A story of Sexual Violence by an Indonesian National Army soldier in West Papua
In August 2009, I stayed in Bupul Village for two weeks.
Bupul Village is one of the
administrative areas of Elikobel District, in Merauke Regency, Papua. The village, which is not
yet fully integrated into the market economy, is located along the border area of Papua,
Indonesia, with Papua New Guinea. Because of its position, Bupul Village is one of the villages
categorised as requiring security by the Indonesian National Army (Tentara Nasional Indonesia,
TNI).
In 1983, a TNI land unit (Angkatan Darat, AD) post was established for the first time in Bupul
Village. The headquarters was close to the Catholic priesthood building. The army forces
working there were from the Army’s Strategic Reserve Command (Komando Cadangan Strategis
Angkatan Darat, Kostrad), a territorial taskforce called Raider Yonif 751/BS, Siliwangi. There
were ten soldiers on duty there. For security reasons, the TNI-AD Post was moved several times.
From 2007 until today, the TNI-AD Post has been populated by 22 personnel from Kostrad
TNI-AD Yonif 320/Badak Putih, located on the banks of the river Maro. This is why the Post is
called the Maro River Post. The distance is one kilometre from Bupul Village.
From 2008 until 2009, personnel from the Kostrad TNI-AD Yonif 320/Badak Putih were replaced
by 22 personnel from TNI-AD Yonif 752/Vira Yuda Sakti, Sorong, Papua. In November 2008, the
results of the research of the Secretariat of Justice & Peace, Merauke Archdiocese (Sekretariat
Keadilan dan Perdamaian Keuskupan Agung Merauke, SKP-KAM), found more or less 30 TNI
posts from Kostrad TNI-AD PamTas (Pengamanan Perbatasan, Border Security) in the Merauke
border region. Meanwhile, in an article entitled Anatomy of Papuan Separatists, Major ARM
Fence D. Marani mentions a total of 114 TNI PamTas Posts stationed along the length of the
border.
“These troops have been stationed as a response to Papuan separatist groups who still voice
their aspirations via various methods and activities. The issue of the failure of Special Autonomy
and of reviewing of the Act of Free Choice is used as an excuse to carry out shows of force to
discredit the Indonesian government and army, which converge in demanding a referendum for
Papua,” he wrote.
In the same article, Marani emphasies that “The Papuan community is easily influenced by
separatist ideas because they lack any concept of Indonesian nationalism, particularly in the
interior.” With this excuse, the presence of the TNI became a solution to wipe out the separatist
movement and increase national loyalty. A different opinion was expressed by social observer
George Junus Aditjondro. During a meeting in Jayapura Town, the intellectual rebel stated that
there are various reasons for placing TNI troops in Papua. Firstly, remilitarisation, to revive the
role of the military. This was a reaction to the separation of the Indonesian Police (Polri) and the
Indonesian Army (ABRI). This separation gave ‘leverage’ to Polri for security and public order
matters and reduced the power of the TNI in the border area; secondly, the presence of TNI
forces was justified by the ‘possibility’ of attack from an external enemy; thirdly, it protected
against the possibility of illegal border crossing, fourthly, it would strengthen the identification
of the local community (Papuans) with their neighbouring country (Papua New Guinea) or annex
‘pockets’ along the border of the neighbouring country; fifthly, security for ‘vital projects’ such
as large scale forestry, plantations, fisheries and infrastructure development businesses.
Converting primary forest into plantations, particularly palm oil plantations, was strongly
supported by the military because it created an excuse for military operations to chase
guerrillas; sixth, securing transmigration projects from attacks by armed groups; seventh,
intimidation of those who intended to demand rights to land, planting, growing and waters
based on their customary rights; eighth, dividing the profits between various units, and between
2
TNI and Polri to avoid conflict between them; and lastly, to ‘buy’ the loyalty of the armed forces
towards the regime, which retained power as long as civil control was not yet established, so the
good relationship between military and police still needed to be managed.
Unlike the TNI slogan to create and protect security and public order, the installation of the
Maro River Post TNI-AD PamTas from the Kostrad unit in Bupul Village, brought a feeling of
insecurity for citizens of the village in question. For the family of Maria Goreti Mekiw, the army
on duty at the Maro River Post were known as harassers of young women and wives, who liked
to beat people up if they did anything wrong, encouraged the youth of the village to mix drinks
and get drunk, liked using their weapons to shoot forest kangaroos, and liked to appropriate and
use the motorbikes owned by local residents whenever they liked. Basically, the soldiers made
life in the village unsafe. In general, the residents of the village agreed that the Papuan
members of the TNI-AD PamTas were the most troublesome and disrespectful. But not all the
local Bupul villagers thought the same way.
