Paras Indonesia, September, 28 2006 @ 02:27 pm
Authorities Deny Foul Play In Poso 3 Execution
By: Roy Tupai
Police and the Attorney General's Office have dismissed claims of procedural
violations during last week's executions of three Catholic militiamen, who received the
death penalty for their involvement in deadly religious violence in Central Sulawesi
province in 2000. Rights activists, lawyers and relatives of the three have alleged that
wounds to their bodies indicated they were tortured, probably stabbed, before facing
the firing squad. There have also been claims that an excessive number of bullets
were fired at the men.
National Police chief General Sutanto on Wednesday (27/9/06) rejected rumors that
Fabianus Tibo, Marianus Riwu and Dominggus da Silva were tortured or stabbed prior
to being executed in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu early last Friday. "It is not
true that there were [torture] wounds on Tibo's body," he was quoted as saying by
state news agency Antara.
He said lawyers and priests would have surely known if the three had been subjected
to any torture. "They had been in detention for a long time, and furthermore they were
accompanied by the priests and the others. So it's untrue," he was quoted as saying
by the Kompas daily's online edition.
Lawyers from the Advocacy Service for Justice and Peace in Indonesia (PADMA) and
activists from the People's Solidarity Against the Death Penalty (SMAHT) have
claimed that photographs of trio's bodies prior to burial indicated that each had been
stabbed and beaten, and shot between four to eight times, while two of Tibo's ribs had
been broken.
Sutanto denied the firing squads had pumped too many bullets into Tibo, Riwu and da
Silva, saying that legal procedures had been carefully followed. "The fact is, it was in
accordance with the provisions. Certainly, they were shot until they died," he was
quoted as saying by the Kompas daily's online edition.
Rules for executions are outlined in Law No.2/PNPS/1964 on the Procedures of
Implementing the Death Penalty. They include:
* The death sentence is to be carried out in the jurisdiction of the district court that
passed the sentence, unless the Justice Minister decides otherwise.
* The time and place of the execution will be determined by the provincial police chief
in consultation with the local chief public prosecutor.
* The provincial police chief shall prepare personnel [firing squads], equipment [guns
and bullets] and other requirements [select the location].
* The prosecutor shall inform the condemned prisoner of the execution date three
days in advance.
* If the condemned prisoner wishes to make any final request/statement, it must be
recorded in writing by the prosecutor.
* The condemned prisoner's lawyer may attend the execution.
* The execution must not be carried out publicly, unless the president decides
otherwise, and must take place as simply as possible [decoy vehicles are often used
to divert the media and relatives].
* To carry out the death sentence, the provincial police chief will form a firing squad
comprising a sergeant and 12 corporals led by a senior officer. [the 12 to 14 members
are generally from the police's Mobile Brigade - Brimob]
* Members of the firing squad will not use their own weapons and will be under the
orders of the prosecutor.
* The condemned prisoner will be brought to the execution venue accompanied by a
leader of his religion.
* The prisoner will be blindfolded or hooded. The prisoner will wear an outer garment
[such as an apron] with a red cross target covering his heart [to give the marksmen a
target to aim at].
* Not all of the guns will be loaded with live ammunition [generally, only one to six of
the guns contain live ammunition]. Some of the guns [at least half or most of them]
will contain blanks so that members of the firing squad will be spared from certainty
and emotional stress that they have killed.
* The prisoner may be standing or seated. If deemed necessary by the prosecutor,
the prisoner can be shackled and handcuffed, or tied to a tree or a post or a chair.
* The distance between the prisoner and the firing squad is 5 to 10 meters and the
prosecutor will give the order to fire.
* The marksmen will fire at the heart. If the prisoner does not die within a few minutes
due to poor marksmanship or unusual longevity, the leader of the firing squad will kill
the prisoner with a point-blank gunshot to the temple or the heart.
* A doctor will be present to confirm the death of the prisoner.
* People who feel wronged by the executed prisoner are permitted to visit the morgue
later to be certain the execution has been conducted.
'Misinformation'
Sutanto said the allegations that the Poso three had been stabbed or shot too often
were false and should not be disseminated by the media as facts. "Please, the media
should not spread falsehoods. Don't become the mouthpiece of those who make up
unwanted rumors," he said.
