Policeman to face trial over Papua rights abuses<\/p>\n
Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar, South Sulawesi<\/p>\n
The indictment and dossier of the human rights violation case in
\nAbepura, Papua province, has been handed over to the Human Rights
\nTribunal in Makassar, South Sulawesi province. It is the only
\nhuman rights tribunal in the eastern part of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The 20-centimeter-thick dossier, was handed over on Wednesday
\nby a prosecutor from the South Sulawesi Prosecutors Office,
\nMailan Syarief to the head of the tribunal, Andi Haedar.<\/p>\n
The ceremony was witnessed by head of the Directorate of Gross
\nHuman Rights Violations at the Attorney General's Office, Agung I
\nKetut Murtika.<\/p>\n
The indictment accused two senior police officers of
\ncommitting gross human rights violations in Abepura, some 20
\nkilometers south of Jayapura, the capital of Papua in 2000.<\/p>\n
They were Jayapura Police Mobile Brigade unit commander, Brig.
\nGen. Johny Wainal Usman and former Jayapura Municipal Police
\nchief, Adj. Sr. Comr. Daud Sihombing.<\/p>\n
Mailan, the acting head of the Abepura ad hoc prosecution
\nteam, was optimistic that they would attend the trial. Johny is
\ncurrently in Aceh, as vice commander of the Mobile Brigade troops
\nthere, while Sihombing is still head of the Papua Police
\nInformation Office.<\/p>\n
\"Both are still in active duty, in Aceh and Papua. However,
\nthey have promised us they will attend the trial,\" Mailan said.<\/p>\n
Normally, when a dossier is handed over to the court, the
\nsuspects in the case have to be held under the custody of the
\ncourt or the prosecutor. However, in the case of Johny and
\nSihombing, the prosecutors are confident that they will not
\nattempt to flee or conceal evidence or repeat the offense as they
\nare high ranking police officers.<\/p>\n
The indictment stated that both suspects had violated Law No.
\n26\/2000 on human rights violations, in particular Section 42
\nArticle 2 as the two had not prevented or stopped their
\nsubordinate's actions, which violated human rights. They also did
\nnot hand over their subordinates to authorized officers for
\ninvestigation and prosecution. The two could face a maximum jail
\nsentence of 25 years.<\/p>\n
According to Andi Haedar, the case would soon go to trial,
\nbecause based on regulations, the case must be completed within
\nsix months. The number of witnesses has reached 98, all residing
\nin Jayapura.<\/p>\n
\"We are ready to try this case. We have received the dossier,
\nwhich means, we can now form the panel of judges,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The trial has not been scheduled, as the date will be
\ndetermined by the panel of judges.<\/p>\n
The incident took place on Dec. 7, 2000. It started when 30
\nresidents wielding sharp weapons attacked and set fire to the
\nAbepura Police Subprecinct at about 1:30 a.m. local time.<\/p>\n
A policeman, Sgt. First Class Petrus Eppa was killed and three
\nother policemen wounded in the melee. In a separate attack on the
\nIrian Jaya Autonomy office in Abepura, a security officer, Markus
\nPadama was killed.<\/p>\n
An hour later, at about 2:30 a.m., the Abepura Police assisted
\nby the Jayapura Mobile Brigade pursued the perpetrators and
\nscoured the Wamena tribe residential area in Ninmin hostel area,
\nKobakma Mamberamo residential area and West Wamena, Yapen Waropen
\nhostel, the Lani tribe residential area, the Yali tribe and
\nAnggruk in South Jayapura and the Ilaga Students Union hostel.<\/p>\n
Police arrested and abused hundreds of residents, suspected of
\nhaving been involved in the attack. Three of them were killed.
\nElkuis Suhunaib, 18, died instantly, while two others, Johny
\nKarunggu, 18, and Orry Doronggi, 17, died after being tortured.<\/p>",
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