(News Today) - Australia denies a report on an intervention in an investigation of alleged torture by members of an Indonesian counter-terrorism unit.Through its embassy here, Australia denies that it is conducting an investigation into allegations against the Indonesian Police Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88) in Maluku.
"This is incorrect," said the Consellor Public Affairs of Australian Embassy in Jakarta, Jenny Dee, in an email sent to Kompas.com, Tuesday. According to Jenny Dee, the visit of an Embassy officer to Maluku recently was part of a regular program of provincial visits.
"Any investigation is a matter for the Indonesian authorities," added Jenny Dee saying that publicly available reports of the allegations were raised by local government officials and NGOs.
As reported by Agence France Presse early this week, Australia sent officials to investigate alleged torture by members of an Indonesian counter-terrorism unit which receives funding from Canberra. A foreign affairs spokesman said Australia is “aware of and concerned by” claims against Indonesia’s Detachment 88, which is accused of beating a group of detained separatists and attacking them with lit cigarettes and nails.
The Sydney Morning Herald said Detachment 88 receives millions of US dollars in funding each year in funding from Australia to combat extremism in Indonesia, a northern neighbour. It said about 12 separatists were detained last month in Maluku province and were blindfolded and hit around the face and body, including with wooden sticks and bars, while holding painful positions.
The separatists were reportedly arrested over plans to hold a demonstration during a visit by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Maluku, an eastern region with a history of pro-independence sentiment.
Source : kompas
Friday, September 17, 2010
Torture Allegedly Done by Densus 88 'Australia Denies Intervention on Investigation in Indonesia'
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