Sister Florentina Bibak, from the Lady of the Sacred Heart (Putri Bunda Hati Kudus)
congregation, for example. According to Bibak, the army on duty in the village behaved politely,
knew the etiquette, were clean, liked to look after themselves and liked to help. “It’s the
residents of the village here who are wrong, particularly the women from the village who like to
flirt and seduce the soldiers from the Post. The village women who get pregnant and have
children by the soldiers, do so because they like seducing the soldiers. The soldiers here are nice
and polite,” said Sister Florentin Bibak, PBHK when I met her in Bupul Village in August 2009.
The first time they set foot in Bupul Village, the members of TNI-AD instantly held a meeting
with the residents. Their goal was to introduce themselves while explaining their mission in this
poor and isolated village. After that, almost every day, the soldiers visited the homes of the
residents while carrying their weapons.
The funny thing is, not all the houses of the residents received the ‘honour’ of being visited
by these soldiers. It wasn’t just desire, it was systematic. The visits were only made to certain
houses, depending on the needs of the soldier in question. For example, whether they wanted a
Cendrawasih bird, a girl, a motorbike or whatever else. Particularly at those houses which
contained young women, usually before visiting the soldier would ask his fellow soldiers who
had been on shift before him to get the names of the young women. In this way the names were
pocketed, and an approach was made to start going out with the girl. There were around 16
residents’ houses which were routinely visited by these soldiers and there were 12 women they
went out with. The visits of the soldiers took place almost every day, even at night at the house
of the woman in question. Aside of the house, sago groves, dance venues and quiet dark places,
such as the Catholic church building, also became meeting places between soldiers and the
women who were their targets. In order to go out with women in the village and sleep with
them, the soldiers had an unbelievably efficient strategy. Initially they’d ask to be introduced,
and then they’d start visiting the house of the victim. In order that the relationship appeared
serious, the soldiers would then treat the parents of the victim as their adoptive parents. After
the process had succeeded, the soldier would offer to accompany the victim to the sago grove,
in order to protect her while she was cutting sago. After some time had passed, the visits to the
house of the ‘girlfriend’ would no longer stop at the guest room. The footsteps of the soldier
would continue to enter the bedroom of his girlfriend. Nobody could prevent it, because the
soldier was already to be treated as their own child. Aside from diligently visiting the houses of
residents, another place which became the favourite of the soldiers in Bupul Village was the
Lady of the Sacred Heart Convent. At this place, they usually were cooking and having their
afternoon nap. The motorbike owned by the convent was also often used by Maro River Post
soldiers for various affairs. Sister Florentina Bibak, PBHK, as a resident of the convent, was
treated by the soldiers as a mother. The soldiers often called the Sister ‘Mami.’ The closeness of
3
Sister Bibak with the TNI-AD PamTas soldiers from the Maro River Post had been going on since
2007. Previously, Sister Bibak had really challenged the behaviour of the TNI-AD soldiers from
the Maro River Post, who were always intimidating and hitting the residents of the village, and
in particular the issue of pregnancies of the local women. According to the parish Pastor of
Bupul, P. Felix Amias, the close relationship between Sister Bibak and the soldiers of the Maro
River Post began when she became the only person at the Convent. Right when the other Sister,
Sister Yulyana PBHK was moved from Bupul Village to Kalimantan, halfway through 2006. Why
would a Catholic nun get close to a soldier? According to the Commander of the Pos TNI AD
Yonif 752/ Vira Yuda Sakti at Maro River, Sersan Daryanto, the closeness of the soldiers of the
Maro River Post with Sister Bibak was because the soldiers already saw the Sister as ‘Mama.’
Aside of that, Sister Bibak was also often asked for help to deal with issues experienced by the
soldiers of the Maro River Post. For example, the problem of the soldiers getting women
pregnant.
