http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/australian-authorities-not-welcome-to-investigate-alleged-torture-allegations-indonesian-police-chief-says/396029
Australian Authorities Not Welcome to Investigate Alleged Torture Allegations, Indonesian Police Chief Says Jakarta Globe | September 14, 2010 Jakarta. National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri has rejected any suggestion that the Australian government would investigate Indonesia's elite antiterror police unit, Densus 88, amid allegations that members of the Ambon-based unit tortured peaceful political prisoners. "There are no foreign authorities who can conduct any form of investigation of our officers," Bambang told reporters at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday. "It's impossible." Member of the elite unit in Ambon, which receives a large portion of its funding from the Australian and United States governments as well as training, have been accused of torturing 12 people arrested for attempting to raised the banned South Maluku Republic (RMS) flag during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's visit to the province on Aug. 3. Over the course of a week, the victims were allegedly blindfolded, beaten, pierced with nails, forced to hold stress positions and forced to eat chillies. One of the men, Yonias Siahaya, has been left paralyzed from the waist down, it was reported. Bambang, in his comments on Tuesday, was reacting to a statement from the Australian ministry of foreign affairs that it had sent officials to Ambon to investigate the claims. "The Australian government is aware of and concerned by the allegations of brutality [raised by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch] toward political prisoners," the statement said. "Australian Embassy officials [in] Jakarta have made inquiries with the Indonesian National Police, including during a recent visit to Ambon, where these allegations were discussed with both government and civil society representatives," the official said. Bambang also avoided answering a question about funding for Densus 88, also known as Detachment 88. "Aid can take various forms, it can be in a form of cooperation et cetera but the point is, no foreign party can investigate my officers," he reiterated. The Sydney Morning Herald, meanwhile, has quoted Brig. Gen. Tito Karnavian as saying that the Ambon-based unit of Densus 88 would be disbanded because the alleged separatists were peaceful. He denied suggestions there was a wider problem of excessive force within the unit. The United States has reportedly pulled funding or other assistance to the Ambon-based members of the unit since 2008. Foreign assistance for Indonesia's often notorious security personnel is a sensitive topic in many donor nations, with most human rights opposed to providing any form of assistance until Indonesia addresses its military's alleged war crimes and human rights abuses. ++ Post a comment Please login to post comment Comments Roland3:40pm Sep 14, 2010 Force feeding of chilli as torture - that's a very home grown one! Not even the Guantanamo fellows were able to invent that one... ...anyway, Densus 88 did a considerable good job in apprehending terror suspects, but it seems that there is, not only with elite units, but also with the regular National Police, no strong internal audit or control mechanism installed to successfully control and follow up on alleged misconduct. Uncontrolled power corrupts... foto4mike12:59pm Sep 14, 2010 Why not usint this Ambon Densus 88 to investigate FPI in Bekasi? Anyway, I still recall a high police official saying that "Police is a state entity and therefore needs to be respected". We will give you the respect you earned... [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
