Aceh court to try 7 soldiers

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Lhokseumawe, Aceh

Seven soldiers will go on trial on Tuesday for allegedly beating civilians in Bireuen regency, Aceh, the first time such a trial is being held amid the ongoing military operation, as the Indonesian Military (TNI) responds to concerns over human rights abuses.

The trial is the result of a four-day TNI internal inquiry into the case. Military prosecutors have named seven soldiers of Palembang-based Battalion 144 as suspects in the abuse committed on May 27 against residents of Lawang village, Peudada district, Bireuen.

The soldiers allegedly beat and intimidated villagers as they checked ID cards in a raid against members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Some reports alleged that they had also killed villager Abu Bakar, a charge the TNI dismissed.

"It doesn't matter if they (the Acehnese) are members of GAM or not; none of my soldiers has the right to beat them," said Aceh Military Operation Commander Brig. Gen. Bambang Darmono at a press briefing on Monday. "My troops have come to Aceh to protect civilians, and those who violate this rule of engagement will have to face me."

The seven soldiers are: Platoon commander Second Lt. Fuad Suparlan, First Sgt. Haryono, Second Private Sudaryanto, First Private Saiful Bahri, Second Private Agus Hidayat, Second Private Toni Narianto and First Private Alfian.

They are being charged with violating Article 351 and Article 55 of the Criminal Code on the torture of civilians, as well as Article 103 of the Military Criminal Code for neglecting military discipline. The charges carry a maximum sentence of two years.

The trial, to be held at the Lhokseumawe District Court, marks a shift from the military's reluctance to court-martial its members during an ongoing military campaign.

Throughout the 10 years of military operation in Aceh from 1989 to 1999, not a single trial was held to account for the deaths of more than 10,000 people, many of whom were civilians.

"We should appreciate the TNI for taking corrective action," said former member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas Ham) Asmara Nababan.

But the gesture was not enough, he added, and that independent investigators should monitor the human rights situation as well. "It's surprising that the government has not even called in a national institution like Komnas Ham to monitor human rights in Aceh," he said.

International rights watchdogs have sought entrance into Aceh, but TNI officials have rejected their requests, arguing that it was enough to have the local media monitor the situation.

Asmara said, however, that human rights watchdogs like Komnas Ham were more suitable for monitoring rights abuses than the media, whose main job was merely to report them. Trials based on TNI's internal inquiries might also lack credibility and could simply be a publicity stunt, he warned.

The Lawang trial goes to court amid two different accounts over the death of Abu Bakar. The TNI said that he was killed when he tried to escape after soldiers found a cache of villagers' ID cards in his house. Locals have said GAM seized their ID cards after a TNI warning that persons without an ID card would be treated as a GAM member.

But Abu Bakar's wife, Aisyah, told journalists that soldiers dragged her husband out of the house and beat him before they shot and killed him.