11 NGOs demand early release of three Irianese
11 NGOs demand early release of three Irianese
JAKARTA (JP): Eleven non-governmental organizations (NGOs) protested yesterday the recent arrest by military officials of three Irianese for their alleged involvement in the Irian Jaya separatist movement.
The activists went to the National Commission on Human Rights seeking support for their demand for the immediate release of the three, whose whereabouts are still unclear.
"We want the rights commission to investigate the arrest and to ask the military officials to immediately release the three," Bambang Widjojanto, who led the delegation, told commission members Marzuki Darusman and Soegiri.
Bambang, who is chairman of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), said the arrest was made in violation of the Criminal Code Procedures. The Code stipulates that only police officials and authorized investigators have the authority to make arrests.
"The military officials also failed to provide the three men's families with copies of the warrants," he added.
The NGOs included Circle for Participatory Social Management, the Institute for Human Rights Protection, and the National Forum for Human Rights Supervision in Irian Jaya.
Bambang said that there were actually four Irianese taken by the military officials. One of them, Reverend Abimelech Michael Woriyassy, who was taken together with youth activist Yusak Samuel Wonatorey last Tuesday, was released on the same day.
The two other Irianese arrested were Samuel Satia and Hengky Jokhu, who were taken on March 20 and March 25 respectively.
Bambang said that Michael was interrogated at the West Jakarta Military District about a recent fatal riot in Jayapura, the capital city of Irian Jaya.
"The Irianese might have been arrested because the military suspected them of masterminding the recent riot in Jayapura," he said.
Bambang said his office had been trying to track down the three Irianese by contacting the Jakarta branch of the Bakorstanas security coordinating body, and the Jakarta Military Command. None of the efforts have borne results, he said.
"An on-duty officer at the security coordinating agency said that no Irianese were brought there. We have not received any reply from the Jakarta Military Command yet," he said.
The riot broke out after the local residents were prevented from paying their last respects to separatist leader Thomas Wapay Wainggai who died on March 12 in Cipinang prison in Jakarta, and whose body was flown to Irian Jaya for burial at home. Four people, including an off-duty military official, died in the incident.
Bambang suspected that the Irianese were arrested because of an alleged link with a number of separatist leaders, including Kelly Kwalik, Daniel Kogoya and Moses Weror.
Another representative of the NGOs, Reverend Phil Erary, said the military officials should have provided the families of the three Irianese with clear explanations as to why the arrests were made.
Marzuki Darusman promised to contact the local military offices to ascertain the whereabouts of the three Irianese, and to visit their relatives in order to seek further information surrounding the arrests.
Hengky's wife told The Jakarta Post last night that she had gone to the security agency office twice, once on Wednesday and once on Thursday, but was denied entry. (imn)