BBC, Wednesday, 21 February 2007, 07:50 GMT
Jakarta criticised on Papua rights
At least 18 people in Indonesia's Papua province are serving jail sentences for
peacefully expressing political views, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says.
The rights group said several Papuans had been jailed in recent years for their
peaceful support for self-determination for the province. Opposition to Indonesian rule
in Papua has simmered since Jakarta took over from Dutch colonial control in 1963.
An official in Papua denied anyone had been jailed for peaceful protest. Jakarta has
been fighting a low-level insurgency for decades, with small, armed groups carrying
out sporadic attacks on economic and military targets in the province. But there has
also been continued non-violent protest from a much wider section of society, the
BBC's Lucy Williamson in Jakarta reports.
'Tool of repression'
The Human Rights Watch report highlights the cases of 18 people the group
describes as political prisoners. It includes the case of Filep Karma, a 45-year-old civil
servant convicted of rebellion after organising peaceful demonstrations and raising the
Papuan flag. He received a 15 year prison sentence. His case is not unique, HRW
said. "All too often Papuans not involved in the armed insurgency are caught up in
anti-separatist sweeps or arrested as troublemakers for peacefully expressing their
political views," the organisation's report said. The courts in Papua are "being used as
a tool in political repression", often handing down sentences harsher than those
sought by the prosecution, HRW noted.
The organisation calls on Jakarta to immediately release all political prisoners in
Papua and to drop any outstanding charges against individuals awaiting trial. The
government is also urged to repeal "vague and broad laws", which HRW said enable
prosecutions to violate international law. The head of Papua's Law and Human Rights
Department denied that anyone had been jailed for peaceful protest, but said that
some people had received sentences for belonging to separatist organisations.
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