GAM warns of attacks on state facilities<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Acehnese separatist rebels have warned civil servants to stay
\naway from state facilities, which they plan to attack.<\/p>\n
Free Aceh Movement (GAM) spokesman Tengku Sofyan Dawod said
\nfrom the group's foreign base in Norsborg, Sweden, that the prior
\nwarning was issued to avoid futile fatalities in the long-
\nstanding conflict.<\/p>\n
\"In a state of war, public and economic facilities belonging
\nto the warring nations are legitimate targets of military attack,
\nexcept for health centers, schools and cultural places. It's our
\nobligation to inform or order a clearance of those facilities,
\nand any civilian casualty as a result of defiance is beyond our
\nresponsibility,\" Sofyan said in a statement released on Sunday.<\/p>\n
He said the warning was not intended to provoke or intimidate
\ncivilians because it was regulated by international humanitarian
\nlaw.<\/p>\n
\"Civil servants remain simply civilians as long as they do not
\ninvolve themselves in the conflict. Civilians deserve protection
\nduring a state of war according to the Geneva convention and
\nnobody can trespass that right,\" Sofyan said.<\/p>\n
Thousands of civilians are believed to have been killed and
\nhundreds of public facilities, including schools, attacked in the
\nprotracted armed fight between GAM and Indonesian security
\ntroops, which dates back to the mid-1970s.<\/p>\n
Security authorities always blame the losses claimed, both
\nhuman and material, on the rebels.<\/p>\n
Sofyan denied GAM was responsible and said that in many cases
\nmilitary operations by the Indonesian Military (TNI) and police
\nhad resulted in human rights violations.<\/p>\n
\"GAM invites TNI and National Police to stop arguments about
\ncivilian casualties. Let the monitoring team from the Henry
\nDunant Center (HDR) determine who committed human rights abuse,\"
\nSofyan said.<\/p>\n
HDR has facilitated a series of peace talks between the
\nIndonesian government and GAM in Geneva, the latest one taking
\nplace on May 9 and May 10.<\/p>\n
In the latest violence in Aceh, two men were shot dead by
\nunidentified gunmen on motorbikes in front of a junior high
\nschool in the Cunda area of Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, on Monday.<\/p>\n
Yusuf Passe, an activist with the local human rights group PB-
\nHAM, told AFP the attack caused panic among hundreds of children.
\nStudents were sent home early following the incident.<\/p>\n
One of the victims was believed to be a GAM member. No
\nconfirmation was immediately available from police, but Sofyan
\nsaid both victims were civilians.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Sunday, local military command spokesman Maj.
\nZaenal Muttaqin said TNI personnel killed a rebel and confiscated
\nan automatic rifle and ammunition during a raid on a suspected
\nGAM base in Bukit Teumpon, East Aceh, on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Muttaqin also said GAM members led by Tengku Anas had abducted
\nthree employees of a plantation company in Darul Makmur, West
\nAceh. The whereabouts of the three workers remain unknown.<\/p>\n
It is the second case of abduction in less than a week after
\nGAM rebels kidnapped nine female students last Wednesday.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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