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Indonesia: Authorities refuse prisoner medical care
Amnesty International Urgent Action - August 21, 2011
Papuan political prisoner Kimanus Wenda is in urgent need of medical treatment. He has a tumour in his stomach, and needs to be transferred to a hospital to undergo an operation. Prison authorities have refused to pay for his transport and medical costs.
Kimanus Wenda is being held at the Nabire prison in Papua province, Indonesia. He has a tumour in his stomach and is constantly vomiting. Prison doctors have confirmed that he needs an operation; however, Nabire does not have the necessary medical facilities available. Kimanus Wenda needs to be transferred to Jayapura, also in Papua province, where he can receive the medical treatment he urgently requires. His family and lawyer have requested that he be transferred to Jayapura but the Nabire prison authorities have refused to cover the cost of his transport and medical treatment. Under Indonesian Government Regulation No. 32/1999 on Terms and Procedures on the Implementation of Prisoners' Rights in Prisons, all medical costs for treatment of a prisoner at a hospital must be borne by the state.
Kimanus Wenda has been ill-treated in detention in the past. During his arrest and interrogation in April 2003, he was reportedly tortured or otherwise ill-treated by military officers, who beat, kicked and stamped on him. On 25 May 2011 Kimanus Wenda was beaten by prison guards after he and another political prisoner, Linus Heluka, attempted to file a complaint about a prison officer who had insulted a Papuan prisoner. At least four prison guards beat Kimanus Wenda with a thick piece of rubber and kicked him. The guards also hit Linus Heluka on the head and hand. Linus Heluka was then put in an isolation cell for two weeks.
Please write immediately in English, Indonesian or your own language urging the authorities to:
Head of Nabire
Prison
Arif Rachman
Lapas Klas IIb
Nabire, Jl. Padat Karya,
Nabire 98801,
Papua,
Indonesia
Fax: +62 984
24721
Salutation: Dear
Arif Rachman
Head of the Papuan
Provincial Department of Justice and Human Rights
Daniel Biantong
Jl. Raya Abepura
No. 37,
Kotaraja - Jayapura
99117,
Papua
Indonesia
Fax +62 967 586112
Salutation: Dear
Daniel Biantong
And copies to:
Director General
of Prisons
Drs. Untung Sugiyono
Ministry of Justice
and Human Rights
Jl. Veteran No.
11
Jakarta Pusat
Indonesia
Fax: +62 21 384
1711
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.
See also:
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