Activists allege abuses in Papua

Activists allege abuses in Papua

JAKARTA: Indonesian troops are suspected of killing a prisoner in custody and of torturing several other people in a recent operation in easternmost Papua province, a human rights group said Monday.

The military denied the charges, the latest in a series leveled at soldiers in the separatist-minded region on the western side of Papua New Guinea island.

In a 68-page report, the local human rights group Coalition for the Protection and Upholding of Human Rights said the alleged abuses were committed in central Papua in April by troops searching for the killers of two soldiers in the area.

Papua is home to a small separatist movement that has been battling Indonesian rule since 1969.

Anum Siregar, a spokesman for the group, said the team had collected data on 35 separate cases of arrest, torture and intimidation and 17 arson attacks on homes in the central Papuan region of Wamena.

"There has been torture of suspects ... especially in military detention before they were handed over to the police," the report said.

One of the suspects -- identified as Yapenas Murib -- died in a hospital on Apr. 14 after being tortured in military custody, the report said.

Col. Djazairi Nachrowi, a military spokesman in Jakarta, said he was aware of the allegations, but that they were false.

"The process of investigation and the interrogation of those implicated in the case was according to our procedures," he said.

"There were no reports of violence." --AP