Six people found deaed in Aceh
Six people found deaed in Aceh
Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
At least six people were killed during the Muslim New Year in
Aceh after the local administration officially implemented
syariah law last Friday, human rights activists said over the
weekend.
Muslim Tanjung, a volunteer for the Indonesian Red Cross in
Banda Aceh told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that he and his
colleagues found three male bodies with gunshot wounds in a river
in Cot village of Darussalam subdistrict, about 10 kilometers
east of Banda Aceh.
Quoting Hasanuddin, an official from the Cot village office,
Muslim said that a number of government security officers went to
the village early on Saturday in search of two suspected members
of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), namely Yusri and Zulhari. But
they did not find the two suspects.
At around 7 a.m. a series of gunshots were heard in the
village. Then the villagers found the bodies of Syahria, 17,
Muhammad, 18, and Mukhlis, 21, floating in the river with gunshot
wounds to their heads.
"The victims, together with two other friends, were fishing in
the river. The other two are still missing," Muslim quoted the
official as saying.
He said that the three bodies were not taken to the hospital
for an autopsy as their families asked the volunteers to bring
them directly to their respective houses.
According to Muslim, the police took an unidentified body with
many wounds to Zainoel Abidin Hospital in Banda Aceh on Saturday
morning.
On Friday, the same day the local government kicked off the
syariah in Indonesia's northernmost province, the volunteers also
took away two bodies, respectively from Malahayati port, about 35
kilometers east Banda Aceh, and from Saree, some 70 kilometers
east of Banda Aceh.
They were taken to Zainoel Abidin Hospital also and were said
to have died from heavy beating and torture, as one of the bodies
was dismembered.
The military spokesman in Banda Aceh, Lt. Col. Firdaus Komarno
could not be reached for confirmation of the incidents by
telephone.
The syariah requires all people in Aceh to dress according to
the fundamentalist Islamic teachings, which according to some
will thereby alleviate lustful feelings or thoughts.
Meanwhile, about 80 human rights activists staged a
demonstration in front of the Aceh Police precinct on Jl. Cut
Mutia, Banda Aceh, on Saturday morning.
The demonstrators, from 10 non-governmental organizations
dealing with human rights along with the Aceh Students Action
group, demanded that the police take responsibility for the
kidnapping of three human rights activists, who were allegedly
kidnapped by a group of police in Semet Montasik village, Aceh
Besar, some 20 kilometers east of Banda Aceh last Tuesday.
Rufriadi, the director of the Legal Assistance Institution in
Aceh (LBH Aceh), said that he had gone to the police office to
inquire as to the whereabouts of the three missing people. But
the police did not give a clear explanation.
The LBH has given legal assistance to Harsumi, the wife of
Nasrullah Ibrahim, 48, a treasurer of the Human Rights Violation
Victims' Brotherhood Solidarity (SPKP), one of the kidnapped
victims.
The other kidnap victims were Muhammad Rizal Fahlevi, 23, and
Muhammad, 22.
The Aceh Police could not be reached for comment on the
kidnappings.
But Rufriadi said that based on reliable sources in the police
office, the three people were currently in police custody in
Aceh.