Nethy Dharma Somba and Bagus BT Saragih, Jayapura/Jakarta – In what one rights activist called a "miscarriage of justice", a military tribunal sentenced three soldiers to eight to 10 months in prison on Monday for torturing two native Papuans.

The Jayapura Military Court sentenced Indonesian Army Second Sgt. Irwan Riskiyanto, the deputy commander of the Infantry Battalion's Gurate military post in Puncak Jaya, to 10 months in prison.

His subordinates, First Pvt. Yakson Agu and First Pvt. Thamrin Mahangiri received nine and eight month sentences respectively.

A three-member panel of judges led by Adil Karo-karo said the defendants were guilty of insubordination when they tortured Telengga Gire and Anggen Pugu Kiwo on May 27, 2010.

The incident, which occurred behind a military checkpoint in the Tingginambut district of Puncak Jaya regency, was recorded by a fourth soldier under orders from Iwan. The 10-minute video later circulated online via YouTube and drew criticism from the international community.

The judges said defendants' action had tainted the Indonesian Military (TNI). "I am warning you, never do this kind of action again. I do not want to see you again in this court," presiding judge Adil told the defendants.

The trio's prison terms were lighter than requested by prosecutors, who had asked the court to sentence the defendants to 12, 10 and nine months in prison respectively. Prosecutors had demanded a longer sentence for Agu, who burned Kiwo's genitals during the incident.

National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) member Ridha Saleh said he was disappointed with the verdicts and with the insubordination charge levied against the defendants. Komnas HAM's probe of the case did not result in a recommendation to form a human rights tribunal to try the soldiers.

Haris Azhar, chairman of the Jakarta-based Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, said that the lenient sentences were proof that the TNI was reluctant to reform. "The court only punished low-ranking [non-commissioned] officers, while their superiors were untouched," Haris said.

Usman Hamid from the International Center for Transitional Justice called the rulings as a "miscarriage of justice".

"The widely distributed video clearly reveals that one of the defendants poked the victim's genitals with a smoldering wooden pole. How could that be merely seen as disobeying orders or insubordination?" he said in a statement. "The government's decision to try the defendants in a military court is a recurrent mistake," he said.

London-based Amnesty International said it was "concerned that these sentences do not match the severity of the crimes".

"The fact that the victims were too frightened to testify due to the lack of adequate safety guarantees raises serious questions about the trial process," Laura Haigh, the group's Southeast Asia Research and Campaign Assistant, said.

"As a state party to UNCAT [the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment], Indonesia is legally bound to prohibit torture and other ill-treatment in all circumstances," Amnesty said.

TNI spokesman Rear Adm. Iskandar Sitompul said that the Jayapura Military Court had been impartial and free from intervention. "The trial was open to the public. It is proof of our commitment to conduct the trial transparently," he said.

In a speech to leaders of the TNI and the National Police last week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono referred to the torture of Telengga and Kiwo in Papua as only "a minor incident".