Acehnese seek justice for ABRI atrocities

Acehnese seek justice for ABRI atrocities

By Ridwan Max Sijabat

LHOKSEUMAWE, Aceh (JP): The outgoing chief of the Armed Forces
(ABRI) General Affairs, Lt. Gen. Fachrul Razi, was greeted during
his one-day visit here on Friday by around 100 locals who
delivered strong demands for justice for past military
atrocities.

Mustafa Abubakar, an Aceh leader based in Jakarta, cited
various unsolved cases of rights abuses during the military
operation to quash the Free Aceh separatist movement between 1989
and 1998. Only by resolving those cases can ABRI gradually
appease the Acehnese' hatred toward the military, he said.

"Recent violent riots, looting and the murder of ABRI troops
were an expression of the local people's anger, which has lots to
do with ABRI's past oppression and its inability to resolve those
cases (of military atrocities)," Mustafa said.

Muslim leaders, students and rights activists joined a meeting
held by Razi here. The meeting was also attended by the chief of
the Army's Strategic Reserve Command, Lt. Gen. Djamari Chaniago,
and Aceh Governor Syamsuddin Mahmud.

Also present at the tightly guarded meeting was Lhokseumawe
regent Tarmizi A. Karim; Lt. Gen. J. Arie Kumaat, an assistant to
ABRI Commander Gen. Wiranto; the chief of ABRI's Military Police,
Maj. Gen. Djasri M.; and Brig. Gen. Abdul Rahman Gaffar, the
newly appointed chief of the Bukit Barisan Military Command
overseeing Aceh, Riau, North Sumatra and West Sumatra.

Mustafa warned that the majority of Acehnese would experience
greater frustration and disappointment unless the cases of rights
violations were resolved and ABRI stopped attempting to handle
problems in the province through a security approach.

"It is not surprising the Acehnese are still angry and
frustrated... and this frustration could boil over into new
anarchic actions, violence or real war to demand a separation
from the country if the problems are left unaddressed."

"The Acehnese are, I reiterate, seeking justice for ABRI's
past cruelties," he said.

The National Commission on Human Rights in a fact-finding
mission in August last year found at least 781 people had been
brutally murdered during the military operation in the province.
ABRI responded to the findings by lifting the military operation
zone status from Aceh.

Yusuf Ismail Pasai, a local human rights activist, said ABRI
had no other recourse but to meet people's demands in order to
win their hearts, and maintain security and stability in the
province.

"The Acehnese will face a serious crisis of confidence in the
local administration and the military unless ABRI stops its
security approach and starts employing a more humane approach in
developing Aceh," he said.

Yusuf echoed Mustafa's statement, saying locals still hated
ABRI because of the latter's "continued oppression".

Separately, some residents in the village of Pusong told
visiting journalists that they suffered greatly because of
continued oppression by troops.

"Soldiers continue to extort local fishermen. There's no legal
certainty here because the soldiers oppress us," a fisherman,
Sudirman, said, displaying scars from bullet wounds that he
claimed he received during a recent military raid.

"We don't need donations of basic commodities because Aceh is
already rich with its own resources; our land is fertile. We just
want to be treated like human beings," a student said.

The student demanded that Jakarta give Aceh a greater
percentage of the profits from companies exploiting the
province's resources. "Companies such as (state-owned fertilizer
company) PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda, (liquefied gas company) PT LNG
and (oil mining firm) PT Mobil Oil have been exploiting Aceh's
resources for decades," he said.

Fachrul Razi, who is scheduled to be replaced by Lt. Gen.
Sugiono on Jan. 25, said after the meeting that ABRI would look
into the people's demands, and discuss them with the government.

"I cannot say much about this, but I promise to bring the
people's demands to ABRI's leadership," he said.

Governor Syamsuddin said, "Give us time to seek comprehensive
and peaceful solutions to all these problems."