Former rebels behind bars despite amnesty

Former rebels behind bars despite amnesty

Dozens of Acehnese rebel prisoners eligible for release under a
historic peace agreement remain behind bars, separatists said
Sunday, calling on the government to make sure they're freed.

"At least 86 rebels accused of treason or subversion against
the state are being held in 12 jails," said rebel spokesman
Teungku Jamaica. "If the government does not do anything to grant
them amnesty, we will complain to international peace monitors."

Indonesia said last week it had emptied its jails of more than
1,400 rebel political prisoners, honoring a major concession in
the accord signed by the government and the rebels in Finland
last month.

The peace deal is seen by many as the best chance in years to
end three decades of fighting that has claimed nearly 15,000
lives in tsunami-battered Aceh province.

A government official who oversaw the prison releases said
Sunday he would investigate the rebels' claims.

Zulhakil Mubin, a Justice and Human Rights Department
official, acknowledged that several rebels remain in prisons in
Medan, North Sumatra, but said a further investigation was
required to see what crimes they committed.

The Helsinki accord said rebels accused of criminal acts would
not be pardoned.

Syahroul Juned, a rebel who remained in a Jakarta jail, said
he does not know why he was passed over. "I should be released,"
Syahroul Juned, also known as Abu Gubeng, told The Associated
Press in a telephone interview.

Juned, a rebel intelligence officer, said he was sentenced to
seven years in jail in 2002 for weapons possession. Though he was
asked during his trial if he was involved in the bombing of a
Jakarta mall that same year, he said he was cleared of those
charges.

"According to the Helsinki accord, I should no longer be in
jail," he said. -- AP