LAKSAMANA.Net, November 23, 2003 10:33 PM
Review - Regions: Aceh Rights Abuses Alleged
Laksamana.Net - Lesley McCulloch, the Australian based researcher released in
February after five months in an Aceh prison, last week claimed that Indonesia's
'military occupation' of the province has spawned grave human rights abuses and a
humanitarian crisis.
McCulloch and American nurse Joy-Lee Sadler were arrested for visa violations, but
McCulloch claimed it was because she had been investigating Indonesian military and
police corruption.
She said the situation in rural areas was "horrendous" and many males over the age
of 14 had gone into hiding because the military and police viewed them as potential
fighters for the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Women were being targeted, through
rape and strip searches, to get to the men.
"Civilians are suffering," McCulloch said. "Targeting the women - forcing them to strip
in public and all the sexual abuse - is a way of destroying the social fabric of society.
The trouble is it creates more anger and only strengthens support for GAM."
"Everything that happened in East Timor is happening in Aceh," she said.
The International Crisis Group also said they had been told of such claims, but were
unable to verify them.
Cynthia Gabriel, executive director of Malaysian human rights organization Suaram,
said confirming McCulloch's claims was virtually impossible because of the lack of
independent information, given that Jakarta has banned foreigners and journalists from
Aceh.
Head of the Banda Aceh immigration and justice office, T. Darwin, said Thursday
(20/11/03) that in the past six months the government had denied 14 foreigners entry
to the province.
Five of these were Korean, three from the US and two each from the UK, Malaysia
and Japan.
Darwin said the foreigners were not allowed entry because they failed to present a
clear reason for entering the war-torn province.
"I'm reluctant to confirm or not confirm what's going on there," Gabriel said. "But
people who have managed to escape speak of the situation being very, very bad. They
say there's malnutrition and a lack of medical supplies."
Ms McCulloch's claims are based solely on interviews with the 30,000-strong
Acehnese refugee community living in Malaysia.
Sidney Jones, local director for the International Crisis Group, though conceding
evidence of rapes and murder, said that from discussions with activists, "we just don't
get the pictures of atrocities taking place on the scale of previous military operations."
"That there have been rapes is unquestioned," Jones said. "There is also no question
that the military has carried out executions, but there have also been executions on
the part of GAM and they've also taken hostages.
Tales from the front
American freelance journalist William Nessen is to tour New Zealand and speak of his
time 'behind the lines' in the midst of the war in Aceh. Though Nessen lived on the run
with GAM guerrillas for six weeks after the declaration of martial law on May 19, his
'pre tour' claim that he narrowly escaped with his life is far fetched.
The military were ultra careful to watch that nothing untoward happened to Nessen
before and during his arranged surrender in the full glare of media publicity.
He agrees with McCulloch, though, in seeing Aceh's current situation as mirroring
what happened in East Timor. "To understand Aceh think of East Timor," he said in
advance of his forthcoming speaking engagements in Auckland, Wellington, and
Christchurch and
Like McCulloch he was charged with immigration irregularities, then detained for 40
days in Aceh's capital Banda Aceh before being booted out of the country.
Local and foreign reporters said at the time Nessen was a lucky man, not for
escaping any imaginary 'danger' in the war zone, but for not being locked up for a very
long time.
TNI hunt GAM leaders
Back in the war zone the military is now stepping up its manhunt for five GAM
leaders.
Martial law administrator Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarya said Wednesday (19/11/03) the
operation would focus on tracing the movement of the most-wanted rebels, as well as
cutting off the group's supply of arms and logistics.
"We have not succeeded in capturing the rebel figures. Our challenge is to intensify
our operation," Suwarya said.
Out of a guerrilla force originally estimated at 5,000, he said about 60% had been
killed, captured or had surrendered. "At the moment, we believe that their strength
remains at 40%."
Top guerrilla leaders are also still at large. GAM chief commander Muzakir Manaf,
Darwis Jeunib, the GAM commander overseeing Jeunib, GAM spokesman Sofyan
Dawod, Ishak Daud, the GAM commander overseeing Peurelak, and Tengku Abraham
Muda are all free.
Suwarya also said the military had located routes where the rebels were bringing in
arms along the province's eastern coast.
He said GAM's strength had been reduced to 45%, but a more intensive military
operation was needed as the guerrillas remained in control of some 70% of their arms.
Endang said only 273 of about 6,000 villages in the province were under the total
control of the military. No fewer than 1,000 military officers have been assigned to the
villages to help local administrations fight insurgency.
