Abuses will not stop co-operation with Indonesia

Tom Allard JAKARTA and Kirsty Needham 

October 19, 2010

THE conduct of Indonesia's security agencies was sometimes ''not up to our standard'', the head of Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs, Dennis Richardson, said yesterday.

But the government would continue to co-operate with the agencies because of the over-riding objective of protecting Australian lives amid a continuing terrorist threat in Indonesia.

''In working with Indonesian agencies you can get tension between the responsibility you think you owe to your own citizens … and the conduct of some Indonesian agencies that are not up to our standard,'' Mr Richardson said yesterday.

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''We make [the] representations we think we should and condemn human rights abuses.''

A former head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Mr Richardson made the comments in a Senate hearing after being asked about alleged abuses of Malukan activists by Indonesia's counter-terrorism unit, Detachment 88, which Australia helps fund and train.

There has also been criticism by human rights groups of Australian co-operation with Indonesia's military, which is accused of continuing abuses in the provinces of Papua and West Papua.

The Herald yesterday revealed a graphic video showing two Papuans being tortured by men who appear to be members of Indonesia's security agencies.

One of the Papuans, stripped naked, has a fiery stick poked into his genitals, wailing in agony as he is aggressively interrogated about a hidden cache of weapons.

The Indonesian military and police yesterday vowed to investigate the video, as sources in Papua identified the victims as Tunaliwor Kiwo and Telangga Gire, two farmers who were arrested on May 30 in Gurage, in Puncak Jaya regency, during a violent sweep by security forces.

Mr Kiwo, allegedly the man being burnt, never returned and is presumed dead. A photo of Mr Gire posted in an internet report by freewestpapua.org on July 16 detailing the sweep resembles the second man in the video who has a knife placed to his throat.

The head of the Indonesian human rights group Kontras, Haris Azhar, said: ''The video clearly shows very barbaric tortures against the Papuans.''

He urged the Indonesian government ''to find out who the victims are and who the perpetrators are''.

Mr Richardson's candid assessment of the ''tensions'' when dealing with Indonesia's security agencies came after he was asked whether Australia, like the US, had banned co-operation with those Detachment 88 members who have served in Ambon.

Mr Richardson said Australia had not instituted a similar ban.

A Herald investigation last month uncovered fresh evidence of torture of political activists by members of Detachment 88 in Ambon in August, including savage beatings and attempted suffocation.

While an Australian embassy official had raised the alleged abuses with police and government representatives in Ambon in August, Mr Richardson said the embassy did not have the standing or resources for a full investigation. But he denied this meant the government was not interested in human rights abuses: ''We take an interest in it, we pursue it.''

He said: ''Given the lives Australians have lost in Indonesia, we think it is important to have a relationship with [Detachment 88].

''Where these agencies are going after people that kill our people, we help them.''

More than 100 Australians have died in terrorist attacks in Indonesia since 2002.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/abuses-will-not-stop-cooperation-with-indonesia-20101018-16qxt.html