2,000 residents of Aceh lie on road in protest
SIGLI, Aceh (JP): About 2,000 residents from several districts in Pidie, on their way to Banda Aceh in dozens of buses and trucks, lay on the road in protest on Wednesday night after being stopped by security forces in Glumpangtiga district.
The convoy was heading along the Banda Aceh-Medan highway to attend a gathering of students and residents at Darussalam University on Thursday in Banda Aceh, the capital.
Residents from the districts of Bandardua, Ulim, Meureudu and Trienggading left Pidie at about 10 p.m. in 32 buses and trucks.
However, security personnel stopped the convoy in Glumpangtiga, and warning shots were fired when vehicles continued to advance. Security personnel told residents to leave their vehicles and that they could not go to Banda Aceh.
"We only plan to attend a meeting, nothing else," a resident said.
Pidie Police chief Lt. Col. Endang E. Bagus said on Thursday the measure was taken to prevent any harm coming to the residents, saying traveling at night could have been dangerous.
Another resident, from Meureudu, said, "The police didn't have to fire shots... many panicked. Such behavior, threatening people suspected of being rebels, just shows there is no good intention on the part of the government to bring a peaceful settlement to problems in Aceh."
In Banda Aceh, rallies continued over demands for a referendum for Aceh's future. In Semarang, some 250 students rallied for an end to violence in Aceh and other riot-torn regions.
Also on Thursday, Aceh Police chief Col. Bahrumsyah confirmed the deaths of two soldiers this week. Sgt. Edi Suhartri was killed in Tenom, West Aceh, late on Monday, while Sgt. Ali Imran, a member of the Jeunieb district military command, was stabbed in his home in Bireuen district, North Aceh, on Tuesday.
"We are still looking for the assailants," he said, adding they had no definite answer regarding the identity of armed people targeting both civilians and security personnel, and how they got arms. Separatists are only one of the suspected groups.
Reports said Sgt. Edi was killed on his way home. Meanwhile, the Waspada daily, based in Medan, North Sumatra, reported six unknown men came to Sgt. Ali's house at noon on Tuesday. A fight broke out and his wife separated, them but one of the visitors stabbed Ali in the side. The six men fled while Ali's body was taken to the Lhokseumawe Army Hospital.
The daily also reported on Thursday that Aliong, 32, of Johan Pahlawan district in West Aceh, was shot dead by an unknown person in the Kaway XVI district late on Tuesday while he was gambling.
From Banda Aceh, Waspada also reported that at about 10 a.m. on Wednesday, six men wearing masks and carrying rifles held up the cashier of the regional office of the Ministry of Education and Culture in Blang Pidie, South Aceh. The cashier, Hamdi, had just withdrawn Rp 240 million from a bank and was about to pay elementary school teachers their salaries at the office.
The robbers disconnected the phone line and surrounded the office, while teachers who had come for their salaries were threatened that they would be shot. "We could not do anything," a teacher said. The robbers then fled, leaving some teachers crying.
Despite ongoing violence, Bahrumsyah told The Jakarta Post that "85 percent" of displaced people, who last month amounted to about 180,000 across Aceh, have found conditions safe enough to return to their homes.
Aceh Police have published advertisements in local newspapers, calling for an end to violence.
In Jakarta on Thursday, Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid reiterated that a referendum on Aceh's future was out of the question, "but I don't know about (the possibility under) the next President".
He said the government has shown respect for the aspirations of Acehnese by delaying the reestablishment of the provincial military command, planned for Sept. 1, and the redeployment of Crack Riot Troops.
"But the people must also help guarantee security," he said, adding that security personnel "would be forced to act" given continued attacks on their members. Last month, the Indonesian Military Commander/Minister of Defense and Security, Gen. Wiranto, said 43 police and military personnel had been killed in Aceh.
Syarwan attended a hearing at the House of Representatives on a new bill to grant special autonomy for Aceh.
Scholars have said that the special status of the province, declared in 1959, has never been made into law. Injustices under the government, continued rights abuses and the failure to bring perpetrators to court have led to increasing grievances here, activists say. (51/anr/har)