West 'ignorant of plight of the Acehnese'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Mosque Council (DMI) accused the
\nWest of being ignorant of the tragedies in Aceh and urged Muslims
\nacross the country to help the Acehnese, at least 70,000 of them
\nwho have become refugees.<\/p>\n
\"Muslims here cannot keep as silent as the West, which claims
\nto be a pioneer of humanity but seems passive regarding Acehnese
\nrefugees, who are mostly Muslim,\" Kafrawi Ridwan, the council
\nchairman, announced here on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Kafrawi said the DMI opened a bank account at Bank Muamalat's
\nJl. Jend. Sudirman branch to collect contributions for refugees
\nin Aceh.<\/p>\n
Council secretary-general Oemar Ghiffary said the apparent
\nindifference to the plight of the Acehnese among Muslims \"was
\nsimilar to that of the West\".<\/p>\n
However, he said the DMI could understand the apparent lack of
\nconcern from the world's Muslims because of the current attention
\ngiven to Kosovo and other problems.<\/p>\n
A group of students, meanwhile, protested at the Ministry of
\nDefense and Security against violence in the province, and
\nreiterated demands that troops be withdrawn from Aceh.<\/p>\n
The Anti-Violence Student Committee reminded President B.J.
\nHabibie of his pledges to the Acehnese during his recent visit to
\nBanda Aceh, including the promise that violence in the province
\nwould be ended and those guilty of human rights abuses would be
\npunished.<\/p>\n
The government ended a decade-long military operation against
\narmed separatists in Aceh last year, but the violence has
\ncontinued, with both civilians and military members being killed,
\ninjured and abducted.<\/p>\n
At a seminar on Aceh last week, a statement from the Hong
\nKong-based Asian Human Rights Commission charged that the desire
\nto protect business investments was behind the refusal of foreign
\ngovernments to raise the issue of rights violations, including
\nthose in Aceh.<\/p>\n
\"The Indonesian government, the local elite and international
\npowers are more interested in the control of the oil, gas and
\ntimber wealth of Aceh,\" commission coordinator Sinapan Samydorai
\nsaid. The statement noted the vast poverty in Aceh, based on
\nreports that only 1 percent of Aceh's average contribution of 11
\npercent to the national budget was returned to the province.<\/p>\n
The commission, in conjunction with other rights
\norganizations, is attempting to keep the problems in Aceh in the
\nspotlight and has set up websites on the province, Samydorai
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Syamsul Ma'arif
\nconfirmed the presence of former Jakarta military commander Maj.
\nGen. Syafrie Sjamsoeddin in Aceh.<\/p>\n
Syafrie was assigned \"to seek input to solve the Aceh case\",
\nSyamsul was quoted by Antara as saying. Syamsul said Syafrie's
\nassignment had nothing to do with operational matters, dismissing
\nrumors that Syafrie was involved in the current violence in Aceh.<\/p>\n
From Banda Aceh, Antara quoted a rights group as saying that
\nonly 5 percent of the more than 7,000 cases involving military
\nmembers would likely make it to court.<\/p>\n
The spokesman for the FP-HAM rights group, Yarmen Dinamika,
\nbased his estimates on the limited availability of living
\nwitnesses and suspects.<\/p>\n
He also said several lawyers refused to represent the victims
\nof military violence, because in the past lawyers and their
\nfamilies became targets of intimidation and terror for taking up
\ncases linked to the military.<\/p>\n
FP-HAM recorded 7,727 cases of rights abuses during the
\nmilitary operation. They included 1,321 deaths, 1,958 missing
\npersons, 3,430 cases of torture, 128 cases of rape, 81 cases of
\nsexual abuse and 597 cases of arson.<\/p>\n
From Banda Aceh, Antara reported that 11,735 elementary school
\nstudents could not return to school because they were still
\nliving in refugee centers. The majority of the children, or
\n6,805, are from Pidie, the head of the local education agency,
\nSyahbuddin AR, said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
He said teachers living near refugee centers might be assigned
\nto teach students at the shelters.<\/p>\n
Antara also reported 14 buses and trucks which had recently
\nbeen set on fire had not been removed from the roads.<\/p>\n
\"If security personnel do not immediately remove these charred
\nremains they will disturb the concentration of passing
\nmotorists,\" Dullah, a bus driver, said.<\/p>\n
Separately, the chairman of the Indonesian Transparency
\nSociety, former finance minister Mar'ie Muhammad, met with the
\nInternational Commission of the Red Cross in Jakarta to appeal
\nfor more international assistance for Aceh.(anr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/west-ignorant-of-plight-of-the-acehnese-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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