Brig. Gen. George Toisutta, formerly the Jakarta Military chief of staff, replaced Maj.
Gen. Bambang Darmono as Aceh martial law administrator on Saturday(22/11/03) in
a ceremony officiated over by TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto.
Campaign extension official
President Megawati Sukarnoputri on Tuesday (18/11/03) signed the decree that
officially extends martial law in the province for another six months, despite protests
from human rights groups and concern by foreign donor nations.
According to the presidential decree No. 97/2003, the first six-month operation had
created "developments in Aceh, which must be maintained and increased for the sake
of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia".
It said the integrated operation must be extended because it had not yet achieved the
maximum results due to the existence of "the remaining members of the
armed-separatist movement of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) which has become a
potential threat to the Unitary Republic of Indonesia."
Megawati also ordered the deployment of an integrated monitoring team to "maximize
the achievements of the integrated operation and prevent the leakage and violation of
the operations budget."
Human rights group Elsam said the military operation itself was seen as a failure
since it was often carried out "brutally without respect for human rights principles".
Elsam said crucial social problems had resulted from the campaign, including
hundreds of refugees, the neglect of children's education and an ever-increasing
number of impoverished and unemployed.
Up until September some 38,000 people were still living in makeshift refugee camps.
At least 40 percent of the refugees were children.
Death toll over 1,500
During the first six months of martial law in Aceh, which ended on Wednesday
(19/11/03) , the military lost 76 soldiers and the police 13 personnel. The offensive
also claimed the lives of 395 civilians, including two foreigners.
Another 157 civilians are reportedly being held hostage by GAM, including TV
journalists Ersa Siregar and Ferry Santoro.
Also during the period, 1,106 suspected GAM members were killed and 488 weapons
seized. Another 1,544 suspected rebels were captured while 504 separatists
surrendered.
The military "still aims to crush GAM's force to its final limit" in the second period of
martial law, Aceh military spokesman Ahmad Yani Basuki said.
The military on Thursday reported 10 more rebel deaths. Three were killed during a
skirmish at Blang Panjo in Bireuen district Wednesday, said military spokesman
Ahmad Yani Basuki.
Troops shot dead another rebel in Bireuen the same day and confiscated a
homemade bomb, Basuki said.
Soldiers gunned down two suspected guerrillas in South Aceh and killed four others in
separate clashes on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The military said Friday it had killed four more rebels in a skirmish in Pidie district on
Thursday. Soldiers shot dead two other rebels in separate clashes in South Aceh the
same day.
Rebels were accused of kidnapping a 45-year-old engineer working for Arun's liquefied
natural gas plant in North Aceh on Thursday.
Do it our way
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
said Monday (17/11/03) the government would resolve the Aceh problem in its own
way. He told reporters the government will not go ahead with its plan to have GAM
listed as a terrorist organization by the United Nations.
"We considered the option but we do not want to internationalize the Aceh issue," he
said. However, on Thursday Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda effectively
refuted Yudhoyono's statements, when saying that Aceh had never been and would
never be considered an international matter.
Jakarta has warned repeatedly that GAM could be included on the UN list of terrorist
organizations because its actions met the necessary criteria.
An official request was made for Stockholm to legally prosecute GAM leaders living
there, and evidence was given to back up allegations that their leaders in Stockholm
ordered violent acts committed by GAM members there.
Listing GAM as an international terrorist group would oblige UN members around the
globe to arrest Acehnese rebel leaders and freeze their assets. Most GAM leaders,
including supreme leader Hassan Tiro, live in Sweden.
Yudhoyono said Jakarta would continue with its own measures to deal with GAM
rebels, and would continue pressing Swedish authorities to proceed with the legal
process against GAM leaders living there.
GAM leaders in Sweden have said they would not engage in dialog with Jakarta if
conditions were attached. Susilo dismissed the option anyway, saying the
government was not willing to open a new round of talks with GAM as long as the
rebels continued to campaign for independence.
"It is good for human rights activists, organizations and the international community to
pressure us to open another round of talks. It is them (GAM) who refuse to return to
the negotiating table," the minister said.
"We no longer trust them," he said.
Three Killed in Poso
National police chief General Da'i Bachtiar called Monday (17/11/03) for calm in Poso
regency after thousands of Muslims rioted and killed three Christians following rumors
that a Muslim man had been gunned down by police without warning.
The incident came after almost a year of peace in the religiously divided province.
