Rohingya refugees will face trial in Indonesia

Apriadi Gunawan 

The Jakarta Post

April 8, 2013

The North Sumatra Police on Saturday named 18 Rohingya refugees as suspects in a torture case that left eight Myanmar illegal immigrants dead. 

The eight Myanmar fishermen were killed in the early hours of Friday in a violent incident involving hundreds of Rohingya refugees at the Immigration Detention Center (Rudenim) in Belawan, just outside Medan. 

The eight fishermen were Aung Thu Win, 24, Aung Than, 44, Min-Min, 24, Win Tun, 32, Nawe, 23, Aye, 23, Myo, 20, and Sam Iwin, 45. Three Myanmar fishermen managed to escape and 21 refugees sustained injuries.

Witnesses said that the brawl among center the residents started on Friday at about 1 a.m. when the Buddhist fishermen allegedly sexually harassed a female Rohingya refugee.

Muhammad Alam, 23, one of the Rohingya refugees, said that prior to the brawl, a number of fishermen followed a female Rohingya to the bathroom. The fishermen suddenly started to sexually harass the woman.

Several Rohingya who witnessed the incident reported the case to the others, inciting the anger of all the Rohingya detained at the Rudenim. 

The refugees spontaneously attacked the illegal fishermen.

North Sumatra Police chief spokesman Sr. Comr. Heru Prakoso told The Jakarta Post that the suspects would be charged with the Criminal Code’s Articles 351 on torture and 170 on violence against persons or goods. The articles carry a maximum punishment of nine and 12 years respectively.

“These two articles are appropriate [as the] suspects acted violently and caused the death of other people,” he said.

“We have enough evidence to support the use of the multiple articles.”

The catalyst behind the Muslim Rohingya refugees’ violent clash with the Buddhist Myanmar fishermen was of sexual harassment.

“So the motive was sexual harassment. There were no religious or ethnic factors in this case,” he said.

The authorities carried out autopsies on the bodies of the eight fishermen at Pringadi General Hospital in Medan. 

The forensic team concurred that the deaths were caused by the impact of blunt and sharp objects to the deceased’s heads and bodies.

As of Saturday, the team was still matching their findings from the eight bodies to data supplied by the immigration office.

Spokesman from the North Sumatra regional office of the Law and Human Rights Ministry, Hasran Sapawi, said on Saturday that it was not yet clear whether the bodies would be repatriated to Myanmar or buried in Indonesia.

The immigration office has not yet received confirmation from the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta regarding the handling of the deceased individuals.

The Rohingyas, who are not recognized as a minority group by the Myanmar government, have become the target of attacks launched by the Buddhist Rakhine ethnic group. 

So far, there has been no permanent solution by the Myanmar government, forcing the Rohingyas to seek asylum in other countries.

The Rohingyas initially wanted to enter nearby Thailand and Malaysia by boat but were driven out to the open sea by the authorities and were intercepted when they entered Indonesian waters. 

Bangladesh has also stopped Rohingya refugees from entering the country despite shared culture and history.