January 2005
United Evangelical Mission
Communion of Churches in three
Continents
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Fax: 0202 / 8 90 04-79
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Diakonie
Social Service Agency of the
Protestant Church in Germany
Human Rights Desk
Stafflenbergstr. 76, 70184 Stuttgart
Tel: +49(0)711- 21 59 - 496
Fax:+49(0)711- 21 59 - 368
DW-mr@diakonie-human-rights.org
Watch Indonesia!
Watch Indonesia!
Planufer 92d, 10967 Berlin,
Fon/Fax: +49(0)30-69817938
watchindonesia@snafu.de
Aide-Mémoire
61st Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights
14th March to 22nd April 2005
Indonesia
Impunity must be brought to an end – conflicts must be resolved by peaceful
means
Beyond the terrible disaster that struck Indonesia in December 2004, the
last year in the world’s fourth most populous country was dominated by
an election marathon: All in all, Indonesians were called to the polls
three times, with a novelty being direct Presidential and Vice-Presidential
elections. If this was already a positive sign concerning the state of
democratisation in Indonesia, there were also some encouraging developments
regarding the enhancement of rechtsstaat, the constitutional state under
the rule of law: Here, especially, the work of the new Constitutional Court
needs mentioning, as do the steps taken towards improved separation of
the Executive and the Judiciary.
Nevertheless, the human rights situation in Indonesia is still cause
for great concern, especially with regard to the conflict regions of Aceh
and Papua and the continuing pattern of impunity for serious human rights
violations. As the current Chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR),
the Government of Indonesia (GoI) has a special responsibility this year
to come up with decisive steps to end and prevent human rights violations
and to bring perpetrators of both past and present crimes and injustices
to justice. In view of its role, Indonesia should also be encouraged by
Germany and the European Union to ratify the Covenants on Civil and Political
(ICCPR) as well on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
Human Rights Defenders
On September 7th, 2004, the human rights lawyer Munir died on board a plane
from Singapore to Amsterdam. That his death had been caused by arsenic
poisoning only became known when on November 11th, 2004, the results of
the Dutch authorities’ autopsy report became public. Munir was probably
Indonesia’s best known and most outspoken human rights defender whose work
has been honoured by prestigious Indonesian and international awards. Considering
the UN Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups
and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the Commission should urge the GoI to
ensure a thorough investigation of Munir’s death.
Human rights defenders in Indonesia still live in danger, especially
- but not only - in Aceh and Papua. According to one local human rights
organisation, at least 165 human rights activists have suffered from abuses,
which range from murder, detention, assault, torture and sexual harassment
to threats and intimidation. Numerous Acehnese and Papuan human rights
defenders have left the country. Considering the aforementioned Declaration,
the Commission should urge the GoI to take all necessary steps to ensure
the protection of everyone from threats, retaliation, pressure or any other
arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her work in the field of human
rights promotion and protection. The Commission should furthermore urge
the GoI that the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SG) on
Human Rights Defenders who wishes to visit Indonesia be granted an invitation
which includes access to Aceh and Papua.
Impunity
The gross violations of human rights perpetrated in East Timor in 1999
by pro-Indonesian militias supervised and supported by the Indonesian military
have been on the agenda of the UNCHR more than once. The outcome of the
trials before the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court in Jakarta and after appeal
procedures is a blatant example of the continuation of impunity in Indonesia.
For details and recommendations please refer to the Aide Mémoire:
„Prosecuting International Crimes. The UN should rethink justice initiative
and bring impunity in East Timor to an end”.
Impunity is not limited to the violence perpetrated in East Timor. Another
process pending before the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court – which has not received
much international attention so far – is dealing with the massacre committed
in Tanjung Priok in the North of Jakarta in 1984, in which dozens of Muslims
were killed. Expectations as to the outcome of these trials need to be
lowered even further as compared to those of the East Timor cases. Numerous
other serious violations of human rights, from the massacres in the wake
of Suharto seizing power in 1965/66 until the only recently committed terrible
crimes in Aceh, have so far neither been prosecuted nor tried. The Commission
should call on the GoI to initiate steps for a visit of the Special Rapporteur
on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, this time also to all conflict
regions.
