`Don't charge GAM members with terrorism'

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A legal observer said the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) was a political movement aimed at achieving independence from Indonesia, therefore the government could not charge its members and supporters under the law on terrorism.

"It would be correct if police and prosecutors charged suspected GAM members under the Criminal Code, particularly the articles on treason, as the activities of GAM are merely attempts to break up the country's sovereignty," Rudy Satrio, a criminal law professor at the University of Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

Rudy warned of rampant human rights violations should police and prosecutors press ahead with terrorism charges against suspected GAM members and supporters.

GAM has been fighting for independence for the resource-rich Aceh since 1976. At least 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the province during this struggle.

The government launched an all-out military campaign in Aceh on May 19 in a bid to stamp out the secessionist movement.

Police in Aceh have charged suspected members and backers of GAM with terrorism, which allows the suspects to be detained and questioned without the presence of lawyers, as required under the country's Criminal Code.

Article 5 of the terrorism law states that terrorism is not a political crime, a crime with a political motivation or a crime with political goals.

Rudy criticized police investigators for arbitrarily applying the law on terrorism against suspected GAM members and supporters to allow them to question the suspects without the presence of defense lawyers.

"A suspect has the right to be accompanied by a lawyer. It has become a universal standard. The authorities cannot abandon this. They have the obligation to provide lawyers if charges against suspects are punishable by a minimum of five years of imprisonment," he said.

Rudy said the government's declaration of martial law in Aceh on May 19 did not abrogate this obligation.

Law No. 15/2003 on terrorism allows police to detain a terror suspect for three days without notifying the suspect's lawyer or family.

Some lawyers in Aceh told the Post that the authorities refused to allow them to accompany their clients during questioning. They said their clients were mostly civilians, including rights activists, who had been detained for alleged involvement with GAM.

Some civilians have been arrested without warrants and police in Aceh failed to notify their families, the lawyers said.

Hendardi, chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association, said the police were "making a serious mistake in defining the law enforcement operation in Aceh by arresting civilians arbitrarily".

"It is a very unacceptable mistake, as they think they can take away all the basic rights of Indonesian citizens in Aceh following the imposition of martial law," Hendardi said.

Rudy said the courts in Aceh must reject any cases submitted by prosecutors if the police failed to follow the Criminal Code Procedure.

"If a case is based on an arbitrary arrest, the courts must reject it. I hope the courts have the guts to do this," he said.

The Aceh Prosecutor's Office announced on Saturday it would indict five GAM negotiators who represented the group in the now- defunct Joint Council.

The negotiators are Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba, Tengku Nasrudin bin Ahmed, Amni bin Ahmad Marzuki, Teuku Kamaruzaman and Muhammad Usman Lampoh Awe.

The head of the prosecutor's office, T.N. Lutfi, said earlier that the suspects had been charged with treason and terrorism, the latter charge related to a series of bombings across the country that GAM has been accused of.

The office is currently working on the dossiers of six other suspected GAM members, including woman's activist Cut Nur Asikin.

Police have accused Cut of leading Inong Balee, a women's military wing of GAM. She was one of the first alleged GAM members arrested following the imposition of martial law in the province.