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INDONESIA: Police officers torture a young woman to force her husband's surrender

December 18, 2009

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-175-2009

18 December 2009
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INDONESIA: Police officers torture a young woman to force her husband's surrender  

ISSUES: Torture; arbitrary arrest and detention; violence against women
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) continues to receive reports of police torture in Indonesia, the latest of which involves the illegal arrest and torture of a young woman by Jakarta Metropolitan police officers and sector police in Natar, South Lampung. The woman was allegedly tortured over two days with electric shocks to obtain information in a criminal investigation involving her husband.

CASE DETAILS:

According to information that we have received from the family of the victim, the Lampung Legal Aid Institute and KontraS, the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence, on 24 July 2009 at around 3am, police officers from Natar and Jakarta illegally arrested Mrs. Muliyana, 24, at her home in Natar, and took her away in a police vehicle. During the trip to the Natar sector police station an officer of the Jakarta Metropolitan police (Kepolisian Daerah Metro Jakarta Raya/Polda Metrojaya), Mr. Eva Agustina, interrogated Mrs. Muliyana regarding a bank robbery at BNI in Jakarta that her husband may have been involved with. Mrs. Muliyana said that she did not know about the robbery. In response she was electrocuted by Agustina six times, using three different parts of her right arm, as seen in the photo above (closer shots can be viewed here: Photo 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6). Two more electroshocks were used on the victim while the car sat parked in front of the sector police station.

The interrogation continued at the station at around 3.30am, during which Mrs. Muliyana was beaten and pulled around by her hair, while being asked for information about the location of stolen money. By 4.10am no information had been obtained from the victim, and she was reportedly taken to her brother's house in a police vehicle. During this trip a police officer Ade Ros allegedly hit the detainee in the face another three times and pulled at her hair. At 2pm the next day she was re-arrested and driven to Jakarta, a trip of a few hundred kilometers by car and ferry.

After arriving at the Jakarta Metropolitan Police Station the victim was once more kept in the transport vehicle on station premises (next to the room of the criminal investigator or ditreskrimum) and electrocuted by Agustina. In the meantime her husband, Mr. Azwan Effendi had surrendered to the North Sumatera police after arriving in Medan and had been taken to the same station in Jakarta to be interrogated alongside his wife.

We are told that at around 2.10pm on 25 July Mrs. Muliyana was taken to the second floor of Unit III of the Criminal and Violence department (kejahatan dan kekerasan/Jatanras) where Agustina electrocuted her again in front her husband. The shocks were applied to her stomach. As a result of the interrogation we are told that Effendi's alleged partners in the bank robbery were arrested by the same officers. 

The two detainees continued to be interrogated about the missing money until 6pm, with electric shocks reportedly used every 15 minutes. No new information about the money was reportedly obtained. The police then kept Mrs. Muliyana in detention at the station for five more days until July 30 when, with no evidence to warrant further detention, she was released at 1pm.

Since Mrs. Muliyana's release she has continued to receive intimidating telephone calls from persons claiming to be Jakarta Metropolitan police officers. A month ago three officers came to her house and demanded that she give a statement for the investigation report into the complaint that she made at the station. She refused out of fear. The harassment has led the victim to file a report with the internal disciplinary unit of the national police headquarters, with the help of NGOs.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

The AHRC has documented a number of recent cases of police torture in Indonesia and it is evident that the practice continues to be routinely used. One major reason for this is the lack of its criminalisation, which means that although torture is banned in the constitution, the penal code does currently not list torture as a crime and no punishment is attached to the act.

Our latest cases involve police torturing demonstrating students (AHRC-UAC-135-2009), who were then jailed; no action has been taken against the officers. In the same month, July, a man in Aceh emerged from police custody covered in stab wounds and died in hospital shortly afterwards; no charges are yet being faced by police (AHRC-UAC-105-2009). In April a man in Central Java died after a short spell in detention, and his wounds indicated severe torture and were not at all consistent with the autopsy (AHRC-UAC-111-2009).

As a state party to the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Right (ICCPR), the country is obliged to respect and fulfill the standards laid out, such as article 2 (which deals with a victim’s right to remedy), article 9 paragraph 5 (regarding compensation for arbitrary arrest and detention), and article 7 (the right to freedom from torture). As a party to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Woman, the country is obliged to seriously investigate claims of abuse against women in custody, and to take adequate measures to protect women in custody. As a 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 and to put enforcement mechanisms in place that will help put an end to it. These obligations continue to be soundly ignored. For more information on the use and legal status of torture in Indonesia, please refer to our anti-torture campaign website. 

