Commision to probe rights violations in Aceh<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights is to
\nsend a second fact-finding team to Aceh to investigate alleged
\nhuman rights violations in the westernmost province.<\/p>\n
Baharuddin Lopa, the commission's secretary-general, said he
\nwould lead the team himself and would depart within the next four
\ndays.<\/p>\n
\"We will make a thorough and more accurate investigation (than
\nour previous one),\" he said after attending the inauguration of
\nNurcholish Madjid as a professor at the Syarif Hidayatullah
\nIslamic Teachers Institute here yesterday.<\/p>\n
The rights body recently sent a team to Aceh but many people,
\nespecially local and religious leaders, were dissatisfied with it
\nbecause its investigation was far from comprehensive.<\/p>\n
The team started the investigation after receiving reports
\nthat 39,000 people had died during military operations in the
\nprovince over the past decade.<\/p>\n
Lt. Gen. (ret.) Soegiri, a member of the rights body, said
\nthat despite the planned troop withdrawal from the province, the
\nteam would still go ahead with the investigation because rights
\nissues in Aceh were linked to the transmigration program and
\nseparatist rebel movement.<\/p>\n
Minister of Defense and Security Affairs\/Armed Forces
\nCommander Gen. Wiranto, in a visit to Aceh last week, ordered the
\nwithdrawal of all soldiers deployed in military operations within
\na month.<\/p>\n
Soegiri said the rights body was also planning to carry out
\nsimilar investigations in East Timor and Irian Jaya as part of
\nits campaign to make a recommendation to the government on a
\ncomprehensive solution to human rights violations in those two
\nprovinces.<\/p>\n
\"The sending of fact-finding teams to Irian Jaya and East
\nTimor is still being arranged. Tomorrow (today) we will assemble
\nto discuss what we should do in our investigations in the three
\nprovinces,\" said Soegiri.<\/p>\n
Exaggerate<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, two Aceh community leaders remarked that the
\nsecurity situation in the province would likely improve with the
\nwithdrawal of troops.<\/p>\n
Ibrahim Husin, chairman of the Aceh chapter of the Indonesian
\nUlemas Council, and Chairman of the Coordinating Board of Aceh
\nWomen Organizations Syarifah Hanoum, said in Banda Aceh yesterday
\nthat people should welcome the Armed Forces (ABRI) decision.<\/p>\n
Hanoum said the disturbance issues in the province had been
\nmuch exaggerated since 1989 as a guise to deploy an excessive
\nnumber of combat troops there.<\/p>\n
\"It is irrational and quite an exaggeration that ABRI sent
\n4,000 elite troops to crush 40 rebels. It has stayed here for 10
\nyears only to handle 40 rebels,\" she said.<\/p>\n
She said that despite the hype about the existence of a
\nseparatist movement in the province, the majority of the people
\nhad little desire to separate from Indonesia.<\/p>\n
She added that history shows it was the Acehnese who fought
\nbitterly for Indonesia's independence and maintained a strong
\nloyalty to the republic.<\/p>\n
Hanoum said she could not accept the recent apology made by
\nWiranto for rights violations committed by troops in the
\nprovince.<\/p>\n
\"Those involved in torture and rapes should be court
\nmartialled. The houses which were burned should be rebuilt and
\nall children and wives whose parents and husbands were killed
\nshould receive support,\" she asserted.<\/p>\n
The recently formed National Front also hailed the Armed
\nForces' lifting of Aceh's status as a military operations zone
\nsince it had only caused locals suffering and tarnished the
\ncountry's image.<\/p>\n
\"It is also quite encouraging that ABRI is pulling out combat
\ntroops from East Timor and Irian Jaya,\" the front said in a
\npolitical statement signed by its chairman, A. Kemal Idris. (rms)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/commision-to-probe-rights-violations-in-aceh-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}