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FKM - RMS Torture Survivors Speak Out
Johan Teterissa, born 1961, was an elementary school teacher in Aboru village, near Ambon, before he was imprisoned. He is a member of the RMS and on April 3, 2008, was sentenced to life in prison for treason. His purported crime was leading 27 other dancers holding RMS flags to protest Indonesian rule on June 29, 2007, in front of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at Merdeka Stadium in Ambon. All of the dancers were immediately arrested and taken to the police Detachment 88/Anti-Terror headquarters in Tantui, Ambon, where they were subjected to torture.
According to Teterissa, Detachment 88/Anti-Terror police officers demanded that he sign a statement calling on the Moluccas Sovereignty Front (Front Kedaulatan Maluku, FKM) to disband. The FKM is a banned organization that promotes the creation of an independent RMS, and Teterissa is an FKM board member in Aboru, Haruku Island. He says that when he refused to sign the document, police beat him almost continuously for at least 12 hours every day for 11 days. Several beat him with iron rods and stones, and slashed him with a bayonet. On June 30, 2007, four Detachment 88 officials beat him repeatedly with sticks and outside the unit’s office, kicked and pushed him down to the nearby Ambon sea, and continued beating him in the water. In another instance, officials kicked Teterissa out of a second floor room and down a set of stairs. Teterissa told Human Rights Watch that his chest was crushed, a number of his ribs were broken, and he was covered with black bruises. Ferdinand Waas
Ferdinand Waas, born in 1948, was an Indonesian Army officer, stationed in East Timor in the 1980s and 1990s. After his retirement at the rank of captain, he joined the RMS. He allowed RMS activists to use his house to plan the pro-independence dance at Merdeka Stadium in June 2007. He was arrested and in October 2007, an Ambon district court found him guilty of treason and sentenced him to ten years in prison. He was arrested along with the dancers at the stadium and detained at the Detachment 88/Anti-Terror in Tantui, Ambon. He said police officers beat him with billiard sticks, pieces of wood, and iron bars. “They knew I was an army captain, so I think they beat me harder, as if I was younger,” he said.
Ferdinand Waas
2010-10-10 Ferdinand Waas is in a state of heart pain and temporary in care in ICCU Room of the Public Hospital in Kudamati Ambon, as a result of torture and beatings inflicted upon him by Detachment 88. > see photo: His wife next to him in the public hospital. Ruben Saiya
Ruben Saiya is a 27-year-old farmer who was born in Aboru village, Haruku Island, near Ambon. He is now imprisoned in Kembang Kuning prison on Nusa Kambangan Island, off Java’s southern shore. On June 29, 2007, he was one of the 28 dancers who unfurled RMS flags in front of President Yudhoyono. He was arrested and an Ambon district court found him guilty of treason under Criminal Code articles 106 and 110. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. His two brothers, Arens and Yohanis, also joined the dance protest and they were sentenced for 8 and 17 years respectively and are serving their sentences in Semarang and Kembang Kuning prisons.
Saiya told Human Rights Watch that the Aboru villagers had decided to dance in a bid to protest their suffering in their own islands. “In the Moluccas, we cannot live a good life. We don’t get a good education. We cannot find work. The Indonesian people have taken over our islands,” he said. When the Ambon court announced his sentence, his wife, Johanna Teterisa, collapsed in the court room. “I don’t know what to tell her anymore,” said Saiya. Because of the expense and logistical obstacles his wife cannot travel to Java to visit her husband. Personal stories
Yonias Siahaya ''I am a human being, not an animal.'' Admitted to hospital after vicious five-hour beating that left his left side immobilised due to fractured hip. Pierced with nails while placed in stress position. Only after four days of coughing blood and vomiting from pain was he given medical care. Paul Lodewijk Krikoff ''It looked like they wanted to terminate us. One of the officers said they would make me into the anchor of the boat.'' Pistol-whipped, kicked, punched, burnt with cigarettes. Forced to eat chillies. Plastic bag put on head until near suffocation. Told to tongue-kiss a fellow prisoner. Andreas Maruanya ''They ordered me and Lodewijk to kiss each other''. Kicked and beaten at Detachment 88 post with sticks while blindfolded. Later attacked with dirty sandals. Refusal to engage in kisses resulted in being held in stress position with head bowed to floor and legs stretched wide. Jacob Sinay ''I was in a big pain. I simply confessed anything.'' Beaten for more than five hours while blindfolded and mouth covered in plastic. Interrogators put his leg under a table leg and then jumped on it. Told to lie down and systematically hit with hard object across legs, arms, fingers and head. Stefen Siahaya ''They cover my face with a plastic bag. I couldn't breathe.'' After breaking plastic bag, beaten in ribs, head, ears with wooden stick. Slapped with sandals and punched repeatedly. Yusuf Sahetapy ''It was torture. It lasted more than a week''. Beaten in the mouth, ear, cheek. In hospital for two days, but on release beaten again during further interrogations. Forced to hold painful stress positions. Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/protesters-tortured-beaten-and-humiliated-by-elite-force-20100912-156y9.html#ixzz1PtZKNa6Y |
Joko Takes One Step Forward, Two Steps Back on Human Rights Promises: HRW
Jakarta Globe | January 27, 2016 | Govt does not ‘walk the talk’ on rights issue The Jakarta Post | December 28 2015 Indonesia: Provide Medical Treatment to Johan Teterissa Amnesty International | DECEMBER 14, 2015 President Obama Must Emphasize Human Rights in Meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo Amnesty International Press Release | October 26, 2015 Indonesia/US: Rights Should Top Jokowi-Obama Summit Human Rights Watch | 23 Oct 2015 Indonesia: Bebaskan Johan Teterissa dan tahanan nurani lainnya Kontras | Senin, 29 Juni 2015 POLITICAL PRISONER: Six US Congressmen Call ForJokowi's Amnesty WN.com | Sunday, June 21 2015 World Report 2015: Indonesia Human Rights Watch Amnesty International Presents Jokowi With Lengthy To-Do List Jakarta Globe | Feb 25, 2015 Indonesia court sentences Maluku protesters - Rights activists denounce verdict, say peaceful demonstrations are not 'treason' UCAnews | January 23, 2015 South Moluccas: Nine Activists Sentenced to Prison Following Peaceful Protest UNPO | January 23, 2015 UNHRC membership ‘should boost RI’s human rights’ Jakarta Post| Thu, October 23 2014 RI re-elected as UN Human Rights Council member Jakarta Post | Wed, October 22 2014 Maluku trial highlights Indonesia's 'zero tolerance' of dissent Political prisoners face harsh sentences over 'peaceful' demonstrations ucanews.com / October 3, 2014 
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - PUBLIC STATEMENT
29 June 2012 Indonesia: Continued failure to investigate torture of political activists in Maluku AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL 8 July 2011 Indonesia: Kegagalan berkelanjutan dalam penyelidikan penyiksaan para aktivis politik di Maluku AMNESTY INTERNASIONAL 8 Juli 2011 Indonesia must investigate death of Maluku activist amnesty.org 13 September 2010 Malukan activists at risk of torture in detention in Indonesia amnesty.org 4 August 2010 Amnesty International UK is campaining for Maluku political activist: Johan Teterissa HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH released a report on June 23, 2010 that condemned the Indonesian government for criminally prosecuting peaceful expression by separatists in the Moluccas and Papua ▼
   September 13, 2010
Allegations of torture ... from left, Melvin Bremer, Paul Lodewijk Krikoff, Yonas Entamoin and Jacob Sinay in prison. » Read more |