Another policeman killed in Aceh

JAKARTA (JP): An unidentified group of men killed a police officer on Friday night in Dewantara district, Lhokseumawe, North Aceh Police chief Lt. Col. Syafei Aksal said on Saturday.

Syafei said the killers slit Corp. Ali Rachman Siregar's throat while he was sleeping in his house.

"Dewantara is very volatile. We still cannot identify the killers, but I will not let the killers remain free after killing my officer," Syafei told The Jakarta Post from Lhokseumawe.

Minister of Defense and Security/Indonesian Military Commander Gen. Wiranto said on Friday 43 security personnel had been killed recently in Aceh.

Syafei also confirmed reports arsonists burned on Saturday a small warehouse in the Arun gas field in North Aceh, which is operated and partly owned by Mobil Corp., the American oil company based in Fairfax, Virginia.

He did not specify the building's contents, but said it was rarely used.

Last week Gen. Wiranto said Crack Riots Troops would only guard vital projects, in the face of allegations that they were involved in abuse against civilians.

Syafei blamed armed separatist groups for the arson, refuting allegations the military was responsible for the blaze.

"This irresponsible group continues to terrorize people. Allegations that the warehouse was burned by police or military personnel are impossible, because our duty is to guard vital locations," he said.

Police said here earlier this month separatists threatened to blow up the Arun natural gas refinery in Lhokseumawe.

Syafei also said police had yet to identify four bodies found in Bireun, about 60 kilometers west of Lhokseumawe. They were found on Wednesday in front of a government office with gunshot wounds and their throats cut.

According to residents, one of the dead was a villager seized by soldiers during a military sweep on Wednesday.

Separately, President B.J. Habibie met on Saturday with members of the newly established Independent Commission to Investigate Atrocities in Aceh, and assured them the team would be fully independent in probing human rights abuses in the province.

Team chairman Amran Zamzami said his team would be able to follow up its findings, including evidence directly related to government offices.

"This independent commission has the authority to monitor whether the cases are followed up or just put on hold," Amran said after he and 26 other commission members met with the President at Merdeka Palace.

Habibie officially established the commission on July 30. Its members include Rosita S. Noer, National Police officer Maj. Gen. Marwan Paris, rights activist Abdul Gani Nurdin and the winner of the 1998 Yap Thiam Hien human rights award, Farida Hariyani.

Amran, an Acehnese, is the patron of the Indonesian Contract Bridge Association, which is chaired by Gen. Wiranto. Rosita and Marwan were members of the Joint Fact-Finding Team which investigated last year's May riots.

Farida, 34, has assisted widows and orphans who were victims of the 1989 to 1998 military operations in Aceh.

"This is my last hope regarding the government upholding justice in Aceh," Farida said of the team.

The National Commission on Human Rights initially refused to sit on the team, because Gen. Wiranto had said the team would only investigate alleged abuses committed after the military operations in the province ended in 1998.

The presidential decree on the independent team did not place any time restrictions on the team's investigations.

Previous fact-finding teams in Aceh, including one from the National Commission on Human Rights, have reported their results to the government. However, Habibie continues to be criticized for failing to meet his promise to the Acehnese that those guilty of abuses in the province would be brought to justice.

The rights body reported the military operations resulted in at least 781 dead, 3,000 widows and up to 20,000 orphans.

Rosita was confident the independent commission, scheduled to meet with Acehnese leaders next Thursday in Aceh, would come up with concrete results.

Habibie will also send several ministers to Aceh later this week. (prb)