Rights abuses occur in Australian raids: House

Rights abuses occur in Australian raids: House

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

House of Representatives (DPR) legislators urged the government
on Tuesday to lodge a protest against what they call human rights
violations occurring during the raids on residences of
Indonesians in Australia recently.

"We demand that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodge a
protest against the treatment of Indonesians by Australian
authorities," said Amris Hasan, the deputy chairman of House
Commission I for defense, foreign and political affairs.

Amris was among the House's team of 10 legislators that went
to Australia from Friday to Monday to investigate a series of
raids and interrogations of Indonesian citizens by police and
intelligence agents there.

Separately, the commission's chairman, Ibrahim Ambong, who
headed the delegation, said that following their investigation
and interviews with some Indonesian citizens in Australia, his
team concluded that human rights abuses had been committed by
Australian authorities.

Australia conducted a nationwide crackdown against members of
the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) organization following the Oct. 12 bomb
attack on Bali, which killed more than 190 people, many of them
Australians. The raids targeted 23 Indonesians living in Sydney,
Perth and Melbourne.

JI has been put on the list of terrorist groups by the UN
Security Council.

Ambong said the delegation had met with some Indonesians
during their visit to Australia. One man, identified as Faisal,
said he was mistreated during his interrogation.

Faisal claimed he was hung upside down during the questioning,
Ambong said.

A number of homes where Indonesians lived were damaged and
several computers and immigration documents were confiscated.

"Some Indonesian citizens are too afraid to return to their
homes. They have been traumatized," Amris added.

Ambong and Amris said that the Indonesian government needed to
take necessary steps to deal with the alleged violations.

House Commission I questioned how the Australian government,
which claims to be a democratic country and respects human
rights, could condone human rights abuses.

The commission urged the Australian authorities to put a halt
to the raids and guarantee that they would not recur.

Ambong said the Australian government should have informed the
Indonesian Embassy and brought along several embassy staff
members to be witnesses during the raids and interrogations of
Indonesian citizens.

He called on the government to be proactive in protecting its
citizens abroad and to seek a guarantee from the Australian
government that similar incidents would not occur in the future.