"Indonesia's Abu Ghraib" on eve of Obama visit
WPAT: Torture video reveals "Indonesia's Abu Ghraib" on eve of Obama visit *
October 19, 2010 - A new video shows the torture of helpless men in the Indonesian-ruled territory of West Papua. Monitoring groups are already describing the footage as "Indonesia's Abu Ghraib."The video reveals indisputably Indonesian security force brutality, and raises serious questions about the Obama administration's decision to embrace cooperation with Indonesian security forces engaged in active and ongoing torture.
The video, available at http://material.ahrchk.net/video/AHRC-VID-012-2010-Indonesia.html,
is the second in recent months
The extreme brutality revealed in this footage is
not new. What is new is that there is now additional video
evidence of the brutality suffered by Papuans for nearly
five decades. The international community can now clearly
witness the indisputably harsh reality of life for Papuans.
While Indonesia continues on the path of democratization and
peaceful resolution of disputes, one region is sent on the
opposite path: towards ongoing military domination,
widespread suppression of political activity, and routine
use of torture and other severe violations of basic human
rights. In West Papua, the brutal and unaccountable
Indonesian military and its accomplices, the militarized
police ( Brimob
Thanks to the courage of Papuan human rights advocates in the face of harsh security measures designed to silence them, the world periodically has been witness to the harsh rule of West Papua. In the past, the faith in international justice and humanity demonstrated by these courageous Papuans has been betrayed by the international community's deference to the Indonesian government's insistence that neither its course nor rule there not be challenged. Numerous governments have placed the territorial integrity of Indonesia and the desire to support its democratization process first. In the process, however, they have abandoned what could have been constructive efforts to uphold human rights in West Papua, which continue to be systematically violated.
Geopolitical and commercial goals
led the U.S. government to ignore Suharto dictatorship
atrocities
The system of security force rule and
repression of peaceful dissent has been dismantled in much
of Indonesia, but the same security system and the same
systematic human rights violations continue in West Papua
today. Such stopgap solutions as "special autonomy" have
been clearly rejected by the Papuan people. Despite the
continued human rights violations, the Obama administration
has continued the Bush administration's policy of support to
the Indonesian security forces. It has continued support to
the Indonesian military
The United States, under President John F. Kennedy, was responsible for the transfer of West Papua to Indonesian rule. In that act, the United States made itself co-responsible for the outcome of its actions. Successive administrations have not been sufficiently sensitive to the ongoing human rights violations, including torture to this day, which resulted from Indonesian rule.
President Obama's upcoming visit to Indonesia offers
an opportunity to end the silence on West Papua, and to
craft new policies that advance human rights rather than
lending support to human rights violators. Information about
the ongoing human rights violations in West Papua was heard
on September 22 by the House of Representatives
Sub-committee on Asia, the Pacific
The Obama administration should:
Insist upon an investigation and prosecution of those who recently tortured Papuans in Puncak Jaya
Seek an investigation by relevant United Nations human rights rapporteurs of this and other instances of torture in West Papua Suspend cooperation with Indonesian security forces accused of systematic human rights violations, including Detachment 88 and the Brimob (Mobile Brigade) of the National Police and the Indonesian special forces (Kopassus) Call for full and open access for journalists, humanitarian assistance personnel including the International Committee of the red Cross and other international monitors to all of West Papua Seek meetings between President Obama and Papuan human rights and civil society leaders during his visit to Indonesia Call upon the Indonesian government to carry out an internationally facilitated, senior-level dialogue process with Papuan officials and civil society designed to resolve the Papuan conflict peacefully, as was done in Aceh province
ENDS