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Killing of FPI members deemed unlawful
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has determined that the killing by police on Dec. 7, 2020, of four members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) in Kerawang, West Java, was a human rights violation, and it has called on the authorities to prosecute the perpetrators.
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he National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has determined that the killing by police on Dec. 7, 2020, of four members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) in Kerawang, West Java, was a human rights violation, and called on the authorities to prosecute the perpetrators.
The rights body announced the findings of its investigation into the incident on Friday, saying that six FPI members were killed in two different circumstances. Two of them were killed during a shootout between them and police officers on the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road, while the other four were killed after being held in police custody.
“The shooting of four people at the same time without any attempts to avoid further fatalities indicates that an unlawful killing has taken place,” Muhammad Choirul Anam, the commission member leading the investigation, said.
The independent investigation by Komnas HAM was expected to shed light on the incident amid conflicting statements coming from the police and the Islamist group, which has been facing an intensifying crackdown by the authorities following the return of its leader, Muhammad Rizieq Shihab, from self-imposed exile in Saudi Arabia. On Dec. 30, 2020, the government outlawed the group, claiming that its ideology contravened the state ideology of Pancasila and that some of its members had been implicated in terrorism cases.
The commission has found preliminary evidence challenging both the police and the FPI narratives and called for further investigation into the case.
According to Komnas HAM, the incident started when a group of nine FPI cars, which included Rizieq and his entourage, was followed by police officers when the FPI left the Nature Mutiara housing complex in Sentul, Bogor, West Java, heading to Karawang on the evening of Dec. 6, 2020. Two of the FPI cars, a silver Toyota Avanza and a Chevrolet Spin with six people in each, stayed behind to prevent the tailing police cars from reaching the rest of Rizieq’s entourage.
The two cars were followed by three cars, only two of which have been claimed by the police as theirs. They were later involved in a shootout, in which two FPI members were killed. Komnas HAM claims it had found spent rounds from the weapons allegedly used by the police and the FPI members.
The remaining four FPI members were later taken to a rest area at KM 50 of the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road. The police said they asked them to get into one of the police cars heading toward Jakarta, but a new altercation ensued after the four men tried to seize the weapon of an officer. They were all shot dead at close range.
The commission, however, said that information about the killing of the four men inside a police car came only from the police, and should later be proven in court. Its investigation uncovered a somewhat different version. Witnesses said that “violence” took place at KM 50 and that there was “cleaning of blood”. The police told the witnesses that they were conducting “drug” and “terrorism” raids and ordered them to delete images they captured from the incident. One restaurant was also asked to hand over its CCTV footage.
The commission called on the police to bring the case to a criminal court, and not an internal investigation team, to shed more light on the incident. “[Komnas HAM] demands accountable, objective and transparent law enforcement in the case in accordance with human rights standards,” Choirul said.
Komnas HAM chairman Ahmad Taufan Damanik said the commission would hand over the full report of the incident to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD.
“The Human Rights Law does not specify the mechanism through which to submit the full report of the case. But referring to the precedent established by the Intan Jaya case, we will hand over the full report to the President as the head of state,” Ahmad said, referring to another recent alleged human rights violation case in Papua.
Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) legal division representative Andi Muhammad Rezaldy said Kontras believed that Komnas HAM’s conclusions about the killing of four of the FPI members was the right one, as firearms should only be used by the police as a last resort according to National Police chief decree No. 1/2009 and UN basic principles on the use of force and firearms by law enforcement.
“Based on the conclusions and recommendations of Komnas HAM, we demand the President order the National Police chief to conduct an investigation into the police officers responsible in the case, and that they be tried under criminal law,” Andi said.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Argo Yuwono did not respond to The Jakarta Post’s request for comments.
