The Jakarta Post, 4/15/2003 1:19:47 PM
Amnesty investigates reports that Indonesian military tortured
Papuans
JAKARTA (JP): Amnesty International said on Tuesday that Indonesian troops had
reportedly tortured villagers and torched homes during a hunt for separatist rebels in
Papua province.
The rights group said in a statement that a human rights activist who was briefly
detained at Jayawijaya Military District Command in the town of Wamena on April 12
reported seeing at least 20 people in detention.
"Many of the detainees were reportedly injured as a result of being tortured," the
London-based group said as quoted by AFP.
It said two of the group were arrested in the nearby village of Ilekma earlier that day
during an army search for suspected members of the Free Papua Movement (OPM)
seperatist group.
"A number of other people were beaten, houses broken into and possessions stolen.
Nine houses were also burnt down," Amnesty said.
"According to local human rights monitors, Ilekma was targeted on the basis of
information extracted under torture from detainees in (the district military command)."
Amnesty urged supporters to write to Indonesian military chiefs and embassies
expressing concern for the safety of the detainees and appealing for an end to torture.
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