A delegation of Papuan church ministers is flying out to America this week to lobby the United States Congress to investigate Indonesia's legal claim over their province. The US House of Representatives has passed a bill questioning Papua's incorporation into Indonesia. The trip comes after a human rights court acquitted two senior police officers of gross human rights abuses – abuses that included two students being tortured to death in police custody.
Presenter/Interviewer: Di Martin
Speakers: Reverend John Barr, Uniting Church National Assembly; Brother Budi Hernawan, Catholic Church, Jayapura
Martin: Abepura is a college town about 20 kilometres from Papua's capital Jayapura. It was there, five years ago, that a police raid took place that was so brutal, it stands out as a particularly egregious act in a province renowned for human rights abuses.
The raid was sparked after unidentified assailants attacked the Abepura police station, leaving an officer dead. The police retaliation was swift and bloody, focusing on nearby student dormitories. This is Brother Budi Hernawan from Jayapura's Catholic Church.
Hernawan: They arrested about 104 people, including women and children. They beat them, they detained them and they tortured them in police custody in Jayapura. Two students died in custody, due to the torture, and one young man shot dead two or three kilometres from the crime scene.
Martin: The incident was so serious, that Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission became involved and Brother Budi was one of a team asked to investigate, The team found that 25 police officers should be brought to trial for gross human rights abuses.
It took three years for Indonesia's Attorney General to bring the case to court, and in the end, his office decided only two of the 25 police would stand trial.
They were the first hearings of Indonesia's Permanent Human Rights Court and was considered a test case of what justice could be expected by victims of gross human rights abuses. During the trials, neither officer was required to step down from his job. The hearings went well beyond the maximum time limit allowed to try such cases.
Finally, the judges found the prosecution failed to prove the two officers ordered the attacks, and they were both were acquitted. The victim's claims for compensation was also dismissed. Brother Budi Hernawan says the result is a travesty of justice.
Hernawan: There's some strong political influence to the judges and prosecutors because we told by some of the judges that they were under strong pressure from somebody, they couldn't say [who]. I think this is bad precedent for whole justice system in Indonesia and the whole area of human rights.
Martin: Budi, how are the survivors of Abepura coping, in the wake of these acquittals.
Hernawan: Well, they were almost paralysed, they were very upset and shocked. It's very, very hard for them even to hear the sentence.
Martin: An Australian Uniting Church Minister, John Barr, arrived in Jayapura on the day of the acquittals and says the Papuans he spoke to were despondent.
Barr: I think it really touches base with a whole lot of other issues, which are we simply don't trust the processes any more, we don't trust legal processes in Indonesia, don't trust government any more because never, at any point, has anything happened that really affirms us or that deals with with the issues.
Martin: John Barr says Papuan leaders are increasingly looking overseas to have their grievances heard. He's assisting a delegation of Papuan church ministers to travel to America and lobby members of the US Congress to pass a Bill that has far reaching consequences for Papua.
Passed by the House of Representatives three months ago, the Bill calls on the State Department to re-examine the incorporation of Papua into Indonesia, to urge Jakarta to support and respect Papua's special autonomy status and to ensure perpetrators of human rights abuses are made accountable. Reverend Barr says the Indonesian government is working hard to overturn the Bill.
Barr: Jakarta has responded by sending a number of delegations to lobby Congressmen over this bill and never have Papuans been invited to be part of that delegation, so the Uniting Church has decided to give it some financial support towards a group of people from the church to present their views to the Congress and support passing of the Bill.
Martin: John Barr fears that if Jakarta continues to ignore Papuan issues and frustrations, and Indonesia's security forces continue to abuse their power, Papuans could be tragically provoked.
Barr: In fact, people were describing the situation to me as woktu mera, which means "red time" or time of preparation, and there's a sense of something going to happen. And I think that Jakarta needs to understand that, needs to start taking the Papuans seriously, otherwise consequences down the line could be horrific.
Martin: What do you mean, those consequences could be horrific?
Barr: Well, at this point, the Papuans have been able to maintain peace within community, despite lot of intimidation from the military. One asks for how long can Papuans maintain that line when constantly undermined by legal processes, by political processes? We are really encouraging them to maintain this peaceful line because if there's a violent reaction against Indonesia, my fear is that the Indonesian military would simply crush them.