Indonesia has urged the international community to speak up and take decisive action against racial violence at a United Nations forum in Geneva, Switzerland.

But Indonesia’s call comes amid concerns of racial discrimination at home.

The UN Human Rights Council last Wednesday held an urgent debate on racial violence, the forum of which was requested by several African countries in response to the rise of racial violence, particularly in relation to the murder of African-American George Floyd that has attracted global attention and given greater prominence to the antiracism movement Black Lives Matter.

READ MORE: Jayapura police question students for holding forum protesting Papuan activists trial

“In connection to this, Indonesia, among others, called for respect and tolerance of racial and ethnic diversity at the community level, the strengthening of the rule of law and accountability of law enforcement agencies and the expansion of human rights education in police academies and other law enforcement agencies,” the statement read.

In addition to speaking in a national capacity, Indonesia, represented by Indonesia’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, Hasan Kleib, was also entrusted with delivering the joint statement on behalf of the core group of the Convention Against Torture Initiative (CTI), which consists of Chile, Denmark, Fiji, Ghana, Indonesia and Morocco.

On behalf of CTI members, Indonesia called for “a zero-tolerance policy against racism and discrimination and reiterated the importance of a people-centered and violence prevention approach in law enforcement”.

Tainted by racism at home
However, Indonesia’s vocal stance on the global stage is tainted by persistent issues of racism at home.

As the Black Lives Matter movement began to go global, Indonesians flooded public forums with the hashtag #PapuanLivesMatter, drawing attention to several controversial cases of alleged racial discrimination, including the prosecution of the Balikpapan Seven — a group of Papuan student activists put on trial for their involvement in a series of antiracism protests in Jayapura, Papua, in 2019.

The protests came in response to a racially charged incident in which Papuan university students living in a dormitory in Surabaya, East Java, were targeted last August in what became widely known as the Papuan Uprising.

Reports said the students were physically and verbally attacked by security personnel and members of local mass organisations, who accused them of refusing to celebrate Indonesia’s 74th Independence Day.

Despite arguments that the seven students — Buchtar Tabuni, Ferry Kombo, Irwanus Uropmabin, Hengki Hilapok, Agus Kossay and Stevanus Itlay — staged the protests in a peaceful manner, a court in East Kalimantan found them guilty of treason.

Ironically, the issuance of the verdict coincided with the Geneva forum, during which Jakarta, in its national capacity, also delivered a statement expressing concern about the acts of violence and discrimination in many parts of the world, particularly due to the rise of racial violence and hate crimes.

The Balikpapan District Court in East Kalimantan sentenced the students to months in jail last Wednesday.

Demands for acquittal
Members of public, human rights advocates and activists had demanded the defendants be cleared of all charges, while prosecutors sought sentences of up to 17 years’ imprisonment.

Contacted by The Jakarta Post for comment, Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said that “as a matter of principle, Indonesia is against any form of racism and discrimination.

“In the national context, racism is an aberration to our motto of unity and diversity, as Indonesia is a mosaic of multiple ethnicities and cultures.”

The decision by the lower court in Balikpapan was made with due diligence, he added.

“The incident of mistreatment of Indonesians of Papuan origin are isolated and do not in any way reflect the policies of the government,” Faizasyah told Reuters recently.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

TAPOL has condemned the political decision to cancel the early release of five political prisoners that were arrested in Jakarta for demonstrating in favour of self-determination of West Papua.

On April 24, the Central Court of Jakarta sentenced Paulus Suryanta Ginting, Ambrosius Mulait, Dano Tabuni, Charles Kossay and Ariana Elopere to nine months’ imprisonment; while Isay Wenda was sentenced to eight months.

A sixth prisoner – and they were known as the Jakarta Six – Isay Wenda was released last month on April 29 having served his full sentence, the human rights watchdog reports.

READ MORE: Jailing of Jakarta Six fuels virus fears over Papuan political prisoners

The Ministry of Law and Human Rights implemented a new policy on prisoners as a result of the covid-19 pandemic in early April, making provisions for the conditional release or assimilation of those who have served at least two-thirds of their sentences.

The remaining five political prisoners have to date served eight months and 12 days of their sentences.

Suryanta, Ambrosius Mulait, Dano Tabuni, and Charles Kossay are currently detained in Salemba Detention Center. Ariana Elopere is detained at Pondok Bambu Detention Center where 24 prisoners have tested positive for covid-19.

On Monday afternoon, the five remaining prisoners signed “letters of execution of sentences” and in the evening, guarantors signed “letters of assimilation”. The guarantor for Suryanta, Dano Tabuni and Ambrosius Mulait is the priest Suarbudaya Rahadian. The guarantor for Charles Kossay is his sister Sati Kossay.

Yesterday, at midday, they signed letters confirming assimilation release, tested negative for covid-19 and were given rice and instant noodles by the detention centre to take home.

After these preliminary steps which should have preceded their release, they waited a further 30 minutes and were then summoned by the Head of Registration of Salemba’s Detention Centre. He relayed to the prisoners that a political intervention from the central government had resulted in their planned release being cancelled.

The Jakarta Five will now serve out their full sentences before being freed on May 26.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Pacific Media Watch

The Indonesian human rights advocacy group TAPOL has denounced the sentencing by the district court of Central Jakarta which found six political prisoners guilty of treason yesterday and demanded their immediate release.

Paulus Suryanta Ginting, Ambrosius Mulait, Ariana Elopere, Dano Tabuni, and Charles Kossay were sentenced to nine months imprisonment, whereas Isay Wenda was sentenced to eight months imprisonment.

The six were arrested over their participation in a peaceful protest outside the State Palace in Jakarta on 28 August 2019, during which they flew Morning Star flags and chanted “Free West Papua”.

READ MORE: 63 political prisoners in Indonesia file urgent appeals amid virus pandemic

The first of their trials commenced on 15 December 2019. The prosecutors were seeking one year and five months imprisonment for each, except Isay Wenda, for whom prosecutors sought 10 months.

Suryanta, popularly known as Surya Anta, is the first non-Papuan Indonesian to be detained on treason charges over the West Papua self-determination cause.

The sentences include jail time that they have already served, including eight months for Isay Wenda with a release on 2 May 2020. The other five will still have to spend another month behind bars.

“One month is too long to be serving prison time in this critical pandemic period, as it is anticipated that Indonesia will reach its Covid-19 peak in the coming months,” said TAPOL in a statement.

Other West Papuan political prisoners charged with treason arrested during the uprising are on trial: seven in Balikpapan, four in Manokwari, four in Sorong, and one in Jayapura.

Twenty three political prisoners detained in Fakfak and 11 others in Sorong who were arrested in the lead up to 1 December 2019 and charged with treason are still awaiting trial.

The UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has stated that political prisoners should be among the first to be released amid the pandemic.

Human rights lawyers Veronica Koman and Jennifer Robinson, with the support of TAPOL, have submitted a joint urgent appeal to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and UN Special Rapporteurs on 15 April 2020.

“We therefore reiterate the urgency of releasing all political prisoners currently detained in overcrowded prisons where it is impossible to practice physical distancing,” said TAPOL.

“To organise or participate in a protest and to wave flags are internationally protected activities as freedom of expression and assembly are guaranteed under international law”

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz