Death toll rises to 54 in Aceh violence: Report

JAKARTA (JP): The death toll from the West Aceh incident has risen to 54, with at least 30 people still missing following last month's alleged military shootings in the troubled province of Aceh, a human rights group said on Monday.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) quoted witnesses as saying that locals found two more bodies near Beutong Ateuh village in West Aceh on Sunday afternoon.

Residents in Beutong Ateuh last week dug up or found 52 bodies of civilians they said were killed by troops on July 23 for allegedly possessing illegal arms.

"Umar, 28, and Wahid, 23, were found dead on Sunday afternoon and Umar was one of Teungku Bantaqiah's sons," Kontras coordinator Munir told a media conference.

Munir said last week Bantaqiah, a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) leader and former political prisoner released in March, was one of those killed in the violence.

Munir also said that at least 30 people, including two of Bantaqiah's sons, Malikul Mahdi, 6, and Said Sufei, 4, were still missing.

The military has said troops launched an operation in the area to search for illegal weapons and had opened fire in self- defense.

But human rights activists have cited villagers as saying soldiers gunned down the victims in a field near Bantaqiah's school after telling them to gather there for an identity check.

"The military's statement that there was an exchange of fire has been denied by the witnesses, so their testimonies should be answered by the government and the military leaders," Kontras said in a statement.

Kontras also criticized the military's plan to send about 7,000 reinforcement troops to hunt down 200 suspected rebels in Aceh, saying the move would "extend uncontrollable violence".

"Efforts to maximize military operations (in Aceh) without finding a peaceful and democratic solution would only show the arrogance and the true attitude of the Indonesian Military's (TNI) approach, which is a pure violence," Munir said.

Meanwhile, Iqbal Farabi, a local human rights activist, said on Monday that local government and military officials have been persuading people not to participate in a strike planned for Aug. 4 and Aug. 5 to protest the Aceh violence.

"They have been distributing pamphlets to counter our calls for a mass strike and civil servants have also been threatened not to join the strike," Iqbal told The Jakarta Post from the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

Iqbal said public transportation drivers had also been summoned by the military and ordered not to participate in the strike.

Iqbal however, said the strike would go ahead and he claimed it would have more popular support in Pidie, North Aceh and East Aceh.

The three regencies were the worst affected by a decade of military operations (DOM), which was only lifted last year.

In Jakarta, some 100 students from the Forum for Reform and Democracy staged a peaceful demonstration on Jl. M.H. Thamrin earlier on Monday calling for an end to the violence in Aceh.

The students also called on Indonesia's trade partners to stop supplying weapons to Jakarta and for Minister of Defense and Security/TNI chief Gen. Wiranto and President B.J. Habibie to be held accountable for the killings there.

Approximately 50 students in the Central Java capital of Semarang also staged a protest against Aceh violence on Monday, and three students have staged a hunger strike in front of Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University since Saturday.

The alleged massacre in Beutong Ateuh was the latest in a series of violent incidents in Aceh, where a rebel movement has stepped up its activities against soldiers this year.

The violence has claimed the lives of more than 200 people, including police and military troops, and forced more than 100,000 people to flee their villages since May. (23/har/byg)