16 found dead in restive Aceh

16 found dead in restive Aceh

Ibnu Mat Noor
and Nani Farida
The Jakarta Post
Banda Aceh

Human rights groups say the abduction and murder of civilians
in Aceh has reached "alarming levels" after the bodies of 19
people were found separate locations throughout the war-torn
province in the last four days.

Most of the victims had first been abducted and shot in the
head.

A reliable source with the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) said 29-
year-old Abdul Murid, a resident of the provincial capital of
Banda Aceh, was found dead in Cot Iri near the city on Wednesday.
He had bullet wounds to his head.

Four bodies with similar wounds were discovered in Ie Rob
Village, Samalanga, Bireuen, 170 kilometers east of the city on
Wednesday.

Three of the dead were identified as Badruddin, Mulyadi Iskak
and Kumaini while the last person had yet to be identified.

In South Aceh, three bodies were discovered by local people in
separate locations in Babah Roh Subdistrict on Tuesday. Their
names have yet to be released.

In other killings, Idris, 23, was found with wounds to his
head near his house in Susoh Subdistrict on Tuesday, only moments
after he was abducted by unidentified gunmen.

Mardi, 30, and Wardi, 27, were found dead by the road in Pante
Rakyat Village in Babat Rot Subdistrict in South Aceh.

In Pidie Regency, the bodies of two brothers were discovered
after they were abducted on Monday.

Rasmuddin, a senior PMI staff member in West Aceh, said it
evacuated six bodies discovered in front of their house after
they were shot to death by unidentified assailants on Tuesday
night.

The victims who were identified as Nuraini, 15, Nuaflah, 35,
Cut Ti, 60, M. Kasim, 38, Edi Zainal, 20, and T. Muchtar, 18. All
had been shot in the head.

There was no confirmation on why they were executed but local
people suspected that they were killed by security personnel
based near the village.

The local military and the Free Aceh Movement have traded
accusations of killing civilians they suspect of spying.

Rufriadi Ramli, director of the Banda Aceh Legal Aid
Institution (LBH), called on GAM and the local military to stop
the violence to avoid killing civilians.

"The abduction with murder is a serious human rights violation
and those who are behind the brutality will stand trial some time
in the future."

He said human rights violations in the province has reached
alarming levels.

Tengku Sofyan Dawod, spokesman for GAM in East Aceh, regretted
the rampant abduction and arbitrary arrests conducted by the
local military against the Acehnese civilians, saying the
presence of international observers in Aceh was urgently needed
to monitor the human rights abuses.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Dade Achmad, chief of the Banda Aceh Police
Precinct, said the civilians were killed by GAM because they gave
information to security authorities.