Surabaya – Peoples Democratic Party (PRD) activists Coen Husein Pontoh and Mohammad Soleh, suffered injuries as a result of torture after the riot by inmates at the Medaeng prison, Didoarjo, Surabaya, on June 11. The reason was that they were accused of being be brains and the leaders of the riot.

This riot was the second at the prison in the last two months. During a smaller riot which occurred on May 25, PRD activists were also accused of being the masterminds. The exact cause of riot on the night of June 11 is still unknown. Inmates totaling more than 500 succeeded in taking control of the prison. They turned off all the lights and set fire to anything which would burn.

The riot began in Block-F in the cell occupied by Coen and Pontoh. From this block a wall was broken through and caused rioting in other blocks. A SiaR source in the Medaeng prison said that the riot was triggered by a incident of sexual harassment by a prison driver against the wife of one of the inmates in the begin of last May.

Just after this followed the May 25 riot. Then, only the prison office windows were smashed by the inmates. However another sources said that the inmates rioted because the prison officers treated the prisoners harshly. Finally the authorities were able to take control of the situation.

However, Coen and Soleh were treated differently. A SiaR source said that both activists were taken to a military office, interrogated and tortured. As a result of the torture Coen's nose was broken. The torture of the two PRD activists was protested by the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Indonesia, YLBHI) who also demanded that the officers who tortured the two be proses in accordance with existing laws.

According to YLBHI, the acts of violence and terror by the security forces violate human rights, in particular the right of freedom from torture, terror and harsh and inhuman treatment.

Translators note:

Where the word "riot" appears in this translation, the original SiaR Indonesian language report actually used the term "pemberontakan" (rather than the more commonly used word "kerusuhan", riot). "Pembrontakan" is closer in meaning to "rebellion", "revolt", "uprising" or "mutiny".

[Slightly abridged translation by James Balowski]