June 19, 2013

Indonesia to probe officers for alleged torture

BY: AP Staff Writer MARCH 5, 2013 | MODIFIED: MARCH 5, 2013 AT 8:01 AM
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Photo -   FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 28, 2012 file photo, members of Indonesian police anti-terror unit Special Detachment 88 escort a terror suspect in Yogyakarta, central Java, Indonesia. Indonesia will probe officers shown in a blurry video allegedly torturing four tied-up suspected terrorists in Central Sulawesi province, an official said Tuesday, March 5, 2013. The 14-minute video was shot in Poso during a counter terrorism operation at an Islamic boarding school in 2007, said National police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar. The counter terrorism unit received training from the U.S. and Australia following the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. (AP Photo/Slamet Riyadi, File)
FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 28, 2012 file photo, members of Indonesian police anti-terror unit Special Detachment 88 escort a terror suspect in Yogyakarta, central Java, Indonesia. Indonesia will probe officers shown in a blurry video allegedly torturing four tied-up suspected terrorists in Central Sulawesi province, an official said Tuesday, March 5, 2013. The 14-minute video was shot in Poso during a counter terrorism operation at an Islamic boarding school in 2007, said National police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar. The counter terrorism unit received training from the U.S. and Australia following the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. (AP Photo/Slamet Riyadi, File)

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia will probe officers shown in a blurry video allegedly torturing four tied-up suspected terrorists in Central Sulawesi province, an official said Tuesday.

The 14-minute video was shot in Poso during a counterterrorism operation at an Islamic boarding school in 2007, said national police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar.

"It was part of the law enforcement at that time," he said. "However, we will continue to investigate the violence allegations as seen in the video."

The footage was recently posted on YouTube and on Muslim websites, sparking outrage among Islamic groups. It allegedly shows several uniformed officers from the elite anti-terrorism unit Detachment 88 trampling, yelling and shooting rounds off to scare the shirtless, bound suspects lying face down on the ground. One man wearing only his underwear is shown with a bloody hole in his back, presumably from a gunshot wound.

Amar said police have identified the man as Wiwin Kalahe. He was among a group of seven militants jailed over the beheading of three Christian girls in Poso in 2005.

The counterterrorism unit received training from the U.S. and Australia following the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. It has been hailed for cracking down on terrorism, but it has come under increasing criticism for its tactics and the number of suspects killed during its raids.

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