Aceh
The situation in Aceh (Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam) had been cause for concern
already long before the province was ravaged by the tsunami disaster. From
May 2003 until May 2004, Aceh was under martial law. The following downgrading
to civil emergency did not bring any tangible improvements for the population.
The military operation continued unabated. Almost on a daily basis we received
news of attacks and fighting with up to ten casualties. For most human
rights violations – including extrajudicial killings, disappearances, arbitrary
detention, torture and rape – the Indonesian security forces are made responsible,
but for numerous – especially abduction, forced recruitment and extortion
– also the independence movement GAM. Only few of these reports are verifiable,
as independent observers have been denied access to the province – a fact
that in itself is reason enough to assume the worst. Despite these restrictions,
amnesty international has recently managed to document – and partly also
to verify – a larger number of human rights violations (cf. amnesty international:
Indonesia – New military operations, old patterns of human rights abuses
in Aceh (Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam), AI Index: ASA 21/033/2004, October
7th 2004). But even the official figures provided by the armed forces can
serve as an indicator of the immensity of human rights violations in the
province: Between May 2003 and September 2004, the military claims to have
killed 2,879 alleged GAM members and detained more than 2,000. The military
also acknowled that 662 civilians were killed in that period. Comparing
this to data provided in May 2003 by the military on the strength of GAM,
namely 5,251 fighters, would lead to the conclusion that GAM has been defeated.
As this is obviously not the case it must be assumed that the portion of
civilian casualties among the more than 3,500 deaths acknowledged by the
security forces is much higher than the stated 662. Transparency of what
happened during the time when Aceh was closed off and addressing the human
rights violations are preconditions for any sustainable settlement of the
conflict. The UNCHR should urge the GoI to invite the Special Rapporteurs
on Torture, on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences and
on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, especially to Aceh.
The province was still sealed off when the tsunami disaster struck.
Thus, it took some days until the immensity of the devastation became known
and the international relief operations got under way. Although foreign
troops and aid workers were eventually allowed access to the province,
the state of civil emergency was not revoked, leaving the Indonesian military
in Aceh great leeway of operation. Both GAM and the Indonesian military
declared a ceasefire, which, however, did not materialize. The operation
against GAM continued. The freedom of movement and operation of relief
workers was restricted by mandatory military escorts for the largest part
of Aceh. Relief efforts have been hampered in several ways by the military
abusing its control function in the relief operation. The UNCHR should
urge the GoI to ensure full and unimpeded access of relief workers to all
areas of Aceh. The Commission should furthermore call on the GoI to ensure
that the treatment of IDPs is in full compliance with the UN Guiding Principles
on Internal Displacement and other corresponding international standards.
The latest development is that the GoI and the rebel movement GAM are
meeting for talks in Helsinki. The UNCHR should support this initiative
and encourage the GoI to carry it through. However, in order to reach a
peaceful solution for the long-lasting conflict, negotiations with the
rebel movement can only be a first step. The conflict resolution process
needs to be intimately linked with the reconstruction process and in both
processes the participation of civil society must be ensured. This would
be a means for the Acehnese to pave the way for a realization of their
economic and social rights. Apart from the conflict resolution process
in the political realm, ensuring economic, social and cultural rights is
an essential precondition for a sustainable peace. The international community
should provide political and financial support for such an integrated conflict
resolution process. The UNCHR should urge the GoI to ensure the halt of
the military operation and to bring perpetrators of past and present human
rights abuses to justice.
Papua
The situation in Papua also remains a cause for concern. Attacks by the
security forces are continuing, with real or alleged independence supporters
being detained, abducted, injured or even killed. According to credible
reports, a military operation is currently being conducted in the region
of Puncak Jaya in the highlands of Papua. The operation has caused thousands
of people to flee their homes. There have been reports of several extrajudicial
killings and arrests of alleged independence fighters. As for a visit to
most regions of Papua a special permit is necessary, and documentation
and verification of events is difficult. Furthermore, violations of the
social, economic and cultural rights of indigenous Papuans continue to
take place in a number ways in the course of the exploitation of Papua’s
natural resources by Indonesian and foreign or transnational companies.
