Rights body demands access to monitor war<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) gave a
\nwarning on Thursday of possible unchecked human rights violations
\nin Aceh during military operations as the administrator of
\nmartial law had started to curb the flow of information.<\/p>\n
Commission member M.M. Billah, who is chairman of Komnas HAM's
\nad hoc monitoring team for peace in Aceh, said the space for
\nrights activists to monitor rights violations in the conflict-
\ntorn province had been shrinking.<\/p>\n
\"Komnas HAM's representative office in Aceh reported that they
\nhad not been able to reach workers from the Human Rights and
\nLegal Aid Post (PBHAM) in East Aceh or South Aceh as well as
\nrights workers in Bireuen because telephone lines have been
\ndisrupted.<\/p>\n
\"Starting Wednesday, the administrator of martial law has
\nlimited public access to information to only the Indonesian
\nMilitary (TNI) media center in Banda Aceh. It has become
\ndifficult to obtain independent sources for balanced reports,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Billah was speaking in a media briefing on the plan to send
\nseveral of the ad hoc team members later this week to monitor the
\nlatest condition in Aceh. He did not reveal details of the trip.<\/p>\n
To get more \"breathing room\" for their activities in the
\nprovince, the team has drafted a memorandum of understanding with
\nthe Aceh police chief and will also try to get approval from the
\nstate of military emergency ruler.<\/p>\n
\"But we have not yet received a response,\" Billah said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Aceh martial law administrator Maj. Gen. Endang
\nSuwarya expressed on Thursday his disappointment over the way the
\nIndonesian media was reporting the war in Aceh.<\/p>\n
\"Journalists should use their conscience to decide whether
\ncertain news is appropriate to be printed or aired.<\/p>\n
\"I'm asking you and your fellow reporters, let us -- in our
\nrespective professions -- work for the same goal, which is the
\ninterest of this nation and the safety of this country,\" he told
\ndozens of reporters at the media center in Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
Endang was refreshing his statement made Tuesday night \"that
\nstatements coming from GAM (Free Aceh Movement) spokespersons
\nwould be blocked because they twist the facts\" and that all
\nreporters covering Aceh would have to be registered.<\/p>\n
Earlier, rights activist Dita Indah Sari had questioned the
\ngovernment's policy not to allow international monitoring teams
\nto enter Aceh. \"It would only strengthen the notion that
\nperpetrators of rights violations in Aceh can get away easily,\"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that the
\ninternational community would be closely monitoring the Aceh
\nconflict to see whether the TNI or GAM forces committed rights
\nabuses.<\/p>\n
\"As the TNI has learned from their experience in East Timor,
\nthe international community's tolerance for impunity is
\nshrinking,\" Brad Adams, executive director of HRW's Asia
\ndivision, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
HRW also urged the Indonesian government to give independent
\nmonitors, diplomats and foreign journalists immediate access to
\nAceh.<\/p>\n
Entering the third day of the massive military offensive in
\nAceh, 287 schools had thus far been torched, and 27 rebels have
\nbeen killed or captured, according to the TNI. However, a GAM
\nspokesman and villagers in Bireuen district said that 10
\ncivilians were killed.<\/p>\n
With international monitors evacuated from the region because
\nof the hostilities, it has become extremely difficult to verify
\neither side's claims.<\/p>\n
There have also been reports of \"disappearances\", while
\nseveral Acehnese were reportedly arrested due to their alleged
\nlinks to GAM.<\/p>\n
Reports also said that in the past two weeks, one PBHAM worker
\nin East Aceh was kidnapped from a bus and has not yet been found,
\nwhile another worker disappeared and later was found murdered.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rights-body-demands-access-to-monitor-war-1447893297",
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