North Aceh students demand referendum demands

North Aceh students demand referendum demands

JAKARTA (JP): About 2,000 students in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh,
marched to the regional council demanding a referendum
to determine whether the province wished to remain in Indonesia
or break away.

A local correspondent reported that banners were installed
around the council emphasizing the importance of a referendum to
settle problems in the troubled province.

Violence involving civilian and military casualties, has
sporadically been reported in Aceh, despite a government decision
last year to lift the status of the province as a military
operations area. Operations began in 1989 to crush a separatist
movement.

Council speaker and also former military commander of Central
Aceh, Lt. Col. Mas Tarmansyah, signed a statement supporting the
call for a referendum. He was joined by the Armed Forces (ABRI)
and the dominant Golkar faction council members.

"We're like a public bus; if everyone supports a referendum,
what can we do?" said Tarmansyah, declining to elaborate further.

Chairman of the local chapter of the Indonesian Action Front
of Muslim Students, Aidil Fan, said the province experienced
decades of injustice including the deaths of scores of Acehnese.
He said rights violations had continued since the fall of the New
Order government.

Earlier this year villages in North Aceh were raided by the
military, who charged villagers with harboring a separatist, said
to be responsible for the abduction of a number of off-duty
military personnel.

Aidil said the military had "stolen" six banners and demanded
their return. Students threatened to remain at the council until
the military commander, Col. Jhony Wahab, signed the statement.

Recently Governor Syamsuddin Machmud said a federal state was
the best way for Indonesia to retain its unity. But students have
claimed independence for Aceh is preferable, calling for a
referendum in the province.

Students also demanded the removal of Minister of Defense and
Security/Armed Forces Chief Gen. Wiranto, citing his inability to
maintain law and order in the province.

On Wednesday hundreds of students demanded the president issue
a firm policy on Aceh. President B.J. Habibie is scheduled to
visit the province on March 26. (anr)