Another story going round among the soldiers was that Sister Bibak was an informant who
always talked about the situation in the village. Interestingly, before getting close to the
soldiers, Sister Bibak was the contact person for the Justice and Peace Secretariat for the
Merauke Archdiocese in Bupul village. At that time, Sister Bibak was very active in various
activities held by SKP-KAM. Her view of the residents of Bupul village was very positive. But this
all changed drastically when Sister Bibak became ‘Mami’ for the soldiers posted there. “Women
in Bupul village live like pigs. They eat sago like pigs. Their houses are really dirty and they don’t
know how to wash,” she said once.
One day, Thursday 28 August, as the sun was setting on the western horizon, I and Hellen
Kewamijai met with Maria Goreti Mekiw in Bupul village. Hellen Kewamijai is one of the female
victims of sexual harassment by the soldiers at the Maro River Post. There are 19 victims of this
sexual harassment of the TNI-AD PamTas in Bupul village, Elikobel District, Merauke. From 1992
until 2009, there were a total of 53 victims of sexual violence by soldiers in the villages of Bupul
12, Bupul, Kwel, Erambu, Toray, Sota, Yanggandur, Rawa Biru, Tomerau, Tomer, Kuler, Onggaya,
Ndalir and Nasem. They were dated, gotten pregnant, then left when they gave birth and
abandoned, the soldiers disappearing without a trace. Hellen and I met with Maria Goreti, who
was also one of the victims of sexual violence by the soldiers from TNI-AD PamTas, from
Battalion Yonif 320/Badak Putih, Bandung. Unlike the other victims, Maria Goreti wanted to
speak openly. She was 20 years old, pretty, with fair skin and curly hair in ribbons. “I was made
pregnant then abandoned by a TNI-AD soldier from Bandung,” she said, beginning her story. She
fell in love with Private Samsul Bakri Baharudin. At that time, Maria Goreti would greet Private
Samsul Bakri Baharudin as kakak Samsul (older brother Samsul), and he visited her house, which
wasn’t far from the TNI-AD PamTas Post. The Goreti family house was a simple stilted house
with two rooms and a thatched roof. There was no guest room. In order to protect themselves
from the cold and the heat of the sun, the walls of the house were half board and half thatch,
while the floor was made of wooden planks from the nibung tree.
At the first meeting, kakak Samsul was very polite and well behaved. He brought ransum
biscuits, energy biscuits and milk from the TNI-AD post to accompany their conversations. This
activity took place almost every day. “As time went by, I felt closer and closer with kakak
Samsul. I was more and more interested in him. I started wanting to see him every day,” said
Maria, raising her voice above the crying of her child, Agustina Mariani. After soothing and
hushing her child, Maria Goreti continued her story.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” asked Private Samsul.
“Not yet, kakak,”
“Could I be your boyfriend?”
“Yes, you can kakak. But I’m still going to school.”
4
“Fine. I’ll make sure you still go to school, I’m fine with that.”
When kakak Samsul declared his love, Maria Goreti didn’t suspect a thing. She had no
negative thoughts. Maria Goreti accepted it, and hoped that kakak Samsul would marry her.
“When I started studying at Elikobel State High School and went to stay in the Fajar Timur
boarding house, I hardly ever saw kakak Samsul. But kakak Samsul still went to the house and
met my parents. Kakak Samsul always asked after me. My parents always answered that I was
studying and staying at the Fajar Timur boarding house. Then, when I came home to the house
to eat, mum and dad always let me know that kakak Samsul had been constantly asking after
me. I was surprised and proud. But I often asked myself, why does he keep asking after me? Is
this proof that he wants to get serious with me?”
Around three months after Maria Goreti started going out with kakak Samsul, one night on
26 April 2008, around 2 in the morning eastern Indonesia time, when Maria Goreti and her
family were sound asleep, kakak Samsul came to visit. Kakak Samsul knocked on the door of
Maria Goreti’s house, while calling her name. Maria Goreti woke with a start and headed
towards the door. But Maria Goreti arrived several steps after her father, who then opened the
door for kakak Samsul. After coming in, kakak Samsul put down a bag filled with rice, noodles,
cooking oil and canned fish. The giving of these items was a significant gesture for the parents of
Maria Goreti. They then invited the soldier to sleep beside their daughter. Maria felt nervous,
anxious and restless. She was scared. Despite the lamp light from the middle room, she couldn’t
overcome her fear. Suddenly Samsul whispered:
“Maria, you have to prove that you really like me.”
“What proof?”
“You already know, right! You have to have sex with me.”
“I can’t.”
