Students urge JSC to probe shooting<\/p>\n
Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh<\/p>\n
About 200 students picketed the office of the Joint Security
\nCommittee (JSC) here on Tuesday to demand that the monitors
\noverseeing the truce in troubled Aceh province investigate the
\nshooting of two of their friends.<\/p>\n
Unidentified gunmen shot the two students, who were riding a
\nmotorcycle, on Saturday night in Lamreng in Kreung Barona Jaya
\nsubdistrict, Aceh Besar district.<\/p>\n
The incident killed Hardinal Kesuma, a 26-year-old student at
\nMuhammadiyah University, and critically wounded his younger
\nbrother, Asmar Ferdinan, 23.<\/p>\n
The protesters, activists of the Student Executive Board at
\nthe University of Serambi Mekah, arrived at the JSC office in
\nKuala Tripa Hotel in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh at
\nabout 11 a.m.<\/p>\n
They gave one week for the peace monitoring team to
\ninvestigate the shooting and reveal the perpetrators of the
\nattack.<\/p>\n
\"If within seven days the case remains unexplained, it would
\nbe better for the committee to be dissolved,\" a demonstrator
\nshouted.<\/p>\n
The rally proceeded peacefully amid tight guard from local
\nMobile Brigade police personnel.<\/p>\n
Before the protesters dispersed, two of their representatives
\nwere received by executives of the Henry Dunant Centre (HDC),
\nwhich brokered peace talks between the government and the rebel
\nFree Aceh Movement (GAM) since 2000.<\/p>\n
The HDC, part of the committee that includes the Indonesian
\ngovernment and GAM, pledged to soon launch a probe into the
\nshooting of the two brothers.<\/p>\n
\"JSC members will investigate the incident at the scene and
\nannounce the culprits soon through the media,\" said Steve Daly,
\nspokesman for the HDC.<\/p>\n
The security committee was set up following the signing of a
\ncease-fire agreement between the government and GAM on Dec. 9 to
\nend 26 years of hostility in Aceh, which killed more than 10,000
\npeople.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh said on Tuesday the
\nUnited Nations World Food Program (WFP) would distribute 10,000
\ntons of rice to victims of the fighting, which first erupted in
\n1976.<\/p>\n
\"The humanitarian assistance will begin being distributed
\nearly next month in conjunction with the visit of Coordinating
\nMinister of People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla and other Cabinet
\nmembers,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The governor said victims in Meureudu subdistrict, Pidie
\nregency, would be the first to receive aid.<\/p>\n
Puteh said his provincial administration had set up a task
\nforce at the subdistrict level to take charge of the distribution
\nof the food aid.<\/p>\n
The assistance follows the signing of last month's truce in
\nGeneva, Switzerland.<\/p>\n
Donor countries pledged to extend humanitarian aid for Aceh as
\nagreed upon during their conference in Tokyo on Dec. 3 and the
\nmeeting of the Consultative Group on Indonesia in Bali on Jan. 21
\nand Jan. 22.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-urge-jsc-to-probe-shooting-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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