By Sunanda Creagh
JAKARTA June 23 (Reuters) - Indonesian jails hold at least 100 political prisoners from the Papua and Moluccas regions, including some who were tortured, Human Rights Watch said in a report published on Wednesday.
The New York-based rights watchdog called on the Indonesian government to release prisoners detained for their political views and repeal laws allowing authorities to jail peaceful protesters for treason or rebellion.
It also urged the government to revoke laws banning the display of logos and flags.
"The practice of lumping together peaceful advocates and armed militants and treating both as criminals continues in Papua and the southern Moluccas," the report said.
A secessionist movement has simmered for decades in resource-rich Papua, on the western half of New Guinea island, home to the enormous Grasberg mine operated by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
Hidden gunmen have launched fatal attacks on convoys of Freeport workers travelling to and from the mine, but it is unclear whether separatists were behind the attacks.
Indigenous groups in the southern Moluccas in eastern Indonesia, and particularly the island of Ambon, have also agitated for the creation of an independent Republic of the Southern Moluccas.
Police and military forces have attempted to crush both movements with harsh penalties for offences such as the unfurling of flags or, in the case of the southern Moluccas, dancing the "cakalele" -- a traditional war dance associated with the secessionist movement.
The Human Rights Watch report detailed cases of alleged torture of political prisoners.
"I do not have the benefit of previewing the report prior to its release, so I do not know for sure the claim made in the report. But I am confident that there is a complaint procedure that prisoners can pursue if there is any ill treatment," said foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah.
The report said that John Teterisa, a schoolteacher detained in 2007 for dancing the cakalele in front of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was beaten continuously for 12 hours a day for 11 days after his arrest.
"Several (police officers) beat him with iron rods and stones, and slashed him with a bayonet," the report said. Teterisa was sentenced to life in prison in 2008, but the sentence was reduced to 15 years on appeal, the report said.
Another Moluccas activist quoted in the report described being beaten with pieces of wood, causing intestinal and urinary tract bleeding, after raising a separatist flag. (Editing by Neil Chatterjee and Ron Popeski)
Source: http://af.reuters.com
