http://www.smh.com.au/world/light-sentences-for-torturers-slammed-20110124-1a2y0.html
Light sentences for torturers slammed TOM ALLARD January 25, 2011 "I screamed on and on" ... Tunaliwor Kiwo. Photo: Karuni Rompies JAKARTA: Three soldiers who tortured two Papuan men were yesterday handed prison sentences of less than a year and will be allowed to continue their careers, despite assurances that perpetrators of such abuses would be dealt with severely and dishonourably discharged. The verdict in the trial - closely watched by embassies and widely seen as a test of Indonesia's commitment to human rights - was slammed by activists and met with a terse response from the Australian government. ''The Australian government notes the guilty verdict,'' a department of foreign affairs spokeswoman said in an emailed statement yesterday. ''The Australian government will continue to follow reports of human rights abuses in Indonesia and to raise issues with relevant Indonesian authorities as appropriate.'' Adding to the disquiet were comments made by the President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, on Friday, when he described the incident as ''minor'' and complained about having to explain the conduct of the soldiers to foreign leaders. The soldiers were caught on video repeatedly poking the genitals of a screaming Papuan man with a burning stick. The video - revealed in the Herald - also showed the man having a plastic bag tied around his head while another man has a large knife placed against his neck. In later videotaped testimony, one of the men - Tunaliwor Kiwo - told of being tortured for two days, including being repeatedly beaten, held over a burning fire and have a concoction of chillies and detergent rubbed over his open sores and cuts. But, after first resisting international pressure for a trial and pretending another group of soldiers was responsible, the military only charged the men with disobeying orders when it finally brought the matter before a military court. Yesterday a panel of military judges sentenced the most senior of the soldiers, Second Sergeant Irwan Riskianto, to 10 months imprisonment. Riskianto was the deputy commander at the military post in the Papuan district of Puncak Jaya where the two men were abducted after their motorcycle broke down. Papua is an impoverished region of Indonesia where many of the indigenous population resist rule from Jakarta. First Private Yakson Agu, who applied the burning stick to Mr Kiwo's penis, was sentenced to nine months in prison. First Private Thamrin Mahangiri, who pressed the knife against the throat of Telangga Gire, will be jailed for eight months. In each case, the sentences were less than what prosecutors demanded. They were also well below the maximum punishment of 2½ years in prison for disobeying orders. Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Priyatna, the military spokesman in Papua, told the Herald that none of the soldiers would be discharged. Some observers, already disappointed that the soldiers had not been tried for more serious offences such as assault or kidnapping, or brought before the rarely used human rights court, were further angered and surprised by the decision not to discharge the men. Speaking to military and police officers on Friday, Dr Yudhoyono said that there had not been any gross rights violations since he took office in 2004. ''Just because of a minor incident perpetrated by three soldiers, I have to explain the incident to the world, the UN, the EU [European Union] and the US,'' he said. [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/
