Priok witness describes abuse at hands of soldiers<\/p>\n
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A witness testifying in the Tanjung Priok rights trial told the
\ncourt on Wednesday that she was abducted and stripped naked by
\nmilitary personnel during her detention following the bloody 1984
\nshooting incident.<\/p>\n
Aminatun, the only female witness from among the victims
\ntestifying in the trial of Maj. Gen. (ret) Rudolph Butar-Butar,
\nalleged that she was abducted from her home by five military
\npersonnel and was stripped naked by female Army personnel during
\nher interrogation at the Central Jakarta military district
\ncommand.<\/p>\n
She also alleged that the five military personnel who arrested
\nher at her home in Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta, stole her
\nbelongings.<\/p>\n
\"They stormed into my house looking for evidence, and at the
\nsame time took away all my books and my Singer sewing machine,\"
\nsaid Aminatun, one of two witnesses who gave evidence to the ad
\nhoc human rights tribunal on Wednesday. The other witness was
\nidentified as Hendriyana, a trader who lived around three
\nkilometers away from the scene of the shootings.<\/p>\n
Aminatun said she and six others were taken away without an
\narrest warrant in the early hours of Sept. 14, 1984, two days
\nafter the shootings.<\/p>\n
Aminatun also said she had not participated in the protest at
\nthe Tanjung Priok police headquarters that led to the 1984
\nmassacre. According to the National Commission on Human Rights
\n(Komnas HAM), at least 33 civilians were killed and 55 others
\ninjured in the incident. However, the military insists that only
\nnine were killed.<\/p>\n
Aminatun and six others were taken to the Central Jakarta
\nmilitary district command, where Aminatun's brother, Abdul Basir,
\nwas already being held for being among the crowd of Muslim
\nprotesters demonstrating at the police state, who were
\nsubsequently fired upon by the military.<\/p>\n
At the district military command, Aminatun was continually
\ninterrogated by the military on whether she had ever attended
\nallegedly \"provocative\" sermons in mosques in Tanjung Priok and
\nwhy she wore a Muslim head scarf. She was never given any clear
\nexplanations as to why she had been detained.<\/p>\n
\"Nobody answered me when I asked them what I had been arrested
\nfor. Instead, I was slapped in the face when -- out of fear -- I
\ndidn't answer their questions,\" she said, adding that she never
\nattended the sermons and that the wearing of a head scarf was
\nrequired of Muslim women.<\/p>\n
But Aminatun's greatest ordeal had yet to come, when during
\none of the interrogation sessions, female Army personnel removed
\nher head cover and stripped her naked.<\/p>\n
\"That was the most vile act they did to me. I felt so
\nhumiliated. Eventually I suffered a mental breakdown,\" she said.
\nShe became so emotional at this stage in her testimony that the
\npanel of judges had give her time to calm her down.<\/p>\n
After her detention at the military district command, she was
\nthen transferred to the military detention center in Cimanggis,
\nBogor regency, West Java, where she claims she was the only
\nfemale detainee and was also mistreated.<\/p>\n
\"I was finally released after 45 days of detention, and after
\nthat I was told to promise that never to reveal what I had
\nsuffered or witnessed in Cimanggis,\" she said, adding that some
\nof her fellow detainees had been tortured to a state of
\nparalysis.<\/p>\n
Aminatun also said that she was among the Priok victims who
\nattended the islah (Islamic reconciliation agreement) with the
\nmilitary officers involved in the incident -- including Butar-
\nButar and Gen. (ret) Try Sutrisno, who was at the time of the
\nincident the Jakarta military chief -- but was disappointed with
\nits results, and no longer believed in Try's own words that he
\nwas the person \"that should bear all responsibility\".<\/p>\n
\"I am therefore hoping that justice can be served through
\nthese trials, your honors,\" Aminatun told the panel of judges in
\nconcluding her testimony.<\/p>\n
Butar-Butar, who was the Tanjung Priok military district
\ncommander in North Jakarta at the time of incident, is the 13th
\nof 14 military officers to stand trial for violations against
\nhuman rights during the incident.<\/p>\n
Butar-Butar's trial was adjourned until Dec. 10, when the
\npanel will hear further testimony from witnesses.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/priok-witness-describes-abuse-at-hands-of-soldiers-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}