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INDONESIA: Arbitrary shootings, extra-judicial killings and intimidation of civilians in Poso

November 10, 2005

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

10 November 2005
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UA-202-2005: INDONESIA: Arbitrary shootings, extra-judicial killings and intimidation of civilians in Poso

INDONESIA: Summary killings; Police and intelligence services' inaction; Rule of Law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information concerning the shooting of two senior high school students in Jl. Gatot Subroto, Kasintuwu, Poso Kota, Central of Sulawesi, Indonesia on 8 November 2005.  At 6.50 pm, two unidentified persons riding motorcycles shot the two students before escaping the scene of the crime. This shocking attack on the two students has left the community of Poso distressed and afraid of further repercussions.  The community fears a repeat of the horrors during the 1998 social conflict.  The two high school students have been admitted to Poso Kota General Hospital, where they are in a critical condition. The latest information we have is that on November 9, the police chased and arrested one of the shooters but no further information has been received about the identification of the shooters as yet. 

This incident is the latest in a spate of attacks on civilians in Central Sulawesi.  There have been reports of earlier arbitrary shootings, mutilations and bombings of civilians in the cities and surrounding areas of Poso and Palu, Central Sulawesi.  These attacks show a complete lack of value for human life and the persistent pattern indicates the total ineffectiveness of the law enforcement agencies to stop them.  After the 1998 social conflict, the government established the Sintuwu Maroso Operation (joint security operation between the military and police) in 2001 and the Intelligence Operation in 2003. Despite the advent of these operations, the violations persist and the safety of all civilians remains considerably vulnerable.
Despite the seriousness of this matter, the Indonesian police and other governmental authorities have not taken any serious action to prevent or to stop the violence. In addition, up to now, there has been no evaluation on whether the Sintuwu Maroso Operation and the Intelligence Operation really work.    
  
We call for your urgent intervention in this matter. Please write an appeal letter to the Indonesian authorities requesting them to call for a thorough evaluation of the Sintuwu Maroso Operation and the Intelligence Operation, so as to hold responsible persons accountable for their actions.  An investigation also needs to be conducted into the incidents and any guilty parties should be brought to justice for their crimes. Please also urge them to take all possible measures to prevent acts of violence and protect to the safety of civilians in Central Sulawesi, and to introduce measures that will curb the widespread conflict.
 
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Victims: Two senior high school students, Ivon (17) and Nuraini (17)
Alleged perpetrators: Two men (unidentified)
Date of incident: 8 November 2005
Place of incident: Jl. Gatot Subroto, Kasintuwu, Poso Kota, Central of Sulawesi, Indonesia  Poso

At 6.50pm on 8 November 2005, two senior high school students were shot in Jl. Gatot Subroto, Kasintuwu, Poso Kota, Central of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The two unidentified shooters committed the crime on motorcycles and escaped after the shootings. As a result of the incident the atmosphere in Poso is tense and the people are afraid and worry that there will be a repeat of the social conflict that occurred during 1998.  The victims of the shootings have been admitted to the Poso Kota General Hospital, where they remain in a critical state. The latest information we have is that on November 9, the police chased and arrested one of the shooters but no further information has been received about the identification of the shooters as yet. 

Since 1998, approximately 1000 civilians have been murdered without justification and law enforcements agencies have been ineffective in preventing this situation. Violations and crimes committed against the civilians of Poso continue to occur and what is incredibly worrying is that they are becoming increasingly regular.  A week before, on October 29, three Christian schoolgirls were beheaded, and one student was injured by six unidentified assailants in Poso. The alleged perpetrators who committed this heinous crime were on motorcycles at the time and had their face covered. The police later located the heads and bodies of the victims, which had been left in different places. The latest information we have received is that the military have arrested five alleged perpetrators in relation to the beheading of the schoolgirls, one of whom is reported to be a former military police.  On October 31, a written threat was issued from an unidentified person or group stating that they will mutilate 100 heads of Christian people in Poso. On Eid Mubarak, November 4, a bomb was found in the house of the village head in Poso Kota. On November 6, another bomb was found in a house in Kayamanya, Poso Kota. It was also reported that there had been an attempted murder of a policeman by an unknown man. 

These attacks show a complete lack of value for human life and the persistent pattern indicates the ineffectiveness of the law enforcement agencies to prevent them.  After the 1998 social conflict, the government established the Sintuwu Maroso Operation (joint security operation between the military and police) in 2001 and the Intelligence Operation in 2003. Despite the advent of these operations, the violations persist and the safety of all civilians remains considerably vulnerable. The police authorities' inaction to establish an appropriate investigation into the horrific and distressing incidents demonstrates the incompetence and lack of professionalism of the regime. In many of the cases, they have arrested people who are the alleged perpetrators and then released them because they have not investigated the case thoroughly and thus have lacked sufficient evidence to continue.  They have also arrested various people who were in fact innocent. As a result, it is the civilians who suffer intimidation and fear on a day-to-day basis, remembering the horrors they witnessed during the 1998 social conflict and fearful that this level of violence is once again returning.  

