CVT Joins IRCT in Condemnation and Call to Action in Torture and Killing of Field Workers and a Patient at Indonesian Torture Treatment Facility

Center for the Victims of Torture
Saturday, 9 December 2000

Minneapolis, MN (December 9, 2000) … The Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) has joined the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) in their condemnation in the killings of three volunteer field workers and one patient from the Rehabilitation Action for Torture Victims (RATA) in Aceh, Indonesia by Indonesian Security Forces on Wednesday, December 6th. A fourth field worker was also tortured but managed to escape and now has gone into hiding. The Danish and French Embassies in Jakarta are working together with the Red Cross to secure his safety and the safety of a fifth volunteer, who has also been threatened.

"The Center joins IRCT in their condemnation of this outrageous and barbarous act by Indonesian security forces," said Douglas Johnson, Executive Director of CVT. "We urge the United States and the United Nations to call on the Indonesian government to take immediate action to guarantee the safety of human rights workers and victims of torture."

According to an IRCT News Release, dated December 8, "The four field workers were carrying out their normal duties of transporting torture victims from North Aceh to hospital for medical treatment, when their vehicle was stopped and surrounded by security forces in plain clothes. The five were taken to a military vehicle and badly tortured and the torture victim was shot dead. Three of the field workers were then lined up by the side of the road and shot in the head. The fourth, the only witness to the executions, managed to escape and is now in hiding in a local village in fear for his life.

Rehabilitation Action for Torture Victims (RATA), located in Aceh, Indonesia, focuses on the rehabilitation of torture victims in Aceh and is supported by the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) and financed by the Danish Government. RATA was inaugurated by the Governor of Aceh and the Danish Ambassador to Indonesia in September 1999. Prior to this incident the centre had been accepted by all parties in Aceh as a neutral humanitarian organisation doing a much needed job; that is, tending to the many thousands of people who have been tortured during the ongoing civil unrest in the province. The centre has collaborated closely with local authorities, and had organised training activities for local police and military personnel on the nature of the activities and of the right, under international law, for torture victims to receive proper medical treatment and care.

These tragic events indicate a rapid deterioration in the security situation in Aceh. The slaying of health personnel and of hospital patients by security forces places in jeopardy the future of RATA and the safety of its personnel and clients.

The IRCT strongly welcomes and appreciates the diplomatic efforts being made by the foreign Embassies in Jakarta, in particular by the Danish and French Embassies.

The IRCT calls on the Indonesian Government to take immediate and thorough action to guarantee the safety of human rights defenders in Aceh and of victims of torture at risk. In particular, the IRCT calls on the Indonesian Government to ensure that the two field workers at immediate risk are protected from further attack and guaranteed safe refuge.

It is intolerable that human rights workers - in this case young volunteers - working to ameliorate the effects of torture have themselves become targets for torture and execution. Accordingly, the IRCT calls on the Indonesian Government to direct all efforts towards identifying the perpetrators and bringing them to justice."

The IRCT is an independent, international health professional organization, which promotes and supports the needs of torture victims and works for the prevention of torture worldwide.

For more information, or to contact Center for the Victims of Torture, see their website at: www.cvt.org