Seven more people have been detained in Indonesia for alleged treason since a complaint filed with the United Nations last month, says the human rights watchdog TAPOL.

The complaint was submitted to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and UN Special Rapporteurs by Jennifer Robinson and Veronica Koman with the support of TAPOL on 15 April 2020.

Ten days later, April 25, more than 100 people participated in a peaceful rally commemorating the declaration of the South Moluccan Republic 70 years ago.

At least 23 people were arrested on that day. Most of them were released except the seven people detailed below.

Three people marched into the Maluku regional police headquarters in Ambon around 3.45 pm while carrying a large Benang Raja independence flag and shouting “Mena Muria”.

They are currently detained at Maluku regional police detention centre and have been charged with Articles 106, 110 and 160 of the Criminal Code:

Simon Viktor Taihitu, born 29 October 1963;

Abner Litamahuputy, born 25 January 1976, who had been imprisoned previously for his political activities

Janes Pattiasina, born 9 December 1968.

The four others are detained at Ambon police resort detention centre and have been charged with Article 106 of the Criminal Code. Their heads were shaved.

Derek Taihuttu, born on 28 October 1961. Taihuttu, a farmer, was arrested at 2 am and has been charged with Article 106 of the Criminal Code. Police arrested him based on the information provided by MS who had been arrested earlier that day for posting a photo with a Benang Raja flag on Facebook. MS told police that the instruction came from Derek Taihuttu.

Constantinus Siahaja, born on 25 May 1987. The farmer was arrested at around 4 am when he was asleep in Sidang Allah church in Hulaliu and has since been charged with Article 106 of the Criminal Code. Police arrested him based on the information provided by Derek Taihuttu that he kept a Benang Raja flag which was given by Derek Taihuttu.

Dominggus Saiya, born on 13 September 1968. He has been charged with Articles 106 and 110 of the Criminal Code for flying the Benang Raja flag on a flag pole outside his house.

Agusthinus Matalula, born on 5 August 1963. Police arrested him based on the information provided by Dominggus Saiya that Dominggus Saiya received the Benang Raja flag that he flew outside his house from Agusthinus Matalula. Agusthinus Matatula was given the flag by the late former notorious political prisoner Johan Teterissa. He has been charged with Articles 106 and 110 of the Criminal Code.

The remarks of renowned American philosopher John Dewey, “If you want to establish some conception of a society, go find out who is in jail”, has been quoted many times to elaborate on the state of freedom in many parts of the world, including Indonesia.

Indeed, reports about people being imprisoned, tortured or executed because of their views or faith are rife in the country.

Looking closely at prisons in Indonesia today, at least 20 people have been locked up for peacefully expressing their views about religion and politics, according to Amnesty International.

Eleven of them were charged with “blasphemy or defamation of religion” and the rest were peaceful pro-independence political activists.

Papua would probably quickly pop up in our minds when talking about the province with the highest number of imprisoned peaceful political activists. Indeed the easternmost province is home to an active armed pro-independence movement.

In western Indonesia, such “insurgence” ended after the government secured a peace agreement with the Free Aceh Movement in 2005.

List of punishers
However, Amnesty International has also identified the underdeveloped province of Maluku, which currently has no record of an armed pro-independence movement, on top of the list of punishers of peaceful political activists.

Eight people from Maluku are serving prison sentences for what the government calls makar (treason). They are Johan Teterissa, Ruben Saiya, Johanis Saiya, Jordan Saiya, John Markus, Romanus Batseran, Jonathan Riry and Pieter Yohanes.

Their only offence is unfurling the Benang Raja flag, a symbol of the aspiration for Maluku’s independence, on June 29, 2007.

Johan Teterissa was leading a group of 22 activists who performed the traditional war dance cakalele in front of then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the Maluku capital of Ambon, before they were all arrested for unfurling the flag.

If Indonesia respects rights to freedom of expression, they should not spend a single day in prison for such peaceful activity. Yet they were thrown behind bars for between 15 and 20 years. Johan was among those denied medical care while at least four of the activists have died in prison.

Amnesty International considers Johan and all those arrested like him prisoners of conscience, who are jailed for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly. Their arrests highlight the police’s failure to respect these rights.

Adding insult to injury, in March 2009, Johan and dozens of prisoners of conscience were transferred to prisons in Java, more than 2,500 kilometers away from their home. The isolation meant family visits were almost impossible, which is unnecessary, costly and cruel on prisoners and their families.

Maximum security prison
On November 28, 2016, I had a chance to visit Johan Teterissa at a maximum security prison in Nusakambangan, Central Java, with the help of Amnesty International and the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute as part of a campaign to release all prisoners of conscience in Indonesia.

As a Maluku native, I have been enjoying the fruits of freedom in Indonesia after the fall of Suharto in 1998 through my work as an artist. I have been able to freely express my thoughts through songs peacefully, but many in Maluku like Johan and other activists still lack this basic right to freely express political aspiration.

This is why I am calling on the government to release Johan and his friends and grant them amnesty.

