Legislator suspects Aceh riot was masterminded
JAKARTA (JP): A provincial legislator said on Thursday that he suspected the two-day riot which erupted in the North Aceh town of Lhokseumawe on Monday was masterminded. The violence began hours after the withdrawal of the second batch of troops from the troubled province.
"I saw some indications such as the school-uniformed students who were confused about choosing which shop they were to attack," deputy speaker of North Aceh legislature Saifuddin Ilyas was quoted by Antara as saying in Lhokseumawe.
"This could mean that they came from outside of Lhokseumawe," he said.
At least two were killed in the riot and nine others are still being treated in the hospital for bullet wounds. Antara identified the two as Amiruddin bin Jali, 18, of Banda Sakti district and Khalil bin Idris, 20, a resident of the Meurah Mulia district. Khalil died Thursday of bullet wounds while the cause of Amiruddin's death has not been clarified.
On Wednesday Munir, the coordinator of the independent Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) confirmed one death but did not reveal the identity or cause of the death. The riot also resulted in damage to more than 200 buildings including the local office of the ruling Golkar party.
The state-owned TVRI television station reported late on Thursday that Lhokseumawe was calm although many shops were still closed and hundreds of troops were guarding strategic locations. Hundreds of Chinese-Indonesians were holed up in military posts across the town.
Saifuddin suspected that crowds from outside Lhokseumawe were deployed to the town, about 200 kilometers east of the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, to incite unrest.
He said that loaded vehicles were seen dropping off people at various locations during the riots. He added flyers had been found encouraging people to gather during the troop withdrawal.
He suspected that the peltings and barracking of the 659- strong departing force were also part of the attempt to incite unrest.
"I think the Acehnese would not dare pelt the Army's Special Force (Kopassus)," Saifuddin said. Twenty-eight soldiers from Kopassus were among those withdrawn on Monday.
Saifuddin, however, could not identify the alleged party he said masterminded the violence and urged the Armed Forces to investigate the incident.
In Jakarta, Deputy House Speaker Ismail Hasan Metareum of the United Development Party shared Saifuddin's opinion that the riot was masterminded.
"I have information from Aceh that a number of men transported people from villages to Lhokseumawe during the riot," Ismail told the private SCTV channel.
Munir of Kontras also said on Wednesday that his organization suspected the riots were masterminded to ensure the troops from outside the province were not withdrawn in order to safeguard the nearby huge Arun oil and gas field.
Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto said on Wednesday that the troop withdrawal would be suspended temporarily until the situation was safe enough for it to resume. He even said that the number of troops would be reinforced to safeguard projects of vital importance.
The National Commission on Human rights confirmed on Wednesday that the military had perpetrated gross violations of human rights during operations in Aceh over the last nine years.
It recommended to President B.J. Habibie that officials behind the military operations in Aceh and the alleged human rights violators should be prosecuted.
ABRI Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has, however, called on the public to give the military a chance to conduct its own investigation into the matter.
Aceh Governor Syamsuddin Mahmud said in Banda Aceh on Thursday that the state-run Syah Kuala University's public service programs would be allocated to Pidie, North Aceh and East Aceh which were especially marred by human rights abuses during the military operations. (byg)