NGOs say military atrocities also occurred in C. Aceh
NGOs say military atrocities also occurred in C. Aceh
JAKARTA (JP): Rights activists alleged on Tuesday that
military atrocities occurred in Central Aceh regency -- in
addition to those found recently in the regencies of Pidie, East
and North Aceh -- when the province was a military operation zone
from 1989 to 1998.
The Aceh NGOs Forum told a media conference here that at least
52 cases of military violence had recently been reported by
victims, family members, friends, and residents of the local
community. Three people died and 16 others went missing from
Central Aceh during the period, it added.
The atrocities reportedly took place in the villages of the
regency's subdistricts of Kota, Bandar and Buket.
Afrizal Tjoetra, the group's secretary-general, termed the
reports from Central Aceh "shocking". He was accompanied by
Catholic scholar Mudji Sutrisno and several activists from the
Jakarta-based Yapikka and Apik non-governmental organizations.
"They (the reports) have introduced a new agenda for the
handling of Aceh case, given how (similar) cases in the regencies
of North and East Aceh and Pidie have yet to be resolved to
date."
Afrizal added: "The team also received a report that there is
a mass grave in the Uyeem Popogoteun hill in Ruseb village of
Bandar subdistrict (about 75 kilometers from the regency capital
of Takengon)."
Takengon is about 250 kilometers southeast of the provincial
capital of Banda Aceh.
Armed Forces (ABRI) spokesman Maj. Gen. Syamsul Ma'arif was
not available for comment on Tuesday night.
The group's report of the mass grave has added to the list of
14 mass burial sites it compiled earlier together with the
Lhokseumawe-based Iskandar Muda Legal Aid Institute and the Aceh
Human Rights Forum. The previous list was limited to East and
North Aceh and Pidie.
A team from the National Commission on Human Rights had
exhumed several mass graves and confirmed that at least 781
people were killed during the nine-year ABRI military operation
in the westernmost province.
The Aceh NGOs Forum's estimate of casualties suspected to be
buried in the listed locations ranged from 1,165 to 1,800.
Commenting on the revelation, Mudji Sutrisno -- who said he
was participating in the conference to give the group "moral
support" -- asserted that the rampant rights violations should
serve as an example why there should never be military operation
zones in the future.
"The politics of violence against human beings, regardless of
their religions, must be stopped in the name of human rights."
Meanwhile, Antara news agency also reported from Lhokseumawe
the latest update on the number of cases of violence in North
Aceh. It said a local fact-finding team set up to probe rights
abuses in Aceh had found 155 new cases, allegedly committed by
the military and separatist groups.
This latest data brings to 1,810 the total number of human
rights abuses found in North Aceh by the team since it began
investigations last month, team leaders Yacob Hamzah and TS Sani
said on Tuesday.
The team found 140 cases in the eastern part of North Aceh:
130 were allegedly committed by the military, seven by members of
the separatists who were also called the Security Disturbance
Groups and perpetrators of the remaining three were not known.
In the western part of the regency, the team found 15 cases;
the offenders were unknown in all the cases.
The team's latest finding included 16 deaths, 20 cases of
missing people and 110 people tortured. Scores of wives and
children were widowed and left fatherless, and their property
seized. Based on its investigation from Sept. 11 to Oct. 5, the
team recorded 628 widows and 2,033 fatherless children in North
Aceh, they said.
The team also recorded that total material losses reached Rp
470.42 million. It said 242 houses were burned down and 1,866
grams of gold went missing.
The team interviewed the families of the victims as well as
witnesses. It will continue gathering data until Oct. 11.
(aan/27)