Aceh military goes after activists
Aceh military goes after activists
Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
The Aceh martial law administrator has vowed to go after non-
governmental organization (NGO) activists in the province, saying
many of them were accomplices of the separatist Free Aceh
Movement (GAM).
"What is certain is that the activists arrested (by security
officers) are involved in the separatist movement," martial law
administration spokesman Col. Ditya Sudarsono said on Wednesday.
Ditya was asked to confirm the rampant arrests of activists in
troubled province Aceh.
At least three activists are now being detained by security
officers in Aceh and many more have been placed on the wanted
list.
"We don't consider them activists, but people who either
sympathize with GAM or openly help the rebels," Ditya told The
Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
He also admitted that many activists in Aceh had fled to
Jakarta and other provinces outside Aceh.
"Outside Aceh they are shouting that the military has
committed abuses in Aceh. They (activists) do not change the
situation for the better," Ditya said.
The Aceh martial law administration, according to Ditya, is
determined to pursue those activists wherever they go.
"Clearly their actions hurt national interests. They have to
be arrested and questioned," he stressed.
He declined to reveal the number of activists the martial law
authority was targeting.
National and international NGOs have slammed the abduction of
six student activist in Aceh recently by the police and demanded
their immediate release.
The six detainees were identified as Harlina (22), Nova Rahayu
(23), Nursida (22) from the Acehnese Democratic Women's
Organization (ORPAD), Iwan Irama Putra from the Linge Students
Network (IMPEL), and Syafruddin from the Students' Solidarity
with the People (SMUR).
The last was Masrizal, who is reportedly a member of GAM's
military wing. The six were students of Syahkuala University and
Ar-Rainiry Islamic Teaching Institute (IAIN) in the Aceh capital
of Banda Aceh.
NGOs have said the students are human rights activists and
were arrested as they had uncovered grave human rights violations
since the imposition of martial law on May 19 last year.
The government declared war against the Acehnese rebels in May
last year to crack on the separatist movement which has been
fighting for independence for the resource-rich province since
1976.
Meanwhile, AFP reported that the police are denying access to
a detained activist who has reportedly been beaten up. A lawyer
and his wifehave since last week been barred from visiting
Muhammad Nazar, the head of the Aceh Referendum Information
Centre.
The centre campaigns for an independence referendum in the
province in Sumatra island, where police and troops are battling
separatist guerrillas.