Mappi, Majalah Selangah – Blasius Sumaghai (23 years old), a resident of Bade village, Edera District, Mappi, Papua has been beaten by members of the Indonesian Navy. The reasons for the beating were not clear.
According to information compiled by majalahselangkah.com, Blasius Sumaghai, the son of the late Abraham Sumaghai who was an Awyu community leader, was beaten by several Navy officers on the 26th January 2014. The beating meant that Blasius Sumaghai was unable to walk for four days. He is still in a fairly serious state of trauma.
The incident reportedly started as Blasius Sumaghai was seated outside a kiosk on Jalan Duyumu in Bade Village. Suddenly two Navy officers who were stationed at the Bade Navy outpost showed up. They showed no initial courtesy, just directly started striking the victim on his back and chest using the butts of their rifles
After the beating, our source said that the victim was brought to the Navy outpost on a motorbike. On arrival at the outpost, he was beaten over his whole body using rifle butts and hosepipes. He suffered serious injuries.
It is reported that Blasius Sumaghai is not the only person to have suffered violent harrassment at the hands of the Navy. Yustinus Akabagaimu, the 27-year-old son of local teacher Xaverius Akabagaimu, has also been beaten up without any clear reason.
Yustinus is currently unable to walk as a result of the beating he received. Several victims of harassment are unable to bring a case against the perpetrators either because of fear or because they don’t know to whom they should bring their complaint.
Majalah Selangkah‘s credible informant has said that that members of the security forces have often carried out beatings of young men in Bade when residents have reported that the men have done something wrong.
“But that’s what the police are for. What is Bade Police station doing? The police are clearly tasked with maintaining law and order. The Navy’s role is to fight wars against other countries. Why should the navy take over the Police’s job right in front of their face? It’s very strange”, said the aforementioned source, sounding surprised.
The police in the Bade Police Station reportedly cannot be counted upon to maintain law and order in the area. As the community were celebrating Christmas 2009, the festive season which should be full of happiness was tainted by the murder of a young local man, Stefanus Silooy (38). He was killed by three police officers. This incident ended up with the community destroying the local police station.
In fact, a naval outpost in Bade is not strategic for national defence, because Bade is located on the shore of the Digoel River, and not on the coast. The town should really be guarded by a water-borne police unit. So why is the Indonesian Navy present in Bade? Actually they are there to demand tribute from plywood and palm oil companies: the Korindo group in Asiki which has been operating since the nineties and PT MAM* which has recently commenced operations near Bade.
Bade is a strategic port town, because all the plywood and Crude Palm Oil produced by PT Korindo in Asiki can only be transported by one route, the Digoel River. Bade represents the entrance and exit to this river system.
Source: Majalah Selangkah http://majalahselangkah.com/content/blasius-sumaghai-dianiaya-oknum-tni-al-di-bade
[awasMIFEE note: a source in Mappi has interviewed the victim and passed on these photos of his injuries, and also a letter from Blasius Sumaghai and his family addresses to the Governor of Papua Province, reproduced below in Indonesian. We haven’t translated it because the content is very similar to the Majalah Selangkah article above, but it is worth mentioning that the family request action be taken against the perpetrator and to close down the Navy Outpost.
*The article mentions a company named PT MAM, but this is slightly erroneous. MAM is the name of the location where another Korindo subsidiary PT Dongin Prabhawa has an oil palm plantation. Bade is on the Mappi side of the Digoel river, but lies close to the border with Merauke Regency – PT Dongin Prabhawa’s plantation is also just a few kilometres away.]
Kepada
Yth. Bapak Gubernur Provinsi Papua
Di –
Jayapura.
Dengan Hormat.
Bersama ini Kami warga masyarakat Bade – Distrik Edera Kabupaten Mappi, datang kehadapan Bapak Menyampaikan kepada bahwa telah terjadi beberapa kasus penganiayaan, sejak keberadan Pos TNI Angkatan Laut di Bade distrik Edera yang di lakukan oleh Oknum – oknum anggota TNI AL.
KORBAN
Nama, Blasius Sumaghai umur 23 Tahun agama Katholik, alamat Bade Kampung Distrik Edera. Kabupaten Mappi.
PELAKU.
ANGGOTA TNI ANGKATAN LAUT MERAUKE, POS PAM BADE DISTRIK EDERA.
KRONOLOGIS KEJADIAN
Pada tanggal 26 januari 2014,jam19: 45, korban sedang duduk di depan kios di jln duyumu RT VI Bade Kampung distrik Edera Kabupaten Mappi, datang 2 anggota POS TNI AL, dan langsung memukul korban denga menggunakan Popor Senjata dari Punggung dan dada Korban, lalu di bawa ke POS TNI AL. dengan menggunakan Kendaraan Roda dua. Sesampai di pos korban di pukul dengan menggunakan popor senjata, dan slang air. Yang menggakibatkan korbang luka – luka, sehingga korban tidak dapat berjalan selama 4 hari, saat ini korban masih trauma dengan kejadian tersebut.
Adapun korban lain yang perna di aniaya oleh Oknum anggota TNI AL POS PAM BADE.
1. YUSTINUS KABAGAIMU, umur 27 tahun Bade. Di pukul yang mengakibatkan tidak dapat berjalan.
Masih banyak korban lain tetapi masyarakat takut melapor.
POS TNI AL di Bade ada karena ada bebera Perusahaan PLAY WOOD KORINDO dan Perusahan KELAPA SAWIT
Permohonan Masyarakat.
1. Oknum Pelaku harus di tindak
2. POS TNI AL BADE Di DISTRIK EDERA KABUPATEN MAPPI harus di Tutup/cabut, karena tidak sesuai dengan Aturan Perundang – undangan,
3. Dimohon ada penyelidikan tentang keberada ANGKATAN LAUT DI SUNGAI DIGUL BADE.
4. Bade distrik Edera terdapat POLSEK, KORAMIL, POS YONIF TNI AD 755 YALET dan POS TNI ANGKATAN LAUT.
Kami lampirkan photo – photo korban Blasius Sumaghai.
Demikian surat kami Atas perhatian dan Bantuan Bapak kami haturkan terima kasih.
Bade, 01 February 2014
Korban
BLASIUS SUMAGHAI.