Aceh at standstill as mass strike starts

Aceh at standstill as mass strike starts

JAKARTA (JP): Parts of Aceh came to a halt on Wednesday as
residents began a two-day strike protesting military violence in
the province, while a shoot-on-sight order against armed
civilians was issued by the police.

Witnesses said streets in the province's main towns were
deserted, with shops, public transportation and businesses
closed.

"The shops have all been closed since this morning and the
streets are also very quiet," Ahmad Daniel, a hotel employee in
the North Aceh capital of Lhokseumawe, told The Jakarta Post.

Human rights activists and students called for the general
strike to demand an end to violence in Aceh and the withdrawal of
troops from the province.

"It seems that many people are following the students' call
for the strike," Armin Gruber, a member of the International
Committee of the Red Cross, said from Lhokseumawe.

An employee at the Lhokseumawe office of the Ministry of
Education and Culture, Ali Basya, told the Post that few of his
colleagues came to work on Wednesday. He also said public
transportation was not operating and the market was quiet.

Thousands of people stocked up on supplies on Monday.

A few children were seen being taken to school by their
parents on motorcycles, but by 11 a.m. they had gone home because
many teachers were absent, Ali said.

A security official at Lhokseumawe General Hospital said the
hospital was quiet although doctors and nurses were at work,
being excluded from the strike call.

In Sigli, the capital of Pidie regency, some 125 kilometers
east of the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, students volunteers
assisting some 60,000 refugees there said they would transport
aid to the refugees only after the strike ended.

One of the students, Mutia, said it would only be possible to
transport aid if there was a private vehicle to borrow or rent.

In Banda Aceh, residents said shops were closed and public
transportation vehicles were absent from the streets.

Antara news agency reported that the city's main markets of
Kampung Baru and Peunayung were closed and dozens of coffee
houses in the city, which are popular hangouts for residents,
were also closed.

Junior and high school students said they were given a holiday
on Wednesday and Thursday from their schools.

A car from the local military command was seen cruising the
streets urging the people to continue with their daily
activities.

Shoot on sight

The strike came as National Police chief Gen. Roesmanhadi said
in Jakarta police had launched a new offensive to crush a
resurgence of separatist activity in Aceh. He also issued a
shoot-on-sight order against civilians carrying arms.

"I order police to shoot those whose identities aren't clear
and who are armed," Roesmanhadi said.

"If people are dressed in plainclothes and are armed ... this
concerns the security of officers ... and also bothers the
public," he said, adding the orders were not to shoot to kill,
but to disable.

Roesmanhadi said the new offensive would be a six-month-long
operation ending in January 2000, and would involve 6,186 Aceh
Police officers and auxiliaries.

Jakarta has deployed some 3,100 riot police and 2,000 troops
to the province as reinforcements for the operation, he said.

Roesmanhadi said the police were still in command of security
operations in the oil-rich province, and riot troops were present
only to assist the understaffed local police force.

Roesmanhadi also said clashes between the military and members
of the Free Aceh Movement had resulted in the death of at least
211 people, including 44 security personnel, since May.

More than 150 buildings, including dozens of schools and
government offices, have also been burned, he said.

Most of the violence has taken place in the regencies of
Pidie, North Aceh and East Aceh, where most of the violence
occurred during the decade-long military operation which was
halted last year.

He said security personnel would also secure the main traffic
route between Banda Aceh and the North Sumatran capital of Medan.

The police have recorded 98,618 Acehnese who have sought
refuge in 26 shelters since the recent outbreak of violence,
Roesmanhadi said.

Earlier in the day, nine protesters grouped in the United
People of Aceh occupied the Dutch Embassy on Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said
in South Jakarta demanding Aceh's independence from Indonesia.

They demanded the Dutch government lobby the United Nations on
their behalf.

Separately Antara reported that the Golkar Party charged the
government of not being serious to settle problems in Aceh.

"I think it is no exaggeration to say that the government is
not serious about finding a solution to the Aceh problem or that
the government considers it as insignificant," chairman Akbar
Tandjung said.

Injustices had led to protests, and the problem was now more
complex with armed groups and the tens of thousands of refugees,
Akbar said. (byg/anr/emf)