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)