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Nov-10-2012 15:42
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INDONESIA: Torture Victims Sentenced to Life Imprisonment on Fabricated Charges
Letter by William Gomes Salem-News.comMeanwhile allegations of their abuse are not investigated.
 File photo of police in Indonesia. Photo: crikey.com |
(SALEM) - Indonesia is a beautiful place full incredible sights and history and danger for those who speak out against the government.
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It is a government that still practices obscene torture and other degrading forms of illegal punishment as a person named Ang Ho learned recently.
Ambushed by the police in the JW Marriot Hotel on 1 April 2011 as he was about to leave his room with his wife, Mr. Hol would be brutalized and taken away after being approached by five or six police officers.
His interrogation took place in the hotel room; he was questioned regarding a murder case. According to what our Human Rights Ambassador William Nicholas Gomes has learned,, Ang Ho was beaten, humiliated and sexually assaulted by the police officers during the investigation.
Later he would be taken to the police station and asked many questions about places he had no idea about. No arrest warrant was produced upon his arrest, which is a standard police procedure.
This case branched out to include Sun An, who is a cousin of Ang Ho's, who also received the ridiculous life sentence. Mr. Gomes is calling for an impartial and effective investigation on the torture allegations in this case. Similarly, a serious investigation must also be conducted on the allegation of false charges. Those responsible for the torture, fabrication of charges and other human rights abuses experienced by Ang Ho and Sun An must be punished according to law, and their punishment must reflect the gravity of abuses committed.
| “ | Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono President of Republic of Indonesia Jl. Veteran No. 16 Jakarta Pusat INDONESIA Tel: +62 21 345 8595 Fax: +62 21 3483 4759 E-mail: presiden@ri.go.id Dear Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, I am William Nicholas Gomes,Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com. I came to know about the situation from ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME Urgent I was told that Ang Ho was ambushed by the police in the JW Marriot Hotel on 1 April 2011 as he was about to leave his room with his wife. Around five or six police officers approached him and interrogated him in the hotel room regarding a murder case. According to my information, Ang Ho was beaten, humiliated and sexually assaulted by the police officers during the investigation. He was later taken to the police station and was asked several questions regarding places he had no idea about. No arrest warrant was produced upon his arrest. Ang Ho’s cousin, Sun An, was also arrested and subjected to torture while being interrogated. Both of them were forced to sign investigative dossiers whose contents they did not understood due to their lack of proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia. The torture of Ang Ho and Sun An was conducted mostly in the middle of the night during their two week detention by the police. Methods of torture performed by the police include blindfolding, kicking, applying cigarette burns and sexual assaults. I also learnt that a police officer named Bahrudin forcibly took fifty million rupiahs (around USD 5000) from Sun An’s bank account. Although Ang Ho and Sun An were found guilty by the court, I am aware that there was actually not enough evidence to find them guilty. Judgments by the courts were only based on the investigative dossiers signed by Ang Ho and Sun An under threats and torture. I am therefore concerned that the charges against them were fabricated. I am aware that although torture has not been criminalised under the Indonesian legal system, Indonesia is a state party to the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UN CAT). As can be found in the text of the convention, it mandates state parties to ‘take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction’. The Chief of Indonesian National Police Regulation No. 8 Year 2009 also emphasises that police officers have to adhere to human rights principles as they carry out their duties, including the obligation to refrain from the practice of torture. I am also aware that interrogation of criminal suspects shall be conducted in registered places such as police stations; the interrogation of Ang Ho in a hotel is thus a violation of Indonesian law. Given the above, I am calling upon you to ensure that an impartial and effective investigation on the torture allegations in this case takes place. Similarly, a serious investigation must also be conducted on the allegation of false charges. Those responsible for the torture, fabrication of charges and other human rights abuses experienced by Ang Ho and Sun An must be punished according to law, and their punishment must reflect the gravity of abuses committed. Ang Ho and Sun An must also be provided with adequate rehabilitation. Yours sincerely, William Nicholas Gomes Human Rights Ambassador for Salem News.com www.williamnicholasgomes.com
Donate to Support William's Human Rights Stories; donate through PayPal Donate to: williamgomes.org@gmail.com ______________________________
Salem-News.com Human Rights Ambassador William Nicholas Gomes is a Bangladeshi journalist, human rights activist and author was born on 25 December, 1985 in Dhaka. As an investigative journalist he wrote widely for leading European and Asian media outlets. He is also active in advocating for free and independent media and journalists’ rights, and is part of the free media movement, Global Independent Media Center – an activist media network for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate telling of the truth. He worked for Italian news agency Asianews.it from year 2009 to 2011, on that time he was accredited as a free lance journalist by the press information department of Bangladesh. During this time he has reported a notable numbers of reports for the news agency which were translated into Chinese and Italian and quoted by notable number of new outlets all over the world.He, ideologically, identifies himself deeply attached with anarchism. His political views are often characterized as “leftist” or “left-wing,” and he has described himself as an individualist anarchist.
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