Experts call for an end to Aceh military operation<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The military offensive to curb the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has
\nresulted in rampant violations of the Geneva Convention on the
\nprotection of civilians in times of war, experts say.<\/p>\n
They called on the government on Tuesday to halt the security
\noperation in the country's westernmost province.<\/p>\n
Kusnanto Anggoro of the Centre for Strategic and International
\nStudies (CSIS) said on Tuesday that since the government launched
\nthe joint operation in Aceh on May 19, it had failed to uphold
\nthe Geneva Convention in the protection of war victims.<\/p>\n
\"Poor intelligence work has resulted in the military mistaking
\ncivilians for GAM members,\" Kusnanto told a seminar on the
\ncommemoration of the Geneva Convention here.<\/p>\n
Member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM)
\nM.M. Billah concurred, saying that the ongoing military offensive
\nin the resource-rich province had led to gross violations of
\nhuman rights.<\/p>\n
\"A team set up by Komnas HAM to probe possible human rights
\nviolations in Aceh has collected evidence that extra judicial
\npunishment, mass graves, killing of non-combatants, rape and
\nsexual abuse have indeed taken place during the military
\noperation,\" he said, adding that all of that constituted a
\nviolation of basic humanitarian law.<\/p>\n
Kusnanto cited the low number of firearms seized from alleged
\nGAM members compared to the total number of captured GAM members
\nas an example of how the military had wrongly perceived civilians
\nas combatants.<\/p>\n
\"If the military manages to seize only 200 firearms, but the
\nnumber of captured GAM members reaches almost 2,000, I suspect
\nthat there are many civilians who have been treated as rebels,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
He was quick to add that there were a number of civilians and
\nsuspected GAM members who had to undergo questioning without the
\npresence of legal counselors, which constituted a violation of
\nArticle 3 of Protocol II of the 1977 Geneva Convention.<\/p>\n
He also branded the reregistration of civil servants and the
\nreissuing of ID cards for the Acehnese people as a violation of
\nthe ban on collective punishment of civilians in the convention.<\/p>\n
Kusnanto said after the first three months of the military
\ncampaign, it was high time the government decided that the next
\nthree months would be the last for the use of military force.<\/p>\n
\"Before the six month period is over, President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri should have come up with an appropriate exit
\nstrategy from the Aceh military operation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that the withdrawal of around 40,000 troops from Aceh
\nwould also be very helpful for the government to maintain
\nsecurity in Java and other regions in the country ahead of the
\ncoming general elections.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is scheduled to hold the legislative elections on
\nApril 5, and presidential elections in August 2004.<\/p>\n
Officials originally suggested that the offensive could be
\nwound down within six months, but the military had recently
\nindicated a longer timeframe.<\/p>\n
The martial law administrator Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarya earlier
\nsaid that \"depending on the supporting factors\" the military
\noperation might even take years.<\/p>\n
The first three months of the military operation has taken its
\ntoll in the deaths of 49 military personnel and police, 198
\ncivilians and 481 GAM members.<\/p>\n
Over 500 school buildings have been torched, leaving about
\n40,000 students with no place to study.<\/p>\n
\"There are also school buildings which are used as military
\nbarracks,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The outspoken member of Komnas HAM said the torching and
\noccupation of school buildings were a violation of the Geneva
\nConvention which stipulates that nonmilitary facilities should
\nnot be targets in a combat between two adversaries.<\/p>\n
He said a Komnas HAM investigative team would soon leave for
\nAceh to embark on another probe into the human rights conditions
\nin the troubled province.<\/p>",
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