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Man dying after being beaten and tortured by Kostrad personnel
Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights Report – July 31, 2007
A West Papuan man, Yakobus Gimbanop, is reported to be dying in hospital at Tanah Merah after being tortured by Indonesian military personnel.
Yakobus Gimbanop from the Wabom tribal group was beaten and tortured at Military Camp 19 Korindo, Aseki. This incident was reported have occurred from about 29/07/07.
Aseki is on the Digul River inland from Merauke and adjacent to the Fly River bulge/PNG border area. It is about 250 kilometers north from Australia’s Torres Strait.
The perpetrators of this abuse, whose names are not known by the local sources, are reported to be personnel from Kostrad (Indonesian Military Strategic Reserve) from Java stationed at Aseki. (RMP 30/07/07)
One perpetrator of the offence is reported to have given the reason for his actions as the victim, Yakobus Gimbanop, could have been stressed and wanted to take the soldiers weapon.
Later reports indicate that after being tortured by the Kostrad personnel Yakobus Gimbanop was bound with yellow plastic bindings from the torture scene and delivered to the Police station (Polres). It is believed that the Police transferred him to hospital. (31/07/07)
Yakobus Gimbanop is reported to have server wounds and bruising over his entire body with an open wound through one eye, a broken nose and his mouth is severely injured (words used were shattered with wounds both inside and out his mouth).
Yakobus Gimbanop is said to be dying in a critical condition in hospital in Tanah Merah.
Based on the local reports Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights believes that the reason for Yakobus Gimbanop’s torture is a show of power by the Indonesian military to intimidate the local population.
The location is in the vicinity of a very large oil palm project, which has been established by a Korean company Korindo. The military camp where the incident is reported is called Camp 19 Korindo. Korindo Company has logging concessions in this area and at other locations in West Papua.
Barnabus Suebu, the Provincial Governor of Papua, is promoting oil palm plantations project of this kind. These projects are planned for bio-fuel and would involve the clearing millions hectares of rainforest in West Papua.
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