Violence against Political Prisoners (1)
Jerry Omona / Angga Haksoro - translated by Rosmi Julitasari
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They have been tortured in jailed. They have been stifled and humiliated.
Tortures against Papuan people have occurred since a very long time. Political prisoners have got the worst tortures.
Abepura Prison, located in Abepura, a little sub-district of Jayapura City, political prisoners in jail have experienced abuse and violence every day. These prisoners have been beaten and threatened for violating written and unwritten rules that are obtained in the prison.
A political prisoner, Buchtar Tabuni, said that he has been abused all the time. A simple mistake means that he would get violence.
Yusak Pakage, another political prisoner, said that he had been detained in a room of 3x4 m that was full of human waste for four days.
“I was beaten and it caused my head almost to tear apart. It had happened in a room that was full of human waste for four days. I still remember it now,” he said.
Yusak is one of political prisoners who got clemency from the Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono this year. He was released on July 7, 2010.
Yusak was charged for planning a rebel and inflammation in 2004, and the Jayapura Court decided ten years imprisonment to him.
“We have been very depressed. We have experienced violence. One of the victims was Ferdinand Pakage. He lost his sight after a prison guard, Hebert Toam, beat him. Ferdinand was put into an isolated cell, even though he lost his consciousness. He was rushed to the hospital after that, but it was too late, Yusak Pakage said.
There are 34 political prisoners in Papua now, but only Yusak Pakage and Cosmol Yual were awarded the clemency. 32 others are still in prison, because they refused to admit that they are guilty.
“I have no hard feeling. If I have good position in governmental body someday, I will be back to the prison to feed people who had abused me. I know that it is hard for other people to take that violence. But I am not them,” Yusak Pakage said.
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Yusak Pakage hailed from Paniai. He finished his study, from elementary school to university, in Manokwari, West Papua. Pakage went to Jayapura to continue his study on church and society in 2003.
Selpius Bobi is also a political prison in Papua. He had been imprisoned with Buchtar Tabuni and Filep Karma. He had been in jail since 2006 and was released on January 11, 2010. He was sentenced for his role in Abepura riot on March 16, 2006, and must serve six years imprisonment in Abepura prison.
Abepura riot happened after illegal miners were expelled from the area surrounding PT Freeport Indonesia’s mines in Tembagapura. Some Papuan people staged a demonstration to urge the closing of Freeport’s mining activities. Other demonstrations, to call out the same demand, were also staged in Jakarta and Makassar.
Selpius had been abused during his imprisonment. He had been isolated for two months, and beaten with gun.
“They sprinkled me with hot water for four days continuously. They also ordered us to beat our own friends. If we refused to do that, they would beat us. One of them almost stabbed my eye with rattan stick. I was very frustrated, because they forced us to hurt to one another. I was thinking, why they didn’t shoot us death? It would be better for us rather than to do violence like that,” he said. (to be continued)
Photo: VHRmedia/ Jerry Omona
Photo: VHRmedia/ Jerry Omona
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Violence against Political Prisoners (2)
Abepura prison, stands in the middle of Abepura city, is full of violence. This prison has three blocks, which each block is for political prisoners, child prisoners, and women prisoners.
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