LAKSAMANA.Net, May 23, 2004 11:54 PM
Review - Regions: War by Another Name
Laksamana.Net - Troops shot and killed four separatist rebels a day after the lifting of
martial law in Aceh, the military said Wednesday (19/5/04). Three Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) rebels died in a clash with patrolling government soldiers in East
Aceh and another GAM member died during a firefight in Aceh Jaya district, military
spokesman Lt. Col. Asep Sapari said.
The casualties came as Jakarta ended a year of martial law in the province and
replaced it from Wednesday with a "civil emergency" headed by provincial governor
Abdullah Puteh. The governor said he would make collective decisions with the
province's military and police commanders as well as the Attorney General.
Puteh and other officials have said military operations against GAM will continue and
Jakarta has vowed to keep a large troop presence there.
The military has admitted the one-year military operation failed to live up to earlier
expectations. TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsuddin said in Jakarta that the
military was planning a new strategic field operation and would also reorganize its
Lhokseumawe-based operation command headquarters.
"Based on reports from the military authority in Aceh, the one-year operation has
failed to achieve the ultimate target as GAM still exists. Indeed, we have been able to
reduce its strength to about 40%, but the presence of GAM remains a threat to the
Unitary Republic of Indonesia," Sjamsuddin told a local daily Friday (21/5/04).
According to Sjamsuddin, the military has to revise its previous intelligence reports
because "many of the people who have been arrested or surrendered are GAM
sympathizers, and not armed rebels. We only realized it after the one-year operation,"
Sjafrie said. The military would also promote the spirit of struggle among civilians in
Aceh "to eliminate the guerrilla force," he said.
Convicted rebels moved to Java
Authorities transferred 171 convicted separatist rebels to jails on neighboring Java
Monday (17/5/04), prison officials said, as the capacities of jails in Aceh were
insufficient.
A.C. Hendarmin, head of the Keudah jail in Banda Aceh, said that 136 prisoners were
flown in Hercules transport aircraft from Banda Aceh and the rest from Lhokseumawe.
Hendarmin declined to give a reason for the move, saying it was ordered by the
martial law commander, Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarya.
The transfer is the third since the government imposed martial law. Hendarmin said
the prisoners were serving jail terms of between three to 19 years.
In Banda Aceh, the prisoners were taken to the Sultan Iskandar Muda military airbase
on board 10 trucks. Many of their families, who had gathered in front of the Keudah
jail, saw them board trucks, bound by chains to each other.
Among those dispatched to Java was Muhammad Nazar, the head of the presidium of
the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) who was jailed for five years in May
last year on charges of publicly spreading enmity against the government.
GAM releases more hostages
Some 150 more civilian hostages were released by GAM late Monday (17/5/04),
hours before a midnight deadline set by the military lapsed. The rebels, led by GAM
Peurelak commander Ishak Daud, left soon after they held a farewell party attended
by members of the International Commission of the Red Cross (ICRC) and five
journalists who voluntarily spent two nights with the rebels to witness the release of
the hostages.
ICRC volunteers then took the hostages to the Cut Mutiah hospital in Langsa, some
470 kilometers east of Banda Aceh, for medical checks. The newly released hostages
arrived at Langsa with RCTI cameraman Fery Santoro and the five journalists, who had
spent the two nights at a GAM hideout in East Aceh.
A Red Cross official said Tuesday that a group of local reporters who helped negotiate
Monday's release were not held against their will. It was unclear how long rebels of
the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) had held the hostages, mainly local villagers.
Military officials confirmed the release but declined to give details, saying they were
not involved in the process. It was unclear if GAM was holding more hostages. GAM
representatives could not be reached for comment.
Tension Continues in Ambon
Tension returned to the strife-torn city of Ambon Wednesday (19/5/04) after police
prevented Muslim protesters from marching toward the governor's office to demand
action following the recent escape of four detained independence activists.
Four supporters of the outlawed separatist South Maluku Republic (RMS) movement
escaped from their cell at Maluku police headquarters on May 9. Police have said
they are investigating the escape.
The rally, the first to take place after the renewed violence, briefly crippled activities in
the Ambon mayor's office. The demonstration ended peacefully around noon amid
tight security by police. Some 300 protestors took to the streets, throwing tires and
stones and blocking traffic, but a cordon of armed police prevented them from
approaching the governor's office.
Dozens of youths staged the rally to demand that separatists be firmly dealt with to
prevent more violence in the wake of the April 25 incident that sparked a week-long
killing spree in which nearly 40 people were hacked to death or killed by snipers.
