Rights activists fleeing Aceh to avoid arrests
Rights activists fleeing Aceh to avoid arrests
The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh/Jakarta
Leading the life of a human rights activist working in war-torn
Aceh is obviously not something that everyone is cut out for.
Intimidation, assault, abduction and even murder have long
been occupational hazards for activists in the province, which
has been the scene of a bloody conflict for over 27 years.
The imposition of martial law in the province on May 19 has
created another nightmare for them as the troops label them
supporters of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which is
the target of the military operation in the province.
On Thursday, a joint military and police team arrested
Nuraini, 27, a volunteer coordinator for the Commission for
Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) in Pidie, and
her 70-year-old father Zakaria Umar.
Lt. Col. Supartodi, Pidie military commander, told reporters
that Nuraini and her father were arrested as the officers found
some 20 ID cards in their house during a raid at 5 a.m. on
Thursday.
He added that Zakaria was a former member of GAM and once led
the separatists in the Bambum area of Delima district.
The officers also arrested 50-year-old Zulkifli, who is
allegedly a fund-raiser for GAM.
Nuraini told The Jakarta Post that she was harassed sexually
by the officers during the trip from her house to the Pidie
military district office.
The military has declared that it will crack down on activists
from non-governmental organizations linked to GAM. They include
the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) and the Student-
People's Solidarity (SMUR) organizations.
Many rights activists, especially from NGOs labeled by the
military as having links to GAM, have fled the province due to
the increasing threats.
Jamek (not his real name), a volunteer with a rights
organization in Aceh whom the military labels a GAM supporter,
spoke to the Post on Thursday about the impossible situation he
found himself in.
"I left the province last month to avoid possible abduction by
military-backed militias," he told the Post during an interview
on Thursday.
Jamek, who repeatedly asked to remain anonymous, has been
investigating the existence of pro-Jakarta militias in Aceh since
2000.
Militiamen, who happened to be his neighbors in a village in
Central Aceh, later found out about his activities, and then
visited his home to ask his parents about his whereabouts.
On his way home from Banda Aceh, Jamek made a phone call to
his house. His parents told him not to come home and to leave
Aceh immediately as one of his cousins had been shot dead by the
militia.
He then went back to Banda Aceh. Unfortunately, another group
of militia stopped the public bus he was riding in to seek out
GAM members.
"They checked my belongings. I could only pray to God for
protection. Fortunately, they let us go," said Jamek, who has
been a rights monitor for five years.
Jamek managed to leave Banda Aceh for Jakarta to avoid
arbitrary arrest. "If you are arrested, it means you disappear."
He said a number of other activists had left the province for
other parts of the country.
"Several friends of mine who are married must live apart from
their families as they don't want them to become involved in this
affair," he said.
Jamek believes that intelligence agents continue to monitor
them. Therefore, the activists have always to be on the alert.
Not only that. In addition, not all neighborhoods, especially
in Jakarta, welcome Acehnese. Jamek says he has to move from one
place to another as neighborhood unit leaders always quiz him due
to his Acehnese origins.
"I don't feel like I am a citizen of this country," said
Jamek.