Soldiers get jail terms for Aceh killings

Soldiers get jail terms for Aceh killings

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): A joint military-civilian court
sentenced on Wednesday 24 Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers and
one civilian to prison terms ranging from 8.5 to 10 years for
last year's mass killings at a West Aceh boarding school.

Critics, however, were quick to criticize the verdict, saying
it excluded the real culprits and that the trial itself was
chiefly a public relations exercise.

Presiding judge Ruslan Dahlan said in the verdict the
defendants were guilty of the collective murder of Islamic
teacher Tengku Bantaqiah and at least 57 of his students in an
antirebel operation in the remote village of Beutong Ateuh on
July 23 last year.

State prosecutors had earlier demanded between six and 10-year
jail terms.

Ruslan concluded that "the soldiers had used weaponry which
was incomparable to the weapons carried by the victims". He said
some of Bantaqiah's students, who were armed with traditional
rencong daggers, knives and machetes, died from gunshots to the
head and chest and that there had apparently been no attempt to
disarm and arrest them.

Ten members of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad),
including the highest ranked officer Capt. Anton Yuliantoro, got
eight-and-a-half year jail terms, as did the only civilian
defendant, Thaleb Amman Suar, 47.

It was Thaleb who passed on the information that Tengku
Bantaqiah had some 300 students and possessed 100 firearms.

Thirteen soldiers from Bukit Barisan Military Command were
jailed for nine years while Pvt. Indra Suryatma Wijaya, 25,
received a 10-year term.

Head of the team of lawyers defending the Kostrad soldiers,
Col. Burhan Dahlan, immediately lodged an appeal.

"It is not fair as the judges have completely ignored the
arguments put forward by the defense team," Burhan said.

The defense team argued that its clients were carrying out
orders from their superiors, the now-missing Lt. Col. Sudjono and
Lilawangsa Military Commander Col. Syafnil Armen. In his
testimony, the latter admitted to giving the order to raid the
school.

The lawyers also said the troops were carrying weapons
commonly used in an antirebel operation.

The verdict read that Tengku Bantaqiah and 31 of his followers
were killed at Babul Mukaromah Islamic boarding school. Another
23 students, who were wounded were ostensibly taken to hospital
and executed on the way. Three other people are missing and
presumed dead.

The guilty men booed and sang patriotic songs as they were
taken from the courthouse after the session. They were taken by
armored vehicles to a detention house.

Armored cars were also used to take the judges to the airport,
where a flight for Medan, North Sumatra, was awaiting.

Throughout the trial, demonstrators outside the courtroom
demanded punishment for the men's superiors.

Aceh branch chief of the National Commission on Human Rights
(Komnas HAM) Iqbal Faraby agreed with the protesters, saying the
trial had missed the real culprits.

"Officers in command were not charged and key witnesses failed
to appear. We really hope for fair trials of other human rights
cases here," Iqbal said.

House of Representatives legislators also questioned the
court's inability to try higher-ranking officers, including
former TNI chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto and former Bukit Barisan
Military commander Maj. Gen. Gaffar Rahman, whom they said were
accountable for the murders.

"It's impossible that they were uninformed about the antirebel
operation. We cannot say it was just a procedural flaw," Ghazali
Abas from the United Development Party (PPP) representing Aceh
said on Thursday.

"Since the beginning, I have believed the trial to have been a
joke," he added.

Syaiful Ahmad from the National Mandate Party said the
convicted men were scapegoats.

"I feel sorry for them, although they have been proved guilty.
They were officers who were just following orders," Syaiful said.

London-based Amnesty International and New York-based Human
Rights Watch joined the chorus of criticism, saying they had
"serious misgivings" over the sentencing of the men.

"The trial shows the Indonesian government's resolve to put an
end to military impunity in Aceh and that is an important step
forward.

"But it is a seriously flawed beginning. Commanding officers
were not charged and key witnesses failed to appear," the
statement said.

The exclusive focus on junior ranks suggests that the
government is still unwilling or unable to take decisive action
against higher-level military leaders, it added.

The two rights bodies also regretted the fact that some
witnesses had either not been called or had been too scared to
appear.

"In Aceh, where the security forces have a powerful presence
and a long record of literally getting away with murder, the
potential for intimidation is particularly high," the statement
said, adding that aid donors and other countries should provide
funds and expertise for a witness protection program.
(50/edt/jun/byg)