Papua suspect dies in military jail

Papua suspect dies in military jail

The Indonesian military is accused of human rights abuses in Papua

A man accused of being involved in the theft of military equipment in the Indonesian province of Papua has died in military custody.

Yapenas Murib was arrested last week along with three other people thought to have been involved in the raid on a weapons depot in Wamena, in which two soldiers were killed.

According to a local human rights group, Mr Murib died on Tuesday morning, after being tortured by Indonesian soldiers the day before.

He was tied to two ropes and dragged through the streets of his home village of Ilekma, according to the Elsham rights group.

"The soldiers pulled the ropes forward and backward and kicked him," said the group's spokesman Obed Rawar.

But the regional military commander in Papua, Major General Nurdin Zainal, refuted the claims of torture.

He insisted that Murib developed breathing problems shortly after eating lunch on Tuesday, and died on his way to hospital.

A doctor who examined Murib's body was also quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying he died from respiratory problems.

Rights abuses

Whatever the truth of this latest incident, it will almost certainly raise further questions about the conduct of Indonesian soldiers in Papua, says the BBC correspondent in Jakarta, Rachel Harvey.

The military has been coming under increasing scrutiny, after being accused of widespread abuses in the province.

It is currently engaged in fighting a sporadic revolt by separatist rebels from the Free Papua Movement.

On Tuesday the campaign group Amnesty International reported that troops had tortured villagers and set fire to homes during a recent hunt for separatist rebels in the province.

Seven special forces soldiers are currently on trial, accused of killing the pro-independence leader Theys Eluay in November 2001.

A senior military official suggested Theys had suffered a heart attack, but he was later found to have been suffocated.