“If tonight you don’t have sex with me, I don’t want to go out with you anymore. I’m going to
get another girl.”
Maria Goreti gasped. She was really scared to sleep with Private Samsul. What’s more, they
weren’t even married. But she also didn’t want to lose the guy who had melted her heart. Fear,
nerves, worry and fondness all rolled into one. In the end she obeyed the request of her
sweetheart, and they slept with each other.
“It was hard to refuse him. Kakak Samsul had been so good to me and my family,” she said.
After having sex, Maria Goreti was really scared. She started thinking “What if I get
pregnant? If I’m pregnant, will he take responsibility? What made me even more scared and
regretful was that I was no longer a virgin. I had sinned. I couldn’t sleep until morning. I thought
and thought, if he doesn’t take responsibility, will any other man still want to be with me?” she
explained, while shedding a tear.
The fears of Maria Goreti were well founded. She is a child of the traditional Malind tribe. A
young girl, from the Malind-Anim perspective, is a thing of pride, an attribute, a valuable
transactional object (like a plot of land, or an adopted child, representing the binding of clan and
family ties). So girls have been guarded of old, to avoid the interference of young men.
This tradition seemed to surprise the first Catholic missionaries when they arrived. Maybe they
thought that the men of the Malind tribe had a high sex drive, so young women were bound to
get raped. A bit of a wild imagination, perhaps. According to Julianus Bole Gebze, “Rape of
young women only started to happen on a large scale when the customs began getting eroded
with mixed marriages and intermingling between other tribes, around the beginning of the
twentieth century.”
In the past, rape or sexual harassment within the Malind tribe was punishable by being shot
dead with bows and arrows. (In Malind terminology: Bob me kimil-et = prevent him becoming a
bad example). Or the woman herself was exiled from the village, or married to an old man.
5
Being shot dead by bows and arrows was the heaviest penalty. Usually if a case of rape or sexual
harassment was brought before a court of customary elders, called Yelmam Mean, the
punishment of the perpetrator would take into account various possibilities, for example the
perpetrator may just be burned, or they may be ritually killed by witchcraft in the Kambara
style. But these customary punishments did not apply to Soldier Samsul Bakri Baharudin! These
blazing nights continued until Maria Goreti fell pregnant, and was consequently taken out of
school and the dormitory she was staying in.
“Later, I stayed at home and we lived as if we were husband and wife. We slept together. We
often went to the little sago village together, until I was seven or eight months pregnant. The
pregnancy wasn’t that hard for me. What was hard was when he had to go back to Bandung,
because his rotation had finished. When he left on 31 November 2008, I was so sad. I began to
feel regret, but I still kind of hoped he would take responsibility. He had promised to arrange a
transfer to Merauke so he could marry me. He asked my parents to take care of me and the
child, and forbade me to go out with any of the soldiers who had replaced his lot, because he
said he was going to marry me. He told me that when the child was born, I had to look after it
well. Before he left, he gave me a mobile phone so that I could call him. He also gave me some
clothes and a mattress.”
But it was as if these were the last gifts and messages from soldier Samsul to Maria Goreti.
Until today, he hasn’t contacted Maria or her child. It’s not that the young mother hasn’t tried
to contact kakak Samsul. She once wrote a letter to tell him that their child had been born, and
was named Agustina Mariani. But kakak Samsul seemed to have disappeared from the face of
the earth. The letter never received a response. “I will keep waiting for Samsul. Other people
can say what they like,” she said, as she concluded her story.
Unlike Maria Goreti, who still holds out hope of meeting kakak Samsul again, there is Davit
Kabajai. This 46-year-old middle aged man doesn’t want to remember the bitter experience he
had with his family. One afternoon on 15 April 2003, in the hustle and bustle of Merauke city, I
met with Davit Kabajai in his house, which was rather small. Like other government assistance
houses, Davit Kabajai’s house had two bedrooms and one guest room, with an earthen floor,
simple wooden plank walls and a zinc roof. After introducing ourselves, Davit Kabajai’s face
became serious as he began to tell the story of the tragedy which had struck his family. He no
longer felt afraid.
“On 13 March 2003, I and my family experienced a very painful event. It was connected with
the behaviour of a soldier called Viky Areba, towards my wife. If I remember what happened, it
always makes me cry. I’ve tried so hard to forget it, but I can’t,” he said, lowering his head.
