Yeremia Sukoyo – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) on Sunday warned of fresh violence in the Central Sulawesi town of Poso and Maluku after the publication of a YouTube video depicting the torture of terrorism suspects.
Komnas HAM expressed concern on Sunday, two days after the nearly 14-minute video was uploaded on Youtube by user ArrahmahChannel.
It shows several topless men, said to be terrorist suspects, bound and lying on the ground, while dozens of other men in the uniforms of anti-terror police unit Densus 88 and the mobile brigade (Brimob) unit yell at the suspects and carry guns.
In the middle of the video, one of the suspects, called Wiwin, was told to walk to the middle of the field and remove his pants. He was then shot in his chest. Police officers ignored his cries of pain and continued interrogating him. The video had been viewed more than 20,000 times as of Sunday afternoon.
"We've got information that there will be underground movements related to the Densus 88 violence video, which has greatly upset many people in Poso and Maluku. Soon, those movements will do some unwanted things," commissioner Siane Andriani said on Sunday in Jakarta.
"We've contacted the LPSK [Witness and Victim Protection Agency] to protect witnesses in the video, and have also asked police to take legal action against people who have spread [the video] because it may trigger anger in Poso."
Siane added that Komnas HAM had received information about such videos and warned police about them a month ago.
An official with the Muslim Mass Organization and Institution Forum, Mustofa Nahrawardaya, said several Muslim leaders received four videos from a source, and showed them to National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo on Thursday.
Din Syamsuddin, the chairman of Indonesia's second largest Muslim organization Muhammadiyah, said the videos proved police officers' use of violence in handling terrorist suspects.
Din, as quoted by Indonesian news portal Tempo.co, dubbed it "gross human rights violations." Komnas HAM has called on Muslim leaders to discourage the public from resorting to violence. (SP & JG)