Laksono Day W | Sunday, March 4, 2012 | 08:53 pm
LONDON, KOMPAS.com - Amnesty International urges the Government of Indonesia to revise and validate the Book of Criminal Law and the new law according to international human rights standards, including provisions explicitly prohibit and punish acts of torture.
According to customary international law, the right to not be tortured or mistreated is absolute and can not be revoked. As stated by Campaigner - Indonesia and Timor-Leste Amnesty International Secretariat, Josef Roy Benedict, told Reuters in London, Sunday (03/04/2012).
"Moreover, Indonesia is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention against Torture and Punishment Measures or Other Cruel, Inhuman and degrading, as well as acts of torture and other ill-treatment in all circumstances," says Benedict.
The government should also ratify the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Actions or Punishment Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment, which will form an independent system of regular visits and to all places of detention by national bodies and international. In addition, the right to seek and enjoy asylum in other countries, free from persecution, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the rules of customary international law, binding on all countries, including Indonesia.
Benedict emphasized that the Government of Indonesia must ensure that asylum cases are processed in a fair and provided protection for those who need it. The Indonesian government must also ensure that their investigations related deaths due to torture an Afghan asylum seekers in immigration detention centers in West Kalimantan is an independent, impartial, and efficient.
"They were allegedly involved, including the relevant parties in charge of command, must be brought to justice and victims' families must be given reparations," he said.
On February 28, 2012, 28 year-old man was taken from Pontianak Immigration Detention Home to Hospital Soedarso. He was declared dead on arrival to the hospital. According to Indonesian police, the findings of the medical examination showed she died of blunt force trauma. His body was reportedly bruised from the beatings and cigarette burns on his wrist. Until now Indonesia has not set a police suspect.
The man and five other Afghans fled from Pontianak immigration detention center on February 26, 2012. When the police arrest and return them to the detention center, they are reportedly in good health. The man had pleaded for refugee status to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), but has been in custody since at least early November last year for violating the travel restrictions to the asylum seekers.
Amnesty International welcomes the fact that the government launch an investigation into the death of the man immediately. Authorities in Indonesia should ensure that investigations are carried out impartial, independent, and efficient. Those responsible must be brought to justice in a process that meets international standards of justice. Wider circumstances of this case should also be investigated, including procedures, oversight mechanisms, and training of staff, to ensure that such terrible events do not occur in the future.
Amnesty International says that the use of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials in detention is still widespread in Indonesia. Lack of accountability and the failure of the Penal Code to criminalize acts of torture in contributing to the culture of impunity.
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