19 civilians shot dead in four days in 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.