Arrest of rights activists condemned

Arrest of rights activists condemned

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A human rights activist criticized on Monday the arrest of
Aceh students and rights activists during the first week of a
major military campaign against rebels in Aceh, warning it could
worsen human rights violations by the military and the police.

"It has long been known that the TNI (the Indonesian Military)
has always been reluctant to allow investigations into possible
human rights violations," sociologist and human rights activist
Otto Syamsudin Ishak told The Jakarta Post. "These arrests are
the only way for the security apparatus to limit the access of
activists investigating human rights abuses in Aceh."

As of Monday, 45 students and activists had been apprehended
since the military operation began in Aceh on May 19.

They might have links with Free Aceh Movement (GAM)
separatists, said Aceh Police chief Inspector General Bachrumsyah
Kasman.

Among the 45 suspects, 19 could face charges of subversion.

These include the GAM representatives at the Joint Security
Committee (JSC), a forum to implement the now-defunct peace
accord with GAM signed in December last year.

The GAM representatives, Teuku Kamaruzzaman, Sofyan Ibrahim
Tiba, Muhammad Usman Lampoh Awe, Nasiruddin bin Ahmad and Amni
bin Marzuki, were arrested shortly before they tried to leave for
the Japanese capital, Tokyo, to attend a last-ditch meeting to
save the peace accord.

"Those proven to be members of GAM, or its supporters, will be
indicted on charges liable to capital punishment," said Kasman,
as quoted by Antara on Monday.

Conversely, he added, the police would free any arrested
persons with no proven links to GAM.

However, Otto said that human rights activists had been
deliberately targeted and thus were liable to false arrest.

The detention of human rights monitors, he warned, could give
leeway to Indonesian and GAM troops to commit more human rights
abuses.

Amnesty International voiced its concern over a surge in
abuses since martial law was declared in Aceh on May 19, AFP
reported.

"Reports already indicate that this is the case -- that
civilians, including children, have been subject to extrajudicial
execution, and that many thousands of people have been forced to
flee their homes..." said an Amnesty report at the weekend, which
faulted both GAM and Indonesian troops.

Journalists covering the war have also been subject to police
questioning over reports of human rights abuses by the TNI.

Otto demanded the National Commission on Human Rights (KOMNAS
HAM) intervene to protect activists from arbitrary arrest.

He added that civil groups at home and abroad were also asked
to support their peers in Aceh. He called for pressure to be
brought against the Indonesian government to allow human rights
monitors free access into the war-torn province.