It should be added that earlier this year the chief of the Indonesian National Police enacted the new Regulation No. 8, which deals with the duties of police according to human rights principles and standards. It prohibits the use of torture under any circumstances.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send your letters to the authorities listed below to call for an impartial investigation into the arbitrary arrest and torture of Mrs. Muliyana; for disciplinary and legal action to be taken against the officers proven guilty; and for adequate compensation to be arranged for her.

The AHRC has written to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture and to the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences about this case.

To support this appeal, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear _______________,

INDONESIA: Police officers torture a young woman to force her husband's surrender  

Name of victim: Mrs. Muliyana, 24 years old.
Name of alleged perpetrators: Officers of the Natar police sector and the Jakarta Metropolitan police.
Date of incident: 24 July 2009
Place of incident: Jakarta, and in the Natar sub-district of south Lampung regency, Lampung province.

I am writing to voice my deepest concern regarding the arbitrary arrest and torture of a young woman to obtain information relating to a possible crime committed by her husband. According to information I have received, officers from the police sector of Natar and the Jakarta Metropolitan Police arrested Mrs. Muliyana on 24 July 2009 around 3.30am and tortured her on route to the Natar police sector station. She was interrogated and electrocuted six times in three places on her right arm in the police vehicle by officer Eva Agustina of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police (Kepolisian Daerah Metro Jakarta Raya/Polda Metrojaya). I am told that she was electrocuted twice more while the car was parked outside the station, and then beaten and pulled around by her hair during her interrogation inside the station. She was later beaten again in a police vehicle by police officer, Mr. Ade Ros.

I am told that the abuse continued on the same day after she was taken a few hundred kilometers to the Jakarta police district station. She was electrocuted twice more in the police vehicle while it was parked beside the criminal investigation room (Ditreskrimum), and later over a period of four hours at 15 minutes intervals, in front of her husband, who had surrendered in response to her arrest and torture. I hear that she was then illegally detained for five days until July 30, 2009, when police released her at 1pm, with no evidence to justify her arrest.

I'd like to remind you of Indonesia's obligations to act strongly against torture, as a state party to various international covenants, including those against torture, protecting women from violence and on civil and political rights (ICCPR). I am horrified to hear of the continual cases of abuse and murder that takes place in custody in Indonesia, and of the protection – through a lack of action – given to police perpetrators. 

I call for a prompt investigation into this case, followed by disciplinary and legal action. The victim must also be granted compensation as laid out in Article 14 of the CAT, and Articles 2 (3) and 9 (5) of the ICCPR. Indonesia must be seen to be taking the issue of torture seriously. As an important first step it must be fully criminalised.
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: +62 21 231 4138, +62 21 345 2685, +62 21 345 7782

2. 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 

3. Irjen Pol Wahyono
Chief of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police
Kepolisian Daerah Khusus Ibu Kota Jakarta Raya
Polda Metro Jaya
Jalan Sudirman Kavling 55
Jakarta Selatan
INDONESIA
Tel:  +62 21 5234262 
Fax: +62 21 5234051

4. Mr. Adnan Pandu Praja
Chief of the national police commission (Kompolnas)
Jl. Tirtayasa VII No. 20 Komplek PTIK Jakarta Selatan
INDONESIA
Tel. +62 21 739 2352
Fax. +62 21 739 2317

5. Mr. Patrialis Akbar
Minister of Justice and Human Rights
JI. H.R. Rosuna Said Kav. 6-7
Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan
INDONESIA
Fax: +62 21 525 3095

6. Mr. Beny K Harman
Chairman of Commission one of The House of Representative
(Komisi III DPR RI)
Jl. Gatot Subroto No. 6 Jakarta
INDONESIA
Tel : +62 21 5715569
Fax: +62 21 5715566 

7. Mr. Ifdhal Kasim
Chief of Indonesian Commission on Human Rights (KOMNAS HAM)
Jln. Latuharhary No. 4B, Menteng,
Jakarta Pusat 10310
INDONESIA
Tel:  +62 21 3925230  ext. 225/221
Fax: +62 21 3925227
Email: info@komnasham.go.id 

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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-175-2009
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.