Aussie investigation not welcome

Jakarta. National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri has rejected any suggestion that the Australian government would investigate Indonesia’s elite antiterror police unit, Densus 88, amid allegations that members of the Ambon-based unit tortured peaceful political prisoners.

“There are no foreign authorities who can conduct any form of investigation of our officers,” Bambang told reporters at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday. “It’s impossible.”

Member of the elite unit in Ambon, which receives a large portion of its funding from the Australian and United States governments as well as training, have been accused of torturing 12 people arrested for attempting to raised the banned South Maluku Republic (RMS) flag during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s visit to the province on Aug. 3.

Over the course of a week, the victims were allegedly blindfolded, beaten, pierced with nails, forced to hold stress positions and forced to eat chillies. One of the men, Yonias Siahaya, has been left paralyzed from the waist down, it was reported.

Bambang, in his comments on Tuesday, was reacting to a statement from the Australian ministry of foreign affairs that it had sent officials to Ambon to investigate the claims.

“The Australian government is aware of and concerned by the allegations of brutality [raised by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch] toward political prisoners,” the statement said.

“Australian Embassy officials [in] Jakarta have made inquiries with the Indonesian National Police, including during a recent visit to Ambon, where these allegations were discussed with both government and civil society representatives,” the official said.

Bambang also avoided answering a question about funding for Densus 88, also known as Detachment 88.

“Aid can take various forms, it can be in a form of cooperation et cetera but the point is, no foreign party can investigate my officers,” he reiterated.

The Sydney Morning Herald, meanwhile, has quoted Brig. Gen. Tito Karnavian as saying that the Ambon-based unit of Densus 88 would be disbanded because the alleged separatists were peaceful.

He denied suggestions there was a wider problem of excessive force within the unit.

The United States has reportedly pulled funding or other assistance to the Ambon-based members of the unit since 2008.

Foreign assistance for Indonesia’s often notorious security personnel is a sensitive topic in many donor nations, with most human rights opposed to providing any form of assistance until Indonesia addresses its military’s alleged war crimes and human rights abuses.

Police deny Densus 88 tortured detainees
Erwida Maulia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 09/14/2010 8:23 AM

Australia has sent an official to Maluku to investigate the alleged torture of political detainees by Indonesia’s elite antiterror unit Detachment 88 (Densus 88), an allegation quickly denied by the National Police.

Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald daily reported Monday that Australia had sent an official to provincial capital Ambon to investigate claims that the unit, which receives millions of dollars in funding from Australia each year, brutalized a group of separatists last month, beating and dehumanizing them in detention.

“The Australian government is aware and concerned about the activities of Detachment 88 officers, dispatching an official two weeks ago to Ambon, Maluku’s capital, to investigate the claims,” the Herald said.

The arrests of the Republic of South Maluku (RMS) separatists occurred in August after police and intelligence officers uncovered a plan to fly dozens of banned separatist flags and other politically sensitive material attached to helium-filled balloons over Ambon when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and foreign guests were in the city for Sail Banda event.

Indonesian Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Marwoto Suto, however, denied that Detachment 88 had anything to do with the alleged arrests, saying it was not part of the unit’s job description, which is to specifically handle terrorism suspects.

“Separatist movements should be the responsibility of the local police, and or Brimob [Police Mobile Brigade] squads assigned to conflict areas, such as Aceh, Papua and Maluku,” Marwoto said. “Detachment 88 handles terrorists, not separatists.”

He did not deny, however, the possible mistreatment of prisoners by local police.

Marwoto said the police might conduct an internal investigation into the alleged torture, but only after the Australian government sent an official letter regarding the plan to investigate the case.

“It’s only normal that they come [to National Police headquarters] first to give the letter; otherwise the Maluku Police might reject the investigation,” he said, adding he had not heard about the arrival of an Australian official probing the case.

Marwoto confirmed that Detachment 88 was indeed supported by the Australian government.

“What I know is that the support is not cash, but in the form of training, education and equipment,” he told The Jakarta Post.

In June, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report saying that the unit, in cooperation with prison guards and local police, tortured political prisoners in Maluku.

The international watchdog conducted interviews with more than 50 political prisoners between December 2008 and May 2010. They found that Detachment 88 officers tortured those who tried to “peacefully wave banned symbols”.

In line with the report launch, HRW asked all benefactor countries, including Australia, the Netherlands and several EU countries, to stop funding Detachment 88 until there is an impartial investigation into its activities.