Clashes between Christians and Muslims in the area have killed more than 2,000
since 1999. A Christian minister and his driver were found dead in a river near Poso on
the previous Saturday (15/11/03)
Poso Police headquarters was surrounded on Sunday during the protest over the
killing of terrorist suspect Hamid Sudin, who was shot on Saturday by police
attempting to arrest him in connection with the October 12 attacks on three Christian
villages, which killed at least 10 people and that has been linked by officials to
regional Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiah.
Police said Hamid, 22, was shot and killed when he attempted to attack police. His
two companions, identified as Zukri and Irwan bin Rais, surrendered.
Poso Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Abdi Dharma said the two men had already been
released.
A leading church activist said the mob's anger went out of control and later prompted
the killing of three Christians who passed by Muslim enclaves around the area.
"The mob, which crowded on the road when Oranye Tajoja and his nephew passed,
stopped the car and dragged them out and tortured them to death. Their faces were
unrecognizably damaged," said Noldy Tacoh, head of the Christian Crisis Centre in
Poso's Christian enclave of Tentena told Reuters.
"I think the mob did not know who they were. They just would strike on anybody who
was around. I am now hearing news that attackers have tried to penetrate some
villages," he said.
National Police chief Bachtiar said the violence had been contained and appealed for
residents to remain calm.
"In a police raid, one man was shot which then was followed by other events...
including the two men who died in a car. All officers in Poso are now on alert. The
people in Poso should remain calm and put their faith in the legal apparatus," Bachtiar
told reporters.
Despite the heightened security gunmen launched an attack on a security post in the
hamlet of Taripa early Wednesday.
At least 15 so far unidentified attacker fired shots at the post, and police on guard
shot back before the gunmen fled to nearby jungle after a 10-minute gun battle.
No casualties were reported but villagers fled their homes in panic, as they feared
they were being targeted. Dozens of military and police officers were deployed to
search for the gunmen.
The attack came despite the presence of around 3,200 police and soldiers in the
regency. A mobile brigade unit of 100 police was deployed from Jakarta following
several violent incidents since Saturday that has claimed four lives.
Police are looking for villager Husen Garusu, 50, who is still missing after armed men
stopped his bus at Kuku village, on Sunday last.
Three unidentified men broke the bus windows, though none of the 19 passengers
were harmed.
"We are still trying to find the connection between the attack and recent incidents in
the area," Dharma said.
NTT Riot Suspects Arrested
Police have arrested three suspects alleged to have taken part in a riot in which a
courthouse and a prosecutor's office were burned down in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara
(NTT) after a priest was convicted of libel.
A joint police and military operation took the three suspects, identified as Yohanis
Sabon, Agustinus Diaz and Wem, into custody during a raid.
"The three are being questioned by police. But it remains unclear if they are the
masterminds of the violence or not," said a police spokesman at Larantuka Police
headquarters in East Flores. He said the suspects had admitted taking part in the
rioting and more arrests were likely as the investigation proceeded.
Thousands of people took to the streets of Larantuka, a mainly Catholic town, on
Saturday after judges found Frans Amanue guilty of defaming the local regent, Felix
Fernandez, by labeling him corrupt.
The judges sentenced the priest to two months in jail, suspended for five months but
the protest quickly turned violent with the angry mob setting fire to the Larantuka
District Court and the town's prosecutor's office.
No casualties were reported but dozens of judges, prosecutors and other officials and
their family members had to flee to safety. They were still being guarded by police on
Monday.
Christian leaders appealed to their church members to stay calm and expressed
regret over the violence.
Fernandez refused to attend an East Flores legislative council meeting convene to
hear his explanations about the violent protest, saying the violence was an affair for
police to deal with and "nothing to do with politics".
The violence caused an estimated Rp5 billion ($588,235) in losses to the state,
according to local officials. Scores of Mobile Brigade police officers were sent to
Larantuka to help local security forces secure the town.
Fernandez is a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the
largest faction in the East Flores Regency Council, and party executives on Thursday
withdrew support for the regent, demanding he step down.
The Larantuka District Court and the local prosecutor's office were still closed as of
Thursday.
Most of the judges and prosecutors have fled Larantuka, fearing they might become
the target of assaults by angry local residents.
Of the six judges at the Larantuka District Court, five of them had fled Larantuka,
leaving Wayan Suparta, the head of the district court.
Eight prosecutors have also fled Larantuka, leaving Katar Ginting, the head of
Larantuka prosecutor's office, as the only prosecutor staying put.
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