Indonesia rights concerns over activist, Papua -UN

By Staff
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JAKARTA, June 12 (Reuters) Indonesia is making progress promoting human rights, but deep concerns remain over the murder of a prominent activist and the actions of security services in areas such as Papua, a top UN rights official said today.

Hina Jilani, the special representative of the UN Secretary General on human rights defenders, made the comments on the final day of a week-long visit to Indonesia.

Jilani singled out the case of Munir Thalib, a leading Indonesian rights campaigner, known for his critical views of the military, who was poisoned on his way to the Netherlands in 2004.

''I am deeply concerned at apprehensions expressed by defenders that the course of justice may be influenced to protect the perpetrators of this crime,'' said Jilani, an advocate at Pakistan's Supreme Court Last year, the Supreme Court overturned a guilty verdict on off-duty pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, saying there was not enough evidence and no witness.

Human rights groups have said the government has not pressed the probe or Priyanto's possible ties to others hard enough.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono vowed to get to the bottom of the case when he took office in late 2004. In April, two new suspects were named in the probe.

''I remind the government that this case represents the situation of the human rights community in general and is a test of the government's will to protect defenders in the country.'' Dijani said she was due to meet Indonesia's attorney general, Hendarman Supandji, and would press over the case.

Referring to the situation in Papua, Jilani said concerns persisted over the actions of security services despite assurances from the military commander and the chief of police in the remote area in the far east of the country.

''I have heard credible reports of incidents that involve arbitrary detention, torture, harassment through surveillance, interference with the freedom of movement and in defenders' efforts to monitor and investigate human right violations.'' Papua, two provinces on the west half of New Guinea island, has long been under the scrutiny of Western groups critical of how Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, treats the mainly Christian, ethnically distinct area.

Indonesian security forces have been fighting a low-level separatist insurgency in Papua for decades.

Dijani is due to present her report to the United Nations Human Rights Council and will make detailed recommendations for the Indonesian government.

She said she had not met President Yudhoyono on her trip.

REUTERS RKM KP1723

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