Road blocks causes food shortage in Aceh

Road blocks causes food shortage in Aceh

Ibnu Mat Noor and Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

As killings continue in restive Aceh province, tens of thousands
of people in three subdistricts of Pidie regency are facing food
shortages following a road block by separatist rebels.

Local officials said on Wednesday, the three remote
subdistricts -- Tangse, Mane and Geumpang -- had been isolated
since the single road to Sigli was barricaded with big stones and
tree trunks three days ago.

Head of Tangse subdistrict Ridwan said cars and motorcycles
were not able to pass through the road blockade located in the
mountainous area of Linggong Panyang currently controlled by
members of the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Local residents did not dare pass the deserted area, where
echoes of gunfire were often heard, he added.

Ridwan said the road block had diminished food stocks in the
isolated subdistricts since last Sunday.

Pidie district military chief Maj. Taufik Risnandar said
government troops had been dispatched to the region and an
exchange of fire had ensued at Manee village but there were no
reports of casualties.

Pidie's GAM spokesman Abu Nizam claimed that around 500 of the
armed guerrillas controlled strategic locations in the three
mountainous subdistricts.

He claimed the move was aimed at preventing villagers from
becoming victims of human rights abuses by military troops,
adding that GAM personnel chose to fight with them to protect
civilians.

"GAM is responsible for all attacks to counter violent actions
by the Indonesian Military (TNI)," Nizam added.

In a related development, fresh firefights continued across
Aceh on Tuesday in at least five locations, killing at least one
member of the local police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) unit, and one
rebel.

Local police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Dade Achmad, said on
Wednesday First Brig. Kusmayanto from the Central Java capital of
Semarang was shot dead in a gunfight with separatists in the area
of Krueng Unoe in Sampoiniet subdistrict, West Aceh.

A GAM member was also killed in the clash, he added.

Meanwhile, in Bireun regency, the Indonesia Red Cross
recovered the body of 36-year-old Tisara Muhammad, who had been
kidnapped by rebels on Saturday, her son Muhammad Rizal said on
Tuesday evening. Her body was recovered from a river in Paya Cut
village of Peusangan district.

Tisara was the wife of the late Abed Beuransah, a Golkar Party
figure in North Aceh. Abed was shot dead three years ago after
being abducted by alleged rebels.

Meanwhile, director of the Banda Aceh-based Legal Aid
Institute (LBH) Rufriadi said that human rights abuse had
increased in the strife-torn province. He urged the central
government to allow international rapporteurs to intervene.

At least 393 cases were recorded in Aceh by LBH last
month.

"It shows there is no reduction in the number of violent
incidents here," Rufriadi said.

Such a security condition should have prompted the government
to allow United Nations rapporteurs to come to Aceh for
investigative purposes, Rufriadi said.

The Indonesian government has rejected a European Union's
recommendation for the UN to dispatch a team of investigators to
the restive province.

Rufriadi said all the human rights abuses were committed by
military and police personnel during May. "That's what was
reported by our regional network. The violence committed by GAM
has not been recorded yet," he added.

He said the arrests of at least 117 people by local security
authorities topped the recorded cases of violence, adding that
all of them are still being detained.

Among the detainees is Kusofiyan, leader of the Brotherhood
Solidarity for Victims of Human Rights Abuses, who is being held
at the South Aceh Police office.

Also included in the May human rights abuses were 82 cases of
killing, disappearances of 29 civilians and 163 cases of torture.

"The human rights abuses are real in Aceh. Don't cover them up
any longer," Rufriadi said.