The protest was preceded by several hours by the flying of two independence flags of
the predominantly Christian Republic of South Maluku (RMS) over a Muslim
neighborhood and an explosion later in the evening. No group claimed responsibility
for the flag-raising or the bomb.
News of the protest sparked panic at state-run Pattimura University, where Christian
and Muslim students had resumed studies following fresh sectarian clashes that left
38 dead last month. Christian and Muslim student camps threw stones at each other
before they dispersed but police said there were no reported casualties.
Megawati visit
President Megawati Sukarnoputri visited Ambon on Saturday (22/5/04) and met local
religious and civic leaders during her brief three-hour visit, Governor Karel Albert
Ralahalu said. From Patimmura airport, Megawati flew by helicopter to the governor's
office across the Bay of Ambon for meetings. She also inaugurated several
development projects, a number of roads, bridges and drinking water projects,
Ralahalu said.
Megawati arrived from Ternate, in the neighboring province of North Maluku.
Afterwards she flew on to Timika in Papua province.
C. Sulawesi Terror Suspects Freed
The Palu High Court on Friday (21/5/04) annulled the convictions of three of five terror
suspects. "They have been found not guilty. After investigating the evidence, and
based on witness statements, the three were not proven to be involved in terrorism,"
presiding judge Mahdi Saroinda Nasution said.
The court ordered the immediate release of the three defendants from the Palu prison.
The high court is also hearing appeals from two other terror defendants -- Muhammad
Fauzan and Nizam -- who were convicted by the Palu District Court in March along
with the three suspects whose convictions were overturned. Firmansyah and Fajri
were jailed for five years by the district court, while Aang received a three-year prison
sentence.
The five convicted men are suspected members of the regional terror group Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI). JI was blamed for the devastating Bali bombings that killed 202 people
on Oct. 12, 2002, and a bombing at the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta that claimed the
lives of 13 people on Aug. 5, 2003.
Wholesale Graft
Judges sentenced 43 members of the 55-seat council in Padang on Monday (17/5/04)
to prison terms ranging from 24 to 27 months after convicting them for misusing Rp6.4
billion ($711,111) from the city's 2002 budget. The trials for the 43 councilors were
held separately in five courtrooms.
Another seven council members, who are from the military and police, are being tried
by a separate tribunal.
West Sumatra Legislative Council speaker Arwan Kasri, his two deputies and 40
other councilors were among those found guilty of embezzling the money from
insurance allowances, tactical funds, rent for official houses, cellular phone bills and
other allowances, which were allocated for the council members in the 2002 budget.
The convicted council leaders told the trial that they would appeal against the verdicts.
They remain free pending appeals to a higher court. Three other councilors have been
named as witnesses, while another was deemed unfit to stand trial due to a stroke,
and another died.
A local community group in Padang first brought the case to public attention last
year, prompting legal activists to hail efforts by ordinary citizens to curb corruption.
Prosecutors in the West Java city of Cirebon have also named the entire 30 members
of the local legislative council as suspects in a graft case. An investigation is
underway.
Jail for Storing Explosives
Four men accused of storing bomb-making materials were each sentenced to 10
years imprisonment by the Semarang District Court on Wednesday (19/5/04). The
four, Machmudi Hariono alias Yoseph Adirima alias Yusuf from Jombang, East Java;
Joko Ardiyanto alias Luluk alias Abdullah from Salam, Magelang, Central Java;
Siswanto alias Antok from Pati, Central Java; and Suyatno alias Heru Setiawan from
Magetan, East Java, objected to the sentence and sought leave to appeal.
The defendants were reportedly recruited by Mustofa alias Imron, who was found
guilty of the Marriott Bombing that took place on October 12, 2002, claiming 12 lives.
Imron received a seven-year prison sentence for his role in the bombing.
The four were arrested at their rented house between July 8 and July 11, 2003, in
Semarang. Police found 25 sacks of potassium chlorate, 9,000 5.56-mm bullets,
1,800 9-mm bullets, 910 4.5-mm bullets, 21 M-14 bullets, around 1,000 non-electronic
detonators, 25 electronic detonators, 65 packages of explosive materials, four boxes
of TriNitro Tolluene (TNT), 11 hand-made rockets, a gun, a pistol and books on how to
make bombs.
The four were charged under Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1/2002 and
Law No. 15/2003 on terrorism. The defendants pleaded not guilty, saying that they
met Imron in December 2002 and accepted the boxes from him without knowing what
was inside them. According to the panel of four judges, the defendants also received
training in terrorist training camps.
