Praise, brickbats for Habibie's Aceh trip

Praise, brickbats for Habibie's Aceh trip

JAKARTA (JP): An Acehnese community leader here expressed
appreciation over President B.J. Habibie's day trip to Banda
Aceh, the capital of Aceh province, on Saturday.

Antara on Sunday quoted a statement from Mustafa Abubakar, who
also raised concerns over a clash between demonstrators and
security personnel. About 100 people were reportedly injured in
the clash. Demonstrators were trying to reach Baiturrahman mosque
where the President held a discussion after conducting Friday
prayers with locals.

Mustafa, representing the Taman Iskandar Muda organization
which deals with the Acehnese community, urged the "seriousness
of related parties to immediately act on all instructions,
promises and programs mentioned by President Habibie during his
visit".

The President promised, among other things, that all dead
victims of the military operation of 1989 to 1998 would be given
a proper Muslim burial at the expense of the state, if relatives
so wished. The remains of many victims were found in exhumed
graves by fact-finding teams shortly after the military operation
status was lifted last year.

Habibie, who apologized for all the impacts of the military
operation, also pledged that action would be taken against all
those involved in rights violations.

The government has been considered slow in following up
results of fact-finding teams, leading to recent calls by
students for a referendum on the province's future, as seen in
Saturday's protests.

The statement of Taman Iskandar Muda added that regarding
legal action as promised by Habibie, "immediate, concrete actions
should be taken as soon as possible against rights violations
during the military operation, for the sake of returning the
dignity of the Acehnese people".

Meanwhile students of the Parahyangan Catholic University in
Bandung lashed at the government over the Friday clash.

The violence, they said, "shows that the government is not
willing to tolerate differences of opinion by driving
(dissidents) away using their political tool, the Armed Forces."

The Friday incident, a statement signed by the university's
Student Committee said, "reinforces our commitment that
Indonesian students should continue the struggle to total
change... towards democracy, which has now been betrayed by the
Habibie regime." (anr)