U.N. EXPRESSES CONCERNS ABOUT INDONESIA'S JAILS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 003248 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, DRL/PHD, INR/EAP NSC FOR EPHU E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM ID UN SUBJECT: U.N. EXPRESSES CONCERNS ABOUT INDONESIA'S JAILS REF: JAKARTA 2698 JAKARTA 00003248 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) This message is Sensitive but Unclassified -- Please handle accordingly. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture briefed diplomats--including Dep Pol/C--November 23 on his recent visit to Indonesia. He said he found evidence of torture of some detainees by police at a number of holding cell-type jails. The alleged beatings, etc., were not connected to politics: treatment of detainees in the politically sensitive area of Papua was considered positive, for example. There was no evidence of torture by the military. In the final report to be issued by the UN, the Special Rapporteur likely will point to specific steps meant to address the problem. The GOI provided full access for the visit and we believe it will move quickly to try to make improvements in this area. END SUMMARY. GIVEN FULL ACCESS ¶3. (U) Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, was given full access to Indonesian jails, prisons and other detention facilities during his November 9-24 visit. Briefing diplomats at the end of his visit on November 23, Nowak commended the GOI for inviting him and for the progress Indonesia has made in protecting human rights since democracy. ALLEGATION: TORTURE IN SOME JAILS ¶4. (U) Nowak alleged he had evidence of "systematic" torture in many jails he visited in Java. He depicted a system in which torture prevailed during the time of initial detention in a crude attempt to coerce confessions. He noted that torture is not systematic throughout Indonesia but rather only in certain jails. Over half the detainees in the worst facilities he visited--jails in Yogyakarta, Central Java and Jakarta--were tortured, based on observations and interviews. On several occasions, Nowak walked in on interrogations at which the suspect apparently was in the process of being beaten, he alleged, and in one of those cases the local head of the Internal Investigations Unit (CID) was the interrogator. Typically, torture could be traced up the chain of local command to the head of CID and other senior officers at police stations, he said. ALLEGATION: CONFESSIONS COERCED ¶5. (U) Nowak alleged that torture typically occurs soon after detention in the pre-trial stage. Detainees are kept for months without access to a lawyer or the courts, increasing their vulnerability. Noting that safeguards at the pre-trial stage are virtually non-existent, Nowak documented beatings by fists, sticks, cable, iron bars and hammers. In some cases, detainees were shot in the legs at close range, electrocuted, burned, and heavy objects were placed on their feet. Linking torture to rampant corruption, Nowak said all torture victims were those too poor to pay bribes while wealthier detainees typically could buy their way out of abuse and long detentions. Detainees alleged corruption throughout the system. CONCERNS ABOUT CHILDREN ¶6. (U) The situation for children was just as bad or worse, Nowak claimed. He talked to children as young as 10 years old who were subjected to severe physical abuse by both police and other inmates, Nowak said. Children also are mixed in with the general population in both jails and prisons which leads to further abuse for vulnerable young detainees. (Note: The minimum age of criminal responsibility in Indonesia is eight years old.) THE POSITIVES ¶7. (U) The situation, however, at locations he visited outside Java was much better, including: Makassar; South Sulawesi; Bali; and Papua. Not only did his team find fewer infractions, but also more willingness to address them. At a JAKARTA 00003248 002.2 OF 002 jail in the Papuan Wamena highlands--an inaccessible area where rumors of separatist sentiment is rife--authorities put four police officers on disciplinary suspension when Nowak presented evidence that they had tortured detainees. Prisoners being held for political reasons, such as raising the Papuan independence flag, had not been tortured, and in fact were allowed to mix with other prisoners in a better part of the prison, he said. Officials running the Wamena jail and other places where treatment was more humane all appeared to be well educated on human rights, Nowak said, an indication that awareness was a factor in preventing torture. ¶8. (U) Prisons and pre-trial detention centers Nowak visited also had few instances of torture, and he found no indication of torture at military detention centers, which do not hold any civilians. NEXT STEPS ¶9. (U) Nowak said his preliminary report will be drafted in the next few days and presented to the GOI, which will have six weeks to comment. Its comments will be incorporated into the final report to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in March. Nowak, an Austrian human rights lawyer, is making twelve recommendations in his preliminary report. Condemnation of torture at the highest official levels tops the list. Second, stiff criminal penalties of several years in prison should be applied to perpetrators. The GOI is in the process of revising the criminal code to include torture, officials assured Nowak. Third, he recommends an independent system to monitor detention centers with unannounced visits and an independent criminal investigation mechanism. Other recommendations include: time limits for police custody to 48 hours; better safeguards such as habeas corpus; independent autopsies following each death in detention; separation of minors and adults; prohibition of corporal punishment; and mechanisms to enforce prohibitions of violence against women. REFORMS NEEDED ¶10. (SBU) Nowak seemed fair-minded and he stressed that the problem of detainee torture must be seen in the context of the dramatically positive improvements in Indonesia's human rights situation in the new democratic era. As noted, the GOI provided full access for the visit and we believe it will move quickly to try to make improvements in this area. The government has demonstrated a willingness to vigorously pursue reforms in other areas of human rights so this visit should help senior policymakers address this issue. Indonesia will need to institute multi-faceted reforms that address the entire legal justice system in order to address UN concerns, which will take time. HUME