Aceh peace talks must prioritize civilian protection: Amnesty
Aceh peace talks must prioritize civilian protection: Amnesty
LONDON (Agencies): Peace talks on Aceh, which are to resume in
Geneva next week must prioritize human rights protection, Amnesty
International said on Tuesday.
"Despite a succession of previous agreements, violence has
escalated over the past year and civilians continue to suffer
grave human rights abuses at the hands of both the Indonesian
security forces and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)," Amnesty
International said in a statement, a copy of which was made
available to The Jakarta Post.
It said the recent torture and killing of three high school
students is a stark reminder of why human rights protection must
be firmly on the agenda. Lukman, 18, Azhari Iskandar, 18, and
Tarmizi, 16, were shot dead on June 18 after they and 13 other
schoolchildren, a teacher and the school head were detained by
members of the Indonesian Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob).
The children had been attending a ceremony to collect their
graduation certificates when Brimob raided the school in Caleng,
West Aceh after one of their members had been killed in an armed
clash with GAM.
Quoting media reports, Amnesty said that after failing to find
the GAM members responsible, Brimob took the students and their
teachers to Krueng Sabee police sector where they were
interrogated, beaten and the three students shot dead. Brimob
refused to release their bodies without payment from their
families.
"The peace talks won't bring back the three school students or
hundreds of other innocent civilians who have been killed in
Aceh, but if human rights protection is prioritized the dialogue
could prevent more unnecessary deaths," the statement said.
The killings came just days after the announcement that talks
between the Indonesian government and GAM would be resumed.
Previous talks have focussed on reducing the level of violence
to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered and more recently have
made tentative steps toward exploring political solutions to the
conflict.
"All efforts to resolve the situation in Aceh through dialogue
rather than force are welcome, however, too often human rights
are sacrificed in the search for peace and security. Sidelining
human rights will not lead to a durable and just solution to any
conflict," the organization added.
The Indonesian government has responded to the deteriorating
situation by sending more troops to the province.
Amnesty claimed that human rights monitors and humanitarian
workers are prevented from carrying out their legitimate work
because of personal security fears.
In late March human rights worker Tengku Al-Kamal, his lawyer
and driver were shot dead in South Aceh. Al-Kamal was returning
from being questioned by the police about his role in assisting a
group of women who alleged that they had been raped by Brimob
last year.
Rather than investigate the rape or the killing of Al-Kamal,
the Indonesian police have accused human rights activists, who
tried to help the women, of defamation and kidnapping.
"While the dialogue is in progress, immediate steps must be
taken on the ground to prevent further violations and to bring to
justice those guilty of committing these crimes. Human rights
defenders must be able to carry out their work without
intimidation, including spurious criminal charges and both sides
must abide by international human rights and humanitarian law.
Immediate orders should be issued to troops to respect these
rights, including the right to life," Amnesty said.