Johan and his friends posed no threats to the president when unfurling the “forbidden” flag, but the government at that time considered the act treason. Their arrests clearly tarnish Indonesia’s image as a free country.

The administration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo must correct this mistake to restore Indonesia?s so-called freedoms.

Differences in political views must be clearly respected and expressing it peacefully in public never constitutes a crime. There was recent progress when all the prisoners from Maluku were transferred to a prison in the province, enabling easier access to visits for their families.

The transfer also means the administration is open enough to respect different political views.

Amnesty needed
However, relocating them to a Maluku prison is not enough. They must be granted amnesty. Through amnesty, the Jokowi administration could restore Indonesia’s image as a country where anyone can easily express their ideas freely through peaceful means without fearing criminal charges.

In early 2015, I had an opportunity to meet President Jokowi with other artists. I personally asked the President about the fate of political prisoners from Maluku and Papua. I was happy with his firm answer that he would free all political prisoners as soon as possible.

Shortly after, President Jokowi released and granted clemency to six Papuan political prisoners.

I am sure the transfer of the Maluku political activists is part of his plan to release and grant them amnesty. By doing so the President will rebuild trust and public confidence in the eastern part of Indonesia in the government.

I personally believe the peaceful call for independence derives from political frustration among activists in Maluku. One important fact is that Aboru, the village where Johan and other Maluku activists are from, is still very much underdeveloped and neglected by the central and local government.

The government must tackle the root causes instead of arresting them for peacefully expressing their political aspirations. The President must understand this background, so he would be convinced that granting amnesty is the right course of action to solve this case.

I am confident that President Jokowi will walk his talk to release and grant amnesty to all political prisoners in Papua and Maluku in the near future. So when he is asked “who is in jail?? he can confidently say Indonesia no longer has political prisoners there.

Glenn Fredly is a musician and campaigner for freedom of expression. This article was first published in The Jakarta Post.

Police have violently broken up a peaceful action being held by the Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) in Ternate, North Maluku, this week.

Action coordinator Rudhy Pravda said the action by 22 protesters on Wednesday was to mark 56 years since the signing of the New York Agreement on August 15, 1962, enabling Indonesia to rule the former territory of Netherlands New Guinea

Pravda said the FRI-WP had followed legal guidelines by submitting a notification with Ternate district police (Polres) three days before the action.

Police responded however with a written rejection on the grounds that the action conflicted with the sovereignty of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

“We said that we would still hold the action no matter what the consequences. Given the situation we held the action but with the position that we would accept bear the risk from Ternate Polres,” Pravda said.

“Before the action was broken up, we held negotiations with police. Several FRI-PW members were interrogated by four plain-clothes intelligence officers while they were waiting for protesters to arrive.

“They tried to intimidate the protest leaders, saying that they were not allowed to hold an action and if they insisted on protesting they must be prepared to accept the risk.

‘You want to die?’
“They said, ‘if you want to die please go ahead’,” Pravda said.

Pravda said the information on plans to block and break up the rally was obtained from protesters attending an earlier rally at the same location. He said that they wanted to negotiate with police but were instead threatened and intimidated.

“Then before they had even unpacked campaign materials for the action, they were surrounded by plain-clothes intelligence officers and uniformed police who banned them from holding the protest, and denying them a chance to negotiate their legal rights.

“I was pushed and shoved and a female demonstrator was also pushed and shoved, and they tried to use violence. The female action coordinator was pulled and grabbed by intelligence officers.

“Although we were determined to continue with the action they outnumbered us so in the end we weren’t able to hold the action,” Pravda said.

Field coordinator Gamaria Mansur said that in addition to breaking up the action, police also confiscated and tore up protest materials such as banners, placards and propaganda.

She added that earlier there had been an argument between protesters and police.

Protesters intimidated
“Police intimidated protesters with threats, saying, ‘do you want to die?’ and calling us traitors and so on.

“I was also pulled and grabbed, then after I shouted I was finally let go”, she said.

When sought for confirmation on the incident, FRI-WP chairperson Surya Anta said he strongly condemned the violent actions by police in Ternate.

“We strongly condemn it. The police’s actions in prohibiting and breaking up the action violate Indonesia’s own laws and regulations on freedom of expression,” he said.

About submitting this report for publication, Ternate police chief Assistance Superintendent Azhari Juanda, who was contacted by Suara Papua through his official Facebook account, has yet to responded.

Background
Following the launch of the Trikora military operation which was aimed at harassing and forcing the Dutch out of Netherlands New Guinea in 1961-62 and under the threat that Indonesia would move from armed infiltrations to a large-scale military attack, US sponsored negotiations that led to the signing of the New York Agreement on August 15, 1962.

The Netherlands agreed to hand over administration of Western New Guinea to Indonesia pending a UN administered plebiscite.

Seven years later under the newly installed Suharto dictatorship, the treaty led to the so-call “Act of Free Choice” in 1969 in which 1025 hand-picked Papuans “voted” at gun-point for the territory remain part of Indonesia.

An abridged translation by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the article was “Polisi Bubarkan Aksi FRI-West Papua di Ternate”.