The Aceh killing fields<\/p>\n
Reports reaching us about the human rights abuses committed in
\nrecent years by Armed Forces personnel in Indonesia's westernmost
\nprovince of Aceh have made us shudder.<\/p>\n
While precise figures may as yet be lacking, estimates made by
\nindependent investigators on the basis of field observations and
\ninterviews with local residents in the Acehnese hinterland
\nindicate that the number of people who were killed, went missing
\nor were physically abused between 1989 and 1998 runs into the
\nthousands.<\/p>\n
Amnesty International, the London-based international human
\nrights watchdog, reported recently that between 1989 -- when Aceh
\nwas declared a military operation zone -- and 1992 about 2,000
\npeople, including local civilian supporters of the Free Aceh
\nMovement, were killed in military operations. About a thousand
\nmore civilians were detained on suspicion of supporting the
\nmovement or simply because they had relations who were
\nindependence activists.<\/p>\n
Those who doubt the impartiality of Amnesty International's
\nobservations will not view the findings of the independent
\nIndonesian investigators with much comfort. Again, while precise
\nfigures are as yet hard to come by, many expert observers and
\nmost elements of the media seem to agree that the number of
\npeople who have gone missing in Aceh since the province was
\ndeclared a military operation zone has now reached at least
\n1,600. An official fact finding team from the House of
\nRepresentatives which recently visited Aceh is expected to
\nclarify this when it releases its report.<\/p>\n
Eyewitness accounts of what happened in Aceh during those
\nterrible years will make most people's hair stand on end. \"Teuku
\nAyah could hardly believe his eyes. His knees trembled when he
\nsaw hundreds of corpses piled up in a hole in front of him like
\ndead rats. No sooner had he recovered his composure than an
\nofficer ordered him and his companions to bury the bodies and
\nlevel the ground over the mass grave. Ayah's fear heightened when
\nan officer tied another man to a tree and shot him dead. The
\ncorpse was simply left there to decompose,\" Gatra newsmagazine
\nreported in its latest issue.<\/p>\n
As shocking as those revelations may be, the use of excessive
\nforce on civilians by members of the Armed Forces is not actually
\nnew. To this day, the 1991 Santa Cruz incident in the East
\nTimorese capital of Dili remains an indelible stain on the
\nhistory of Indonesia's presence in the troubled province. More
\ndistant, but no easier to forget, is the 1984 Tanjung Priok
\nincident in Jakarta in which hundreds of people are believed to
\nhave been shot dead by the security forces.<\/p>\n
Similar force was applied during the July 27, 1996, riot in
\nJakarta, which is still a hot topic for public debate. Most
\nrecently of course was the abduction and torture of young,
\ndissenting political activists. In other words the use of brutal
\nand excessive force on citizens of this country, during
\npeacetime, by members of their own Armed Forces intent on
\nachieving political objectives. Tragically this has become common
\npractice in the country over the years.<\/p>\n
It is difficult to say exactly when this penchant for killing
\nand torturing their own people began. It was certainly not
\nevident in the early years of Indonesia's independence, when the
\nIndonesian Armed Forces was a people's army in the truest sense
\nof the word, fighting side-by-side with the civilian population
\nto wrench sovereignty from the Dutch. But while it is hard to say
\nwhen it all began, it is easy to say when it must end:
\nimmediately.<\/p>\n
ABRI must stop treating dissenting civilians like enemies in a
\nwar. And it must do so without delay, or not only will ABRI lose
\nall credibility, the country and the nation will be placed in
\ndanger of disintegration. It is no coincidence that separatist
\nmovements are strong -- and have managed to remain strong -- in
\nthe so-called military operation zones of Aceh, East Timor and
\nIrian Jaya. The excessive use of force by ABRI personnel is also
\none reason why its dual function, particularly its role in the
\nnation's politics, is at present under public scrutiny.<\/p>\n
This nation needs a strong, dependable and solid Armed Forces.
\nHowever, it must be an Armed Forces that truly offers security to
\nthe citizens of this country. Further serious human rights abuses
\nby Armed Forces personnel simply cannot be tolerated.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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