RI 'not serious in dealing with rights abuses'<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, New York<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government failed to address human rights
\nviolations last year and the situation in the separatist province
\nof Aceh worsened sharply, Human Rights Watch said.<\/p>\n
\"The government made no serious efforts to address past or
\ncurrent abuses, new human rights legislation notwithstanding,\"
\nthe New York-based group said in its annual report released on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
The report said the number of political prisoners rose
\nsteadily during 2001, with many peaceful political activists
\ncharged with \"spreading hatred toward the government.\"<\/p>\n
\"The justice system remained a shambles,\" it added.<\/p>\n
Human Rights Watch described 2001 in Indonesia as \"another
\nturbulent year, marked by a power struggle in Jakarta and an
\nescalation in regional conflicts.\"<\/p>\n
It criticized President Megawati Sukarnoputri's appointment of
\nMuhammad Abdurachman as the attorney general, calling him \"a
\ncareer prosecutor known for obstructing human rights cases,
\nparticularly with regard to East Timor.\"<\/p>\n
\"With no interest in prosecutions on the part of the
\npresident, the attorney general, or the minister of justice, let
\nalone the military, prospects for accountability looked bleaker
\nthan ever,\" it said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has this month set up a special tribunal for senior
\nmilitary officers accused of human rights abuses in East Timor in
\n1999. The first trial may start next month.<\/p>\n
The report said the situation in Aceh province, scene of a
\nbloody separatist insurgency, deteriorated sharply last year.<\/p>\n
\"The 2001 death toll had topped 1,300 by September, and while
\nmost of the deaths were civilians killed in the course of
\nmilitary operations, the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) was also
\nresponsible for serious abuses.\"<\/p>\n
GAM has fought a guerrilla war for an independence Islamic
\nstate in Aceh, a resource-rich region on the northern tip of
\nSumatra island, since 1976.<\/p>\n
An estimated 10,000 people have died since the start of the
\ninsurgency. At least 97 have already been killed this year.<\/p>\n
\"Defending human rights remained a dangerous occupation,
\nparticularly in Aceh, where at least seven rights workers were
\nkilled,\" the group said.<\/p>\n
In December 2000, four workers for an organization called
\nRehabilitation Action for Torture Victims of Aceh or RATA were
\nabducted outside Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, by a group of armed
\nsoldiers and civilians. Two men and a woman were executed; a
\nfourth escaped and gave testimony identifying several of the
\nkillers.<\/p>\n
On March 29, a human rights lawyer, Suprin Sulaiman, together
\nwith his client, Teungku Kamal, and a driver, Amiruddin, were
\nshot dead shortly after leaving the South Aceh district police
\nstation where Kamal had been summoned as a suspect in criminal
\ndefamation of the police.<\/p>\n
Four military men and four civilians were arrested. The
\ncivilians later escaped while the soldiers reportedly remained in
\nthe military police detention center in Medan as of October.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-not-serious-in-dealing-with-rights-abuses-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}