On the 13 March 2003, Viky Areba, who had come to be treated by Kabajai’s family as one of
their own children, came to the house drunk. Viky was a soldier from TNI-AD Kostrad Yonif
733/Pattimura, rank Private 1. Originally from Fak-fak, Papua, he came to the house at midnight.
He knocked on the door. Davit Kabajai was fast asleep. Hearing the sound of knocking, his wife
Luisa Kalujai woke Davit up, and he then opened the door for Viky. “Viky came in and I told him
to go in and sleep with my two sons. That night, nothing happened. The whole family slept
soundly until morning. Everything was as normal,” he said.
The next morning, Davit left the house as usual, gathering together his tools to go and chop
sago in the little village. The three children had already left for school. There was only his wife
left in the house. Viky was still sound asleep.
“That morning,” said Davit’s wife, “once the kids and their father had left the house, Viky
woke up and came into the kitchen. I was cooking sago. Viky was holding his gun and pointed it
at me. He forced me to have sex with him. I didn’t want to, but Viky kept forcing me to, while
threatening me: if you don’t take your clothes off, I’ll kill you. I was scared, and had to take off
6
my clothes. Then Viky raped me. After using (read: raping) me, Viky left the house. Viky went
back to the Bupul Post,” explained the wife, when she was asked to describe what had
happened by the Commander of the TNI-AD PamTas Post Bupul 1. When Davit came home from
chopping sago, his wife knelt before him in tears. Davit was shocked, and in a choked tone he
asked his wife:
“Mama, what’s happened?”
“Adoh… bapa, I was used (raped) by Viky!”
“Mama, you were raped or you wanted to have sex with him?”
“Bapa, I was raped, forced at gunpoint to take off my clothes. I didn’t want to, but he forced
me at gunpoint. I was scared so I took my clothes off. Then he raped me.”
Lusia, a 34-year-old woman from Malang, couldn’t stop crying. Davit took her in his arms,
and the two of them sobbed.
“After hearing the whole story from my wife, I put on my customary clothes. Together with
my wife, we went to confront the Commander of Post Bupul 1,” he said in a high voice.
On reaching the Post, two soldiers came out to greet them.
“What’s up Bapa?”
“I want to meet the Commander and Viky.”
“Please come in, Bapak.”
Davit and his wife went inside and sat down on the chairs they were offered. Soon after, the
Commander of the Pos came to meet them. “I was really angry. I cried. I said to the Commander
of the Post, ‘Bapa, where is Viky? Viky has insulted me. He used my wife. Where is he?’ I spoke
while crying. I thought, if I die today, Viky dies too,” he said.
Viky was then called by the Commander of the Post, and brought to meet Davit and his wife.
Davit felt worse and worse as Viky denied everything that had happened. His anger swelled until
he was on the point of slitting the insolent soldier’s throat. Luckily the Post Commander was
able to calm him down. Then Davit forced his wife to talk. “When my wife spoke, Viky got angry
and threatened her, saying they had slept together because my wife wanted to. That my wife
had been flirting with him. I was so angry,” he said. Davit then spoke to the Post Commander,
Viky, and his own wife: Commander, if my wife says that she and Viky had sex without any
coercion, then today I am going to kill her, right here. Commander, if my wife says she wasn’t
raped, then I will cut Viky’s head off with my machete.”
Then he asked his wife, “Mama, is it true that you and Viky had sex without Viky forcing you?
Answer, true or false!”
“Bapa, I was raped by Viky,” said his wife, while crying.
The sword failed to cut Viky’s head off. In place of that, Davit asked for a fine of 2,500,000
Rupiah, but the Commander could only give him 250,000 Rupiah. The money was put in an
envelope and given to him.
The actions of the Post Commander made Davit angry. He then said to the Commander and
Viky, “The honour of my wife cannot be valued with money, but because I also value you, I ask
for a fine of 2,500,000 Rupiah. But you can’t even meet my request. Viky, I’m going to report
you to your boss.”
This bitter experience has brought unending shame on the family of Davit Kebajai. Feeling
ashamed in front of the other villagers, Davit then brought his family to the River Baidup to
build a house over there. They live there until today.
“Until today, I haven’t reported it and sorted out this case. I always hope that Viky will be
tried and fired,” he said, in closing his story.
Wensislaus Fatubun, Researcher, Promoter of Justice and Peace MSC Indonesia / Justice and
Peace Secretariat, Merauke Archdiocese
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar