EU parliament condemns military crackdown in Aceh

EU parliament condemns military crackdown in Aceh

Agencies, Strasbourg/Banda Aceh

The European Parliament condemned on Thursday an extension of martial law in the restive province of Aceh and called on Jakarta to revive peace talks with separatist rebels.

In a joint resolution, members of the European Union assembly also urged the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to lay down its arms and "pursue its cause through the democratic process".

Members said they were "deeply concerned at the extension of martial law and military operations in Aceh and the ongoing violence, including armed skirmishes, kidnappings, killings and other acts of violence".

They called on the Indonesian government "to stop the offensive and resume talks with the Free Aceh Movement and to fully involve civil society -- and in particular Acehnese women -- in the dialog and peace process".

Indonesia pulled out of a cease-fire on May 19 with the GAM, imposed martial law and sent 40,000 troops and police to wipe out the guerrillas in the natural resource-rich province.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri extended the military emergency status until next May, despite protests from human rights groups and religious leaders and concerns of foreign donor nations -- the United States, Japan and the European Union.

Indonesia reacted angrily to the international donors' statement on Aceh, saying it was "regrettable and was tantamount to interference in domestic affairs".

The government said the extension of martial law was based on thorough considerations, given its efforts in "restoring and preserving state sovereignty ... and restoring a sense of security" mainly among the local population.

Economic restoration has been added to the integrated operation, which incorporated a military offensive, humanitarian mission, empowerment of the regional administration and law enforcement during the first six months of martial law.

In Aceh, a group of unidentified armed men held an engineer who works for the PT Arun NGL Co. natural gas producer in Lhokseumawe hostage for a Rp 60 million (US$7,058) ransom, a military officer said on Friday.

Spokesman for the military operation in Aceh Lt. Col. Ahmad Yani Basuki said Bambang Budi Santoso, 45, was abducted on Thursday afternoon when he was driving home. The incident took place near a crowded market where people were buying food for breaking of the fast.

Yani accused GAM of responsibility, but no GAM official could be reached for comment.

The gas company's media relations officer, Iswandar, said the state firms' management was working with the TNI to discover the whereabouts of Bambang.

Also in the day TNI troops were involved in sporadic gunfights with the rebels. The military seized an M-16 automatic rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

Separately, the government announced a plan to move 140 GAM members who were sentenced to over three years in prison to a maximum security prison on Nusakambangan island near the Central Java town of Cilacap.

Head of the provincial justice and human rights office Teuku Darwin said on Friday by sending the former rebels far away from Aceh, the government could cut their communication link with fellow GAM members who remain on the run.

Darwin said prisons in Aceh were overcrowded and could no longer accommodate rebels who had either been convicted or were being detained.

Apart from Nusakambangan, the former rebels will serve their prison sentence in the Central Java towns of Cirebon and Pekalongan.

The court has convicted 462 rebels since the inception of the martial law on May 19.