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Saturday 3 March 2012

Afghan Asylum Seeker Allegedly Beaten to Death in Indonesia Detention Center

A 28-year-old Afghan asylum seeker was allegedly beaten to death by guards in an Indonesian detention center Monday night.

The man, identified in various news reports as Taqi Naroye, reportedly escaped from the Pontianak detention center in West Kalimantan on Sunday.

He was caught by local residents and returned to the detention center the next evening. In total, six men had escaped from the center.

According to West Kalimantan’s immigration chief, Ahmad Hasaf, Taqi was returned to the center in good health.

But that night, the 28 year old was allegedly savagely beaten by guards, according to local police reports.

A local resident told reporters that he could hear Taqi screaming in pain until 2 a.m. Tuesday. His heavily battered body was dropped off at Soedarso hospital on Tuesday morning. He was pronounced dead on arrival.

The guards previously told investigators that Taqi was beaten by an angry mob. But police disagree.

“It was not caused by a mob attack but the guards who abused the victim until he died,” Comr. Puji Prayitno, Pontianak crime unit chief told the local news portal Harian Equator on Wednesday.

Indonesian police have determined the cause of death as blunt force trauma, ABC News reported.

Two of the four guards working the night shift during Taqi’s beating have been taken in for questioning by local investigators.

Police have not named a suspect.

The Kalimantan center was recently renovated with funds from the International Organization for Migration.

The UN refugee agency was “deeply saddened” by the death and issued a press release Friday urging Indonesian authorities to investigate the killing.

“We call on the Indonesian authorities to conduct a swift and thorough investigation that will shed light on this incident,” the statement read.

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