Riot troops arrive in troubled Aceh

Riot troops arrive in troubled Aceh

JAKARTA (JP): A battalion of riot troops arrived in Aceh on
Friday afternoon when reports said the death toll from Monday's
military shooting in the troubled province rose to 40.

"A battalion of Mobile Brigade personnel has just arrived here
and they will be officially greeted in a ceremony in the local
military headquarters later in the evening," Lilawangsa Regional
Military Headquarters Col. Johnny Wahab told The Jakarta Post by
phone from the North Aceh capital of Lhokseumawe on Friday.

"They will be directly deployed to five locations in and
around Lhokseumawe," he added.

A member of a local fact-finding team said on Friday the death
toll from the military shootings in Krueng Geukueh, some 15
kilometers west of Lhokseumawe, rose to 40.

"The last victim to die was Murtala bin Cut, 42, from Seumirah
village. He was shot dead on Monday, and his body was claimed by
family and buried in the village," Basri A. Gani, deputy
coordinator of the North Aceh government's fact-finding team told
the Post.

Antara reported on Friday that some 3,000 people fled three
villages in Dewantara sub-districts since Monday for fear of
further violence.

The Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto decided
to dispatch a battalion of 450 riot troops to Aceh to restore law
and order there.

The reinforcements, including a bomb squad, intelligence
officers and military police, flew aboard four C-130 military
planes that took off from the Halim Perdanakusuma air force base
in East Jakarta earlier in the day.

Wiranto said the riot troops were expected to create a
peaceful environment ahead of the June 7 elections.

He quickly said on Thursday the move was not intended to
revive DOM in Aceh, referring to a notorious decade of military
operations to quell separatist movements in the province which
was only halted last August.

Human rights activists said that military committed widespread
human rights abuses during the military operations. Wiranto
apologized in August for the military's conduct in the province
which he said "had exceeded acceptable norms".

Troops, however, resumed operations since late last year after
an escalation of the alleged separatist activity and violence.

Monday's shootings were the latest in a series of violence
prompted by clashes between military and pro-referendum
supporters in the troubled province.

Military said the protesting crowd opened fire first on Monday
and troops returned fire in self-defense.

Human rights groups, however, said that troops opened fire
after the protesters began pelting stones at them.

Rights groups also said the crowd was protesting against the
violence during military sweeps in nearby Cot Murong village last
Saturday to search for fellow soldiers who were allegedly
abducted by separatist members.

Protests against the violence continued on Friday and some
parties have been calling for Wiranto to resign over his failure
to halt human rights abuses in the country.

British Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Derek Fatchett also
expressed concern over the violence.

"I was deeply disturbed by reports of an incident in Aceh in
which many unarmed civilians, including women and children, were
killed or injured," Fatchett said in a press statement on Friday.

He said the government must conduct a thorough investigation
into the incident to bring in to account those responsible and
take all possible steps to ensure that military personnel acts
with restraint and respect for human rights. (byg/har/nur)