Aid Institute, Mr. Susanto was arrested on 9 July 2009 after the owner of an automotive workshop in Aceh filed a report against him for stealing a tire. Without waiting for the arrest warrant to be issued, officers from the Krueng Raya Police Station confronted him at a coffee shop in the Krueng Raya Market. Susanto reportedly ran and hid, causing the police to call for reinforcements: 15 officers and three police cars. According to eyewitnesses three shots were fired in the incident and Susanto was successfully arrested in Lampoh Raya and taken, mostly unharmed, to the Krueng Raya Police Station.

He emerged from three hours of detention with extensive injuries and was taken straight to the nearest health clinic by police, where medical personnel declared his condition critical and ordered his immediate transfer to the Zainal Abidin Hospital. Police then contacted Mr. Susanto’s family.

At 7pm a relative called Dasmi visited the hospital and was told that Susanto’s condition was still critical; at 10pm he was pronounced dead. When the victim's body was delivered to his family, they saw evidence of violent abuse: they report that his right leg bore deep wounds, there was a stab wound on his left toe, a roughly stitched wound on the back of his head and bruises around his eyes.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

Before an arrest, according to Article 18 of Indonesian Criminal Procedure Law, a warrant must be presented and a copy of it given to the suspect’s family; in this case it would be illegally issued at 3am the following day, after his death. Arbitrary arrest also violates Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Indonesia ratified in 2005.

The use of torture as a method of investigation is by no means confined to this one incident in Indonesia, as seen in many of our past appeals (please see recent cases: UAC-065-2009 and UAC-066-2009). The right to be free from torture is legally enshrined in Indonesia, and Article 4 of Legislation No. 39 of 1999 Concerning Human Rights states that 'the right to life, the right to not to be tortured… are human rights that cannot be diminished under any circumstances whatsoever'. The same right is protected by Article 28G paragraph (2) and Article 28I paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution.

Also, earlier this year the chief of the Indonesian National Police enacted the new Regulation No. 8 (PDF), which deals with the Implementation of Human Rights Principles and Standards in the Discharge of Duties of The Indonesian National Police. Article 10 of the Regulation states that:

'In carrying out their duties of enforcing the law, every Indonesian National Police personnel must comply with the code of conduct as set out in Article 7 sub-article 7 as follows: … refrain from instigating or tolerating any act of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.'

As a State Party to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the Indonesian government is obliged to criminalise torture according to the convention, and to put enforcement mechanisms in place that will help put an end to it, in its many forms. The family of the victim is also entitled to compensation as laid out in Article 14 of the CAT and Articles 2 (3) and 9 (5) of the ICCPR.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send your letters to the authorities listed below to call for an impartial investigation into the arbitrary arrest and torture of Mr Susanto, for disciplinary and legal action against the officers proven guilty, and for compensation for his family.

The AHRC has written to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture about this case.

To support this appeal please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear _______________,

INDONESIA: A theft suspect is tortured to death by police in Aceh

Name of victim: Mr. Susanto, 28
Name of alleged perpetrators: Officers of the Krueng Raya Police Station
Date of incident: 9 July 2009
Place of incident: Krueng Raya Police Station, Aceh

I am writing to voice my deepest concern regarding the arbitrary arrest and fatal torture of a young Indonesian man. According to information I have received, the police arrested Mr Susanto on 9 July 2009 without a warrant, in response to a complaint that he had stolen a tire.

He was reportedly taken into custody at Krueng Raya Police Station unharmed and emerged from three hours of detention with extensive injuries. Medical personnel at a nearby health clinic declared his condition critical and ordered his immediate transfer to the Zainal Abidin Hospital, where he died at 10pm.

When the victim's body was delivered to his family, I am told that they saw evidence of extreme abuse: they report that his right leg bore deep wounds, there was a stab wound on his left toe, a roughly stitched wound on the back of his head and bruises around his eyes.

By arresting Susanto before a warrant was issued (it would be issued at 3am the following day, after his death), the Krueng Raya police department abused its power and broke national and international law (namely Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Article 18 of the Indonesian Criminal Procedure Law).

I am disturbed to note that the use of torture in Indonesia as a method of investigation is by no means confined to this one incident, and that though the country is a State Party to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), it has not criminalised torture in accordance with the convention, or put effective enforcement mechanisms in place that will help put an end to it.

The newly enacted Regulation No. 8 deals with the Implementation of Human Rights Principles and Standards in the Discharge of Duties of The Indonesian National Police, and must be fully observed for it to have any bearing.

I call for a prompt investigation into this case, followed by disciplinary and legal action. The family must also be granted compensation as laid out in Article 14 of the CAT, and Articles 2 (3) and 9 (5) of the ICCPR.

I look forward to your action in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
President of Republic of Indonesia
Presidential Palace,
Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara Jakarta Pusat 10010
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 384 5627, ext. 1003
Fax: +52 21 231 4138, 345 2685, 345 7782

2. Mr. Hendarman Supandji
Attorney General
Kejaksaan Agung RI
Jl. Sultan Hasanuddin No. 1
Jakarta Selatan
INDONESIA
Tel: + 62 21 7221337, 7397602
Fax: + 62 21 7250213

3. General Bambang Hendarso Danuri
Chief of Indonesian National Police
Jl. Trunojoyo No. 3
Jakarta Selatan
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 721 8012
Fax: +62 21 720 7277
Email: polri@polri.go.id

4. Ms. Harkristuti Harkrisnowo
General Director of Human Rights
Department of Law and Human Rights Republic of Indonesia
Jl. HR Rasuna Said Kav.6-7 Kuningan, Jakarta 12940
Tel: +62 21 525 3006, 525 3889, 526 4280
Fax: +62 21 525 3095

5. Mr. Ifdhal Kasim
Chairman
National Human Rights Commission (KOMNAS HAM)
Jl. Latuharhary No. 4B Menteng
Jakarta Pusat 10310
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 3925230
Fax: +62 21 3151042/3925227
Email: info@komnasham.go.id

6. Irjen Pol. Adityawarman
Head of Aceh Regional Police
Gedung Mapolda Lt. 2 –
Jln. T. Nyak Arief Jeulingke Banda Aceh
Tel: +62

7. AKBP Susilo Teguh Raharjo
Head of Aceh Besar Police Station
Jl. Ibrahim Saidi Kota Jantho, 23819
Tel: +62 651 21636

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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)


Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-105-2009
Countries :
Issues :
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.