By Geesche Jacobsen
Sydney Morning Herald
February 16, 2001

Two Australian lawyers have been refused entry to Irian Jaya to observe the trials of independence activists, raising fears the suspects will not have a fair trial.

The head of the Australian section of the International Commission of Jurists, Justice John Dowd, called on the Foreign Minister, Mr Downer, to pressure the Indonesian Government to allow observers to attend the trials.

"We have a special relationship with Indonesia, the Government keeps telling us. We just want to see how special that relationship is," Justice Dowd said.

Two members of the commission were ready to leave Australia today to attend the trials on subversion charges of seven members of the Free Papua Movement and the West Melanesian Council who were arrested for their participation in independence celebrations in December.

The Indonesian Foreign Ministry refused permission to observe the trials on the basis that they were being conducted in accordance with Indonesian law and were internal matters, Justice Dowd said. The media's access to the trials was also restricted, he said.

"Governments that have nothing to hide have no objection to either the press or observers."

A spokesman for Mr Downer said the Government would urge the Indonesian Government to ensure the legal and human rights of all defendants everywhere in Indonesia. The Government was seeking further information about the possibility of allowing foreign observers to attend the trials, he said.

Justice Elizabeth Evatt, one of the observers denied access, said the decision showed a tightening of Jakarta's control. She had wanted to observe how the trial was conducted, how the accused were being treated and what relationship they were able to have with their lawyers.

"If observers are being refused, the chances [of a fair trial] are reduced as there is no restraint on the people who have the custody of the accused and no-one to report independently what's going on."

But Mr Downer's spokesman said the Government expected a fair trial "with or without observers".

Justice Dowd said there had been reports of prisoners being assaulted and tortured in custody.

The Indonesian Government's reach also increasingly extended across the border to Papua New Guinea, he said.

"There's clearly a crackdown on human rights activists both within West Papua and, we are disturbed to find, also in Papua New Guinea."