Indonesia’s human rights body unsatisfied with military tribunal on Papua abuses

Posted at 22:35 on 15 November, 2010 UTC

Indonesia’s National Commission for Human Rights, KOMNAS HAM, says it may establish a human rights tribunal to look into abuses by the military in Papua.

It claims that a recent military tribunal merely paid lip service to the attempt to bring justice to the perpetrators of torture.
JB reports...

“Last week, a military tribunal sentenced four soldiers to up to seven months in prison for beating 30 Papuans in March. In what has since been described by rights activists as a deception timed to coincide with visits to Indonesia by Australia’s Prime Minister and the US President, the military had assured that those soldiers appearing at the tribunal were involved in the May 30th torture of two Papuans depicted in a widely-circulated video. The military command in Papua has since admitted that the military cannot find the perpetrators of that torture which involved burning of one of the victims’ genitals. KOMNAS HAM says it will try to unearth more facts about that incident and other reported violations to decide whether to set up its own tribunal.”

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