18 Punished over Shooting
A police disciplinary committee in Kupang, the provincial capital, imposed light
sanctions Monday (17/5/04) on 18 police officers for their role in a shooting incident
last March on Flores island that killed six people. Two were ordered by the committee
to be held in special detention for six days, East Nusa Tenggara Police spokesman
First Insp. Chusnul Waton said.
The two -- Second Brig. Tausius Tanus and Brig. Piter Jhon, who were both working at
a police weapons warehouse during the March 11 incident -- also will have their
promotions delayed for six months.
The committee said the two and 16 other officers had forcibly opened the warehouse
and took ammunition and firearms, in what they claimed was an act of self-defense,
without permission from their superiors.
"They were charged with disciplinary offenses, as stipulated in Government Regulation
No. 2/2003 on the code of police discipline and other rulings because they used
firearms without the permission or knowledge of their superiors," Waton said.
The same committee earlier ordered the dismissal of Manggarai Police chief Adj. Sr.
Comr. Boni Tompoi for failing to prevent the violence. The committee imposed light
sanctions on two middle-ranking officers for their role in the shooting, but acquitted
local intelligence unit chief First Insp. I Made Andhika, of all charges. Two others were
given only a written reprimand and have been banned from taking part in police training
courses for six months. They were found guilty of negligence in the performance of
their duty.
A National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) team has visited Manggarai
to investigate alleged human rights abuses during the melee but has yet to announce
the results of its findings.
Minor Quake
A minor earthquake shook the island of Lombok and neighboring Sumbawa early
Friday (21/5/04), officials said. There were no reports of injuries or damage. The quake
measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale struck about 3:32 a.m. (20:32 GMT) Friday, said
an official at the meteorology and geophysics bureau in Jakarta.
She said the quake was felt in Mataram, the West Nusa Tenggara provincial capital
on Lombok Island. Police there said they were unaware of any damage. The epicenter
was about 16 kilometers west of Dompu regency on Sumbawa. A government worker
in Dompu said she was unaware of damage there.
Train Horror Kills Four
At least four people were killed and another severely wounded as a train hit a
container truck in Deli Serdang regency on Monday (17/5/04). The four victims were
riding on two motorcycles, which were next to the truck as it toppled it over after being
hit by the Putri Ungu train serving the Medan-Binjai route.
The injured victim was a passenger of a minivan that was also pinned under the truck
in Mulyorejo village, Sunggal sub district. The crash was blamed on a malfunctioning
of the warning bell at the crossing.
Drug Courier Sentenced to Death
The district court in Medan sentenced a South African man to death Wednesday
(19/5/04) for smuggling heroin. Okonkwo Kingleys was proven guilty of smuggling 69
heroin capsules hidden in his stomach. Kingleys was arrested when he got off a flight
from Malaysia.
Chief judge Dahlia Brahmana was quoted as saying the defendant was proven to be a
middleman in an international narcotics network bringing heroin from Pakistan to
Indonesia.
Gusmao Reduces Sentences
East Timor President Xanana Gusmao has cut nearly nine years off the sentences of
three pro-Indonesian militiamen convicted of killing a group of nuns and clergymen in
1999.
The world's poorest nation celebrated the second anniversary of its independence on
Thursday (20/5/04) and Gusmao, a former guerrilla himself, said in a statement that
he was reducing the sentences of 32 convicts, including the three militiamen, as "a
symbolic act of forgiveness" to mark the anniversary.
The three men were each sentenced to 33 years and four months in prison after being
found guilty in 2001 of murdering nine people, including a Roman Catholic priest, two
nuns and a journalist, near the eastern town of Los Palos.
Stateless Indonesians
Hundreds of Indonesians living in East Timor are essentially stateless, as they hold
no citizenship documents either from the Indonesian government or the government of
East Timor. The Indonesians refuse to consider themselves Indonesians despite the
fact that they have not been granted East Timor citizenship.
Head of the Indonesian Representative Office in Dili, Fauzi Bustami, said Wednesday
(19/5/04) that the Indonesians, who have since 1999 been living at the Annur Mosque
compound in Kampung Alor, Dili, have long wanted to become citizens of their host
country but are denied this under the country's new citizenship law.
Under the citizenship law enacted in 2002, only indigenous East Timorese are
recognized as legitimate citizens. East Timorese are defined as those who are born
there or whose parents were born in the newly established country.
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