Farouk Arnaz

In the latest case involving police brutality, a Banten man has alleged that dozens of Cilegon Police officers tortured him over two days in the mistaken belief that he was a drug dealer.

Zainal M. Latif, 28, speaking at the National Police Commission in Jakarta on Thursday, said the officers subjected him to prolonged abuse from April 29 to 30 at Cilegon Police headquarters in an attempt to make him sign a confession for a crime he did not commit.

“The officers punched my face with their bare hands. They also burned my arms with cigarettes and then threatened to kill me with their guns if I didn’t confess to what they alleged,” Zainal told commission member Novel Ali.

Zainal said that at one stage during the torture, his eyes and mouth were covered with black cellophane and his hands were handcuffed behind his back, leaving him defenseless.

He said Cilegon Police believed, erroneously, that he was a drug dealer.

“Soon after they arrested me without any legal documentation, they tried to force me to confess. They also conducted a urine test but it was negative because I’ve never used drugs,” he said.

Sinung Karto, Zainal’s lawyer from the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence, said, “My client was then released when the police realized that he hadn’t committed any crime.”

Adnan Pandupraja, a member of the police commission, said they would send a letter asking for an explanation to the Banten Chief Police Brig. Gen. Rumiah.

“We also urge the police to protect people [in their custody] even though they may have committed a criminal offence. According to the law, the police shouldn’t use force to extract a confession,” he said.

Rumiah told the Jakarta Globe she had not yet received any information about this incident. “I will check with Internal Affairs first. However, if this report is true, I will take disciplinary action against those involved,” she said in a telephone interview.

Late last month, two victims of torture allegedly inflicted by police officers from the elite Mobile Brigade, or Brimob, sought the protection of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) in Jakarta.

The pair, Kusnadi and Jaenudin, claimed they were tortured by three Brimob officers at brigade headquarters to confess to a jewelry theft case. They said they were released but after they lodged a complaint with the Jakarta Police about their mistreatment, they were charged with receiving the stolen goods.

The pair are under Komnas-HAM protection.

Adnan said that in relation to the Brimob incident, he was still waiting for the case file from the victim’s lawyers before proceeding. He said that Komnas-HAM had been contacted to ensure the victims were being protected. The three officers have been arrested and remain in custody.

Late last year, the Attorney General’s Office admitted it had wrongly indicted three men for murdering a man named Asrori in East Java in 2007. Two of the men — the third had yet to be tried — were released but only after serving 14 months of their sentences.

One of the men testified that he was tortured by police into a confession. Later, convicted murderer Verry Idham Henyansyah reportedly told police that Asrori was one of the 10 victims he buried in the backyard of his parent’s home.