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."