{"id":5564,"date":"2020-05-31T07:36:58","date_gmt":"2020-05-31T00:36:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tuk.or.id\/?p=5564"},"modified":"2020-05-31T07:36:58","modified_gmt":"2020-05-31T00:36:58","slug":"suspected-to-be-partly-responsible-for-the-death-of-marius-betera-pt-tunas-sawa-erna-must-remedy-and-mitigate-human-rights-abuses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tuk.or.id\/en\/2020\/05\/suspected-to-be-partly-responsible-for-the-death-of-marius-betera-pt-tunas-sawa-erna-must-remedy-and-mitigate-human-rights-abuses\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspected to be Partly Responsible for the Death of Marius Betera: PT Tunas Sawa Erna Must Remedy and Mitigate Human Rights Abuses"},"content":{"rendered":"

On May 16, 2020, a member of the Indonesian Police, Brigadier Police Melkianus Yowei (MY) assaulted and tortured a civilian Indigenous Papuan named Marius Betera (MB) until he was severely\u00a0\u00a0 injured\u00a0\u00a0 and\u00a0\u00a0 subsequently\u00a0\u00a0 died\u00a0\u00a0 from\u00a0\u00a0 the\u00a0\u00a0 assault.\u00a0\u00a0 The\u00a0\u00a0 violence\u00a0\u00a0 and\u00a0\u00a0 torture committed \u00a0by \u00a0Brigadier \u00a0Police \u00a0MY \u00a0happened \u00a0at \u00a0the \u00a0office \u00a0of \u00a0palm \u00a0oil \u00a0plantation \u00a0(POP) \u00a0PT Tunas Sawa Erma (TSE) in Block A or commonly called PT TSE POP A\/ Camp 19, Jair District, Boven\u00a0 \u00a0Digoel\u00a0 \u00a0District,\u00a0 \u00a0Papua\u00a0 \u00a0Province,\u00a0 \u00a0Indonesia.\u00a0 \u00a0PT\u00a0 \u00a0TSE\u00a0 \u00a0is\u00a0 \u00a0one\u00a0 \u00a0of\u00a0 \u00a0Korindo\u00a0 \u00a0Group\u2019s subsidiary \u00a0companies. \u00a0Korindo \u00a0Group\u2019s \u00a0other \u00a0subsidiaries \u00a0include \u00a0six \u00a0large \u00a0scale \u00a0palm \u00a0oil plantation businesses, two logging companies and one pulp and paper company operating in\u00a0 \u00a0the\u00a0 \u00a0administrative\u00a0 \u00a0area\u00a0 \u00a0of\u00a0 \u00a0Merauke\u00a0 \u00a0and\u00a0 \u00a0Boven\u00a0 \u00a0Digoel\u00a0 \u00a0District\u00a0 \u00a0in\u00a0 \u00a0Papua\u00a0 \u00a0Province, Indonesia.<\/p>\n

The incident of violence and torture against MB began when he came to the PT TSE POP A office to ask and clarify about the clearing of his banana plot that was allegedly committed by \u00a0PT \u00a0TSE \u00a0POP \u00a0A. \u00a0From \u00a0this \u00a0brief \u00a0chronology, \u00a0we \u00a0can \u00a0see \u00a0that \u00a0two \u00a0legal \u00a0events \u00a0have occurred: \u00a0(1) \u00a0whereby \u00a0MB\u2019s \u00a0banana \u00a0plot \u00a0was \u00a0cleared \u00a0and \u00a0resulted \u00a0in \u00a0the \u00a0loss \u00a0of \u00a0rights \u00a0to benefit \u00a0from \u00a0the \u00a0land \u00a0is \u00a0evidence \u00a0of \u00a0an \u00a0alleged \u00a0criminal \u00a0act \u00a0of \u00a0destruction \u00a0or \u00a0damage \u00a0to property as outlined in Indonesia\u2019s Criminal Code under Article 406 Clause 1; and (2) the act of torture leading to the death of Melianus Batera is evidence of an alleged criminal act of maltreatment as outlined in Indonesia\u2019s Criminal Code under Article 351 Clause 3.<\/p>\n

Consequently, the violence and torture occurred, leaving MB severely in pain and passing away soon after.<\/p>\n

In regards to the incident, Korindo Group stated in its release that the company is taking active steps to arrange the victim\u2019s funeral; working together with communities and local authorities to conduct a comprehensive and careful investigation to find out what had happened; forming a multilateral consultative body where local communities, government, organizations and NGOs will participate and investigate together to mitigate similar incidences from happening again in the future; and opening a Grievance Mechanism Channel <\/em><\/strong>for this case.1<\/sup><\/p>\n

In regards to the death of MB, it is our view that PT TSE has clearly disregarded human rights as outlined in the UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs) on Business and Human Rights that state that \u201cbusinesses\u201d should respect human rights, and do as much as possible to avoid actions that have adverse human rights impacts such as the one that MB experienced. As a company, PT TSE is bounded and must abide by the international human rights instruments that have been ratified and applied in Indonesia including the human rights instruments and<\/p>\n

protocols under the International Labour Organization. In particular, ILO Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples clearly enshrines the protection of the rights of Indigenous Peoples over their land and the natural resources within it. This demonstrates how PT TSE is inconsistent in the implementation of its policy to protect human rights.2<\/sup><\/p>\n

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights state that the responsibility to respect human rights requires companies to \u201cavoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts through their own activities\u201d and must \u201cprevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly linked to their operations, products or services by their business relationships, even if they have not contributed to those impacts,\u201d in this case the assault and torture against the victim brought on by a police officer.<\/p>\n

Based on the above explanation and Korindo Group\u2019s prepared statements regarding their plans, we urge:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Korindo Group to immediately fulfill the company\u2019s responsibilities to respect human rights. The company must implement its human rights policy within the entirety of the company\u2019s organization, including but not limited to:\n