The stillness of the small hours hangs over the small pier of Kayeli on Buru island. Looking out from the Danaurana, the only ferry that plies the waters between the island and Ambon to the east, a dozen or so mercury lamps are visible as they light the harbor. Welcome to Buru, the infamous penal colony for the thousands of tapol, political prisoners exiled by the government for their part in the failed communist coup of 1965.

On shore, scores