As for PADMA's plan to file a lawsuit over the executions, described as "judicial
murder", at the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands, Sutanto said: "Each
country has its own distinct legal system and it must be respected."
The lawyers and relatives of the dead have been demanding the bodies be exhumed
for new autopsies - to prove their allegations of torture and excessive shooting. The
Attorney General's Office said Wednesday that exhumations could only be ordered by
authorities in Palu. "It depends on the local authorities in the area that carried out the
executions. The executioners were the police and the local prosecutor's office,"
deputy attorney general for intelligence Muchtar Arifin was quoted as saying by
detikcom online news portal.
"I question the logic of having more autopsies, as a doctor already conducted
autopsies when the executions took place," he added.
Central Sulawesi Police chief Badrootin Haiti insisted there had been no improprieties
in the executions. He said three doctors from the National Police and three general
practitioners had conducted autopsies and found nothing amiss. He said that in line
with police guidelines, each 12-man firing squad had been armed with six live bullets
and six blanks, accounting for the numerous wounds to the prisoners' bodies.
National Police spokesman Paulus Purwoko said the impression of "stab wounds"
could have been created by two bullets entering a body at a similar point. "Or perhaps
they ricocheted or exploded when hitting the rosary crosses worn by the accused," he
said, adding that bruises and broken bones could be caused by fragments of rosaries
striking or entering the body.
He said all witnesses could vouch that none of the police had been armed with knives
or bayonets. He also said legal action should be taken "against those who spread
slander that causes riots".
The trio's lawyer Roy Rening on Thursday said police and prosecutors were obviously
afraid that independent autopsies would reveal evidence of violations. He said that if
there were really no violations, then police would have no objections.
Burials, Riot & Jail Break
Tibo and Riwu were buried on Sunday in Central Sulawesi. Tibo was buried in
Beteleme village, Morowali district, while Riwu was buried in Molore, Petunia district.
Da Silva had requested to be buried at his hometown on Flores island, East Nusa
Tenggara province, but authorities decided he should also be buried in Central
Sulawesi "for security reasons". The decision sparked strong protests and riots, so
his body was later exhumed and buried in Flores on Sunday. About 10,000 people
attended the peaceful ceremony.
The executions sparked a riot on Friday in the West Timor town of Atambua (which is
part of East Nusa Tenggara), with protesters attacking a prison and setting free about
205 inmates, torching vehicles, vandalizing government buildings and looting shops.
Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin said Tuesday that 164 of the
escaped prisoners had later given themselves up. He said President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono ordered the prisoners be rewarded for their honesty with sentence
remissions. "The president has asked me not to impose any sanctions on the
escaped Atambua prisoners but instead grant them a special remission because of
their honesty and goodwill to give themselves up after a few days on the run," he was
quoted as saying by Antara.
National Police deputy chief General Adang Darajatun said nine people had been
arrested over the riots. "The East Nusa Tenggara Police chief has reported that nine
people have been arrested and declared suspects. Three of them hail from Maumere
and the rest from Atambua," he said.
He said police were now investigating whether local students were involved in the
unrest, adding that many people were still being questioned.
In Jakarta, several legislators condemned the violence, but a political lecturer from the
University of Indonesia, Audy Wuysang, suggested the unrest was due to the
government's arrogance in pushing through the executions despite strong indications
that Tibo, Riwu and da Silva had not masterminded the Central Sulawesi sectarian
conflict. "In short, the state has once again shown its arrogance," he said.
The Vatican also expressed "great regret" over the executions. It said efforts by the
Pope to halt the executions were on a "strictly humanitarian level" and "inspired by
the well known position of the Catholic Church on the death penalty". Vatican
spokesman Federico Lombardi said the Holy See was saddened by the "painful"
news, calling capital punishment a "defeat for humanity".
Amnesty International said it was "deeply disappointed that despite the debate on the
death penalty that the case had sparked across Indonesia, the state went ahead and
killed these three men".
The European Union expressed regret over the executions and urged Indonesia to end
the death penalty.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla, visiting the US this week, said the executions should not
be linked to religion because the case was a purely legal matter.
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