For more information on the 1998 social conflict, please look at the BBC News article 'Indonesia '98: A year of living dangerously'. 

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the persons listed below and express your concern about the police and intelligence services' inaction regarding the shooting of the two students and the grave attacks, mutilations and bombings that are currently occurring in Poso.

Sample letter:
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Dear Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,

INDONESIA: Arbitrary shootings, extra-judicial killings and intimidation of civilians in Posa 

Victims: Two senior high school students, Ivon (17) and Nuraini (17)
Alleged perpetrators: Two men (unidentified)
Date of incident: 8 November 2005
Place of incident: Jl. Gatot Subroto, Kasintuwu, Poso Kota, Central of Sulawesi, Indonesia  Poso

I am writing to express my grave concern regarding the unprovoked shootings of two young high school students in Poso, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia on 8 November 2005. The shooters were two unidentified men who committed the crime while on motorcycles and escaped soon after. As a result of the incident the situation in Poso is very tense and the people are very distressed and afraid that the horrors during the social conflict of 1998 will occur again. The two students were admitted to the Poso Kota General Hospital, where they remain in a critical condition. The latest information I have received is that on November 9, the police chased and arrested one of the shooters but no information about the identification of the alleged perpetrators has been announced as yet. 

This incident is the latest in a spate of attacks on civilians in Central Sulawesi.  There have been reports of earlier inexplicable shootings, mutilations, bombings and intimidation of civilians in the cities and surrounding areas of Poso and Palu, Central Sulawesi.  These attacks show a complete lack of value for human life and the persistent pattern indicates the ineffectiveness of the law enforcement agencies to prevent them. After the 1998 social conflict, the government established the Sintuwu Maroso Operation (joint security operation between the military and police) in 2001 and the Intelligence Operation in 2003. Despite the advent of these operations, the violations persist and the safety of all civilians remains considerably vulnerable.

The police authorities' inaction to establish an appropriate investigation into recent horrific and distressing incidents demonstrates the incompetence and lack of professionalism of the regime. In many of the cases, they have arrested people who are the alleged perpetrators and then released them because they have not investigated the case thoroughly and thus have lacked sufficient evidence to continue.  They have also arrested various people who were in fact innocent. As a result, it is the civilians who suffer intimidation and fear on a day-to-day basis, remembering the horrors they witnessed during the 1998 social conflict and fearful that this level of violence is once again returning. 

In light of the above, I strongly urge you to intervene in this matter immediately.  Please stress to other government officials the urgent need for a thorough evaluation of the Sintuwu Maroso Operation and the Intelligence Operation, so as to hold responsible persons accountable for their actions.  An investigation also needs to be conducted into the incidents and any guilty parties should be brought to justice for their crimes. Please also take all possible measures to prevent acts of violence and protect the safety of civilians in Central Sulawesi, and introduce measures that will curb the widespread conflict.

Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND A LETTER TO: 

Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
President of the Republic of Indonesia
Istana Negara
Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara
Jakarta Pusat 10010
INDONESIA
Tel: + 62 21 3845627 ext 1003
Fax: + 62 21 3457782
Email: presiden@ri.go.id

PLEASE SEND COPIES TO: 

1. Mr. Gen. Sutanto
Chief of the National Police of Indonesia
Mabes Berkas Polri
Jl. Trunojoyo No. 3 Kebayouran Baru
Jakarta Selatan
INDONESIA
Tel: + 62 21 7218144
Fax: + 62 21 7207277, 7201402
Email: kapolri@polri.go.id

2. 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

3. Mr. Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara
Chairperson
The National Commission on Human Rights of Indonesia (Komnas HAM)
Jl. Latuharhary 4B
Jakarta Pusat 10310
INDONESIA
Tel: + 62 21 3925230
Fax: + 62 21 3925227
Email: info@komnas.go.id

4. Mr. Agung Laksono
Chief of the Indonesia House of Representative
Gedung DPR/MPR RI
Jl. Gatot Subroto No. 6
Jakarta
INDONESIA
Tel : + 62 21 5715509; 5715344; 5715621
Fax : + 62 21 5714469, 5734389
Website : www.dpr.go.id

5. Mr. M. Ichsan Loulembah
District Legislative Council
Conflict Area’s Caucus
Gedung DPR/MPR RI
Jl. Gatot Subroto No. 6
Jakarta
INDONESIA
Tel : + 62 21 5715509; 5715344; 5715621
Fax : + 62 21 5714469, 5734389
Website : www.dpr.go.id

6. Mr. Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Atten: Lydie Ventre
Room 3-016
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (general)
E-mail: lventre@ohchr.org

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-202-2005
Countries :
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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.