Soldiers in Papua torture video on trial for ‘disobeying orders’

Kompas – January 14, 2011
Video posted on YouTube showing two Papuan men being tortured by soldiers

Jakarta – Three members of the 753 Battalion are being tried by the Jayapura III-9 Military Court in the case of the torture of Papuans that was uploaded on the YouTube website.

This was conveyed by army (TNI AD) information office chief Brigadier General Wiryantoro on Thursday January 13. “The trial is open in nature and will be conducted in the framework of achieving legal certainty”, said Wiryantoro.

Wiryantoro said that on the one hand the soldiers were carrying out their official dues. They were also under pressure because there was evidence and information that many armed people were carrying out attacks. “However methods of interrogation such as this cannot be condoned and violate human rights”, said Wiryantoro.

According to the state-owned Antara news agency, the three members of the Cendrawasih Regional Military Command (Kodam) are Second Sergeant Irman Risqianto, Private First-Class Yakson Agu and Private First-Class Thamrin Mahanggiri.

At the first court hearing, the three were declared guilty of being involved in the mistreatment of local people while on duty during a security operation in an unstable area in Gurage village, Tinggi Nambut sub-district, Puncak Jaya regency, Papua.

They were charged under Article 103 of the Military Criminal Code, namely failure to comply with the orders of a superior, and face a possible jail sentence of two years and six months jail. Major Soemantri, an auditor, stated that because there was no testimony by the victims, the three were not charged under the articles on torture.

Earlier, four people were charged under the same articles and sentenced to five and seven months in jail. They are currently in the process of submitting an appeal.

Human Rights Working Group Director Rafendi Djamin said that international concerns over various cases in Papua has yet to provide the impetus for a concrete resolution to the human rights violations in Papua. (EDN/DAY)

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Human rights violations: Three members of army on trial in military court“.]