Bojong suspects say they endured prison torture

Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor

Dozens of residents involved in a violent protest against the opening of a dump in their neighborhood in Bojong, Klapanunggal district, Bogor, complained of physical abuse while detained by the police and at Paledang Penitentiary.

Atang Ombak, 15, who was ordered released by the court because he is a minor, told visiting National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) chairman Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara on Thursday that the police officers had used them as "punching bags".

"During interrogation, my toes were pinned down by the table legs at which an officer was sitting. My neighbor, Ata Naping, lost a toenail. The police demanded Rp 10,000 (US$1.10) each to escape a beating," he said.

Atang told the rights commission that a middle-aged resident was forced to swallow toilet paper.

Another defendant in the disturbance in November, high school student Rohim Suminta, added that the officers often extinguished cigarettes on the teenagers' bodies, forcing them to admit to committing a crime.

The two said that while in the penitentiary, they shared a cell with 86 other inmates that was meant for a maximum of 27 people and that other inmates extorted money from them.

"Each of us had to give them as much as Rp 350,000. I told my mother and sister not to visit without bringing money, or I'd be beaten by other inmates," Rohim said.

Abdul Hakim said that police officers who beat suspects should be punished.

"It's definitely an offense and the National Police chief should do something about it," he said.

When confronted about the alleged police violence, Bogor Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. M. Taufik refuted the residents' statements to Komnas HAM.

"None of the stories are true, they're all lies," he insisted.