Govt urged to react over Aceh finding

Govt urged to react over Aceh finding

JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights in Aceh
urged the government on Sunday to take necessary measures in
response to a new finding of rights violations in the restive
province.

Chairman of the commission, Iqbal Farabi, told Antara the
finding could serve as the evidence the government required to
open a trial on human rights crimes which claimed at least 51
lives in July in Beutong Ateuh subdistrict in West Aceh. Five
others are still missing following the incident.

Iqbal said there was no need to look for Indonesian Military
(TNI) troops who allegedly committed the fatal shooting of the
villagers, because they were just soldiers who followed their
superior's orders.

"It is the institution, instead of individual soldiers, which
should be held responsible. I think the Lilawangsa Military
commander, Bukit Barisan Military commander, (former) TNI chief
Gen. Wiranto and former president B.J. Habibie should be among
those accountable for the alleged rights abuse," Iqbal said.

An independent fact-finding team, composed of 13 local
government officials, nongovernmental organization (NGOs)
activists, public figures and students, disclosed in their report
on Saturday that there was no evidence a group of military
personnel faced resistance when they reportedly resorted to
firing bullets on local residents and students of an Islamic
boarding school accused of waging a separatist movement and
cultivating marijuana.

The school headmaster, Tengku Bantaqiah, was among those
killed. Bantaqiah had just returned home three months after
completing his jail term at Tanjung Gusta penitentiary in Medan,
North Sumatra.

A member of the fact-finding team, Azhary Basar, told a media
conference that "there is not sufficient evidence of an
opposition staged by Tengku Bantaqiah and his followers".

The report said Bantaqiah and his supporters could have
prepared for an armed fight or an escape because local residents
had known of the troops' arrival four hours before the shooting
spree.

Investigation into the case also found no trace of armed
proliferation or paramilitary training allegedly mobilized by
Bantaqiah at his Koranic reading school Dayah Babul Mukaramah.

"We did not find any indication of a separatist movement in
Beutong Ateuh. In our visits there, the national red-and-white
flag was raised in every corner of the poor subdistrict," Azhary
said.

The team concluded that security authorities had conducted a
false intelligent operation to investigate activities of
Bantaqiah and his students.

Azhary said following the bloodshed, certain people arrived in
the subdistrict to destroy evidence and contrive their own
scenario of the incident.

"The people forced all village heads and hamlets in the
subdistrict to issue letters saying they welcomed the death of
Bantaqiah and his followers," Azhary said.

Another report, issued by the Independent Commission on
Violence in Aceh, another independent team probing the incident,
confirmed the human rights violations in Beutong Ateuh.

One of the commission members, Hakim Nyak Pha, said witnesses
and evidence were ready to be presented in court. He added the
investigation was conducted shortly after the shooting spree.

"It's now up to the government's will whether to bring the
case to court or not," said Hakim, who is also a professor of law
at the state Syah Kuala University in the province's capital of
Banda Aceh.

The spate of violence in Aceh has forced thousands of people
to flee their homes.

From Beureunun, near Pidie, Antara reported that at least 200
infants living in a refugee camp there were suffering from
malnutrition and diarrhea.

The news agency reported health official Abdul Hamid as
blaming the poor sanitation, polluted water supply, power failure
and the dense population in the camp for the disease.

Hamid added many adults were facing respiratory problems.

The camp is home to 7,000 displaced people from Geumpang,
Tangsa, Tiro and Titeu-Keumala villages. They sought refuge
following a wave of clashes pitting separatist group members
against military and police troops.

Refugee administrators said the refugees were in need of two
tons of rice every day.

"We have tried our best to feed the refugees at least twice a
day. But we still cannot afford to provide them with nutritious
food," an official, Ilyas, said. (amd)