ABRI postpones withdrawal of troops from troubled Aceh

ABRI postpones withdrawal of troops from troubled Aceh

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI), which recently pulled
out 900 troops from Aceh, is canceling further withdrawals and
even reportedly sending 200 new troops to restore order in the
province following two days of unrest.

Minister of Defense and Security/ABRI Commander Gen. Wiranto
announced the decision on Wednesday. He said: "It is the
responsibility of ABRI to maintain security... therefore the
troop withdrawal will be suspended temporarily until the
situation is safe enough (for it to continue)."

"To safeguard projects of vital importance, the number of
troops (already present) will be reinforced," Wiranto said
without elaborating.

Antara reported ABRI had deployed about 200 infantrymen from
the capital Banda Aceh and 200 others from the North Sumatra
capital of Medan to the site of the unrest, Lhokseumawe.

There was no official figure on Wednesday about the number of
troops deployed in Aceh, which witnessed atrocities during the
nine years of military operations to quell armed separatist
activists, but estimates range from 5,000 to 12,000, according to
a rights group.

Unrest broke out in the North Aceh town of Lhokseumawe shortly
after the second batch of combat troops withdrew from the
province on Monday. The first group, consisting of 250 troops,
pulled out on Aug. 20 as part of Wiranto's promise to scale down
the military presence in the province where soldiers have been
accused of massive human rights abuses.

The rioting and looting went on until Tuesday, causing damage
to more than 200 buildings and reportedly claiming one life and
injuring dozens when the troops tried to contain the unrest. Some
witnesses claimed they heard shots fired repeatedly for a
duration of half an hour on Tuesday.

There was no fresh rioting on Wednesday, but tension was high
and news services reported a heavy military presence with dozens
of troops posted on street corners.

Lhokseumawe, about 200 kilometers east of the provincial
capital of Banda Aceh, lies near the huge Arun oil and gas field.

The respected National Commission on Human Rights confirmed
here on Wednesday that military units had perpetrated gross
violations of human rights during operations in Aceh.

"The gross violations were summary killings, torture and other
cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, enforced disappearances,
destruction of property and rapes and sexual assaults," according
to the rights commission's deputy chairman, Marzuki Darusman. He
added that the abuses included violations that were not even
justifiable in war situations.

Marzuki told a packed media conference that the rights
violations occurred in Pidie, North Aceh and East Aceh, which
fall under the supervision of the Lilawangsa District Command.

The rights commission said last week that at least 781 people
were killed and thousands others suffered, including at least 102
women who were raped, during the military operations in the
westernmost province.

Marzuki said on Wednesday, however, that a thorough
investigation was still needed to determine the final number of
victims of the atrocities.

He suggested that the number reported may be lower than the
reality as not all victims had come forward and reported their
suffering due to "an overwhelming fear induced by the military
operations."

Four rights commission members visited the province two weeks
ago and dug up mass graves of alleged victims of the atrocities.

The team found a number of skeletons and talked to hundreds of
witnesses, local authorities and non-governmental organizations.

The rights body recommended to President B.J. Habibie's
administration that all officials behind the military operations
in Aceh and the alleged human rights violators be held
responsible and brought to court.

It also recommended that the government compensate the
relatives of the killed victims.

The rights body also said that it was high time that the Armed
Forces review its education curriculum.

"The accepted norm that ABRI members can do anything they want
under the pretext of stability must be abolished," added Marzuki.
(byg/prb)