This receives less attention than in other parts of Indonesia, as Papuans,
not least due to the continued disadvantaged state of the province, find
themselves in a weak position when it comes to defending their rights.
Apart from the „Abepura case” which is currently being tried before
the first permanent Human Rights Court outside Jakarta, numerous serious
cases of past human rights violations still await prosecution and trial.
The UNCHR should urge the GoI to invite several Special Rapporteurs to
Papua, especially those on Torture, on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary
Executions and on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, as well as the
Special Representative of the SG on Human Rights Defenders.
Political developments with regard to the status of the province enhance
grievances of the population and the longing for independence. The President’s
visit to Papua and his issuing of a long awaited decree was not enough
to change this overall policy direction. To prevent further escalation
of the conflict the Commission should urge the GoI to take all necessary
steps to solve the problem. A discontinuation of the policies of dividing
the province and the strict implementation of the Special Autonomy Law
for the Province of Papua might be steps towards de-escalation.
The Moluccas and Central Sulawesi
During their tenure as Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and
Security and Coordinating Minister for Social Affairs and Welfare, both
President and Vice President were instrumental in bringing about the peace
accords Malino I and II, which ended the fighting in Central Sulawesi (Poso)
and the Moluccas. New incidents of violence in Central Sulawesi are, however,
cause for concern. In the region Poso/Palu as well as on the Moluccas,
only a very fragile peace has so far been achieved, which is characterised
by a segregation of the conflicting parties. Countless people still live
as refugees in camps or with friends or family far from home. Although
currently no longer subject to threats on their lives, these people are
denied basic human rights such as, for example, the right to housing. Many
of them are dependent on aid.
Human Rights Action Plan
During their last days in office, the Megawati administration released
a new comprehensive Human Rights Action Plan. This five-year Plan includes
a schedule for the preparation of ratification of international human rights
instruments. It furthermore comprises provisions on the harmonisation of
domestic legislation, on human rights education, on the application of
human rights standards and on monitoring, evaluation and reporting. The
new Government is now in charge of implementing this, in parts, ambitious
human rights agenda. Especially in its capacity as Chair of the UNCHR,
the GoI should act in an exemplary manner. Comprehensive implementation
of adopted international standards, especially also those that are already
constitutionally or legally codified, should be part of such a commitment,
as should a speedy ratification of key human rights instruments, especially
of the ICCPR, the ICESCR and the Rome Statute.
On the basis of the situation outlined above, we recommend the following
to the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights:
to encourage the GoI to immediately ratify the ICCPR and the ICESCR and
to implement its recently released Human Rights Action Plan;
to urge the GoI to secure the safety of human rights defenders in accordance
with the relevant UN Declaration, especially in Aceh and Papua, to ensure
a thorough investigation of the murder of Munir and to invite the Special
Representative of the SG on Human Rights Defenders to Indonesia with access
especially also to Aceh and Papua;
to call on the GoI to invite the Special Rapporteurs on Torture, on Violence
against Women, its Causes and Consequences, on Extrajudicial, Summary or
Arbitrary Executions and on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers to Indonesia
with access to Aceh and Papua;
to urge the GoI to ensure the cessation of the military operation in Aceh
and to carry through a conflict resolution process with the participation
of civil society until a sustainable peace is reached for the province,
to guarantee full and unimpeded access for relief workers and human rights
defenders in the relief and reconstruction process, to ensure that the
treatment of IDPs is in full compliance with the UN Guiding Principles
on Internal Displacement and other corresponding international standards;
to call on the GoI to halt the military operation in Papua, to bring perpetrators
of past and present human rights violations to justice, to ensure strict
implementation of the Special Autonomy Law and to take all necessary steps
for a peaceful resolution of the conflict;
to urge the GoI to end impunity and to undertake further and sustainable
steps on the way to establishing an independent judiciary, which is free
of corruption and fear.
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