Students targeted in Aceh war

Students targeted in Aceh war

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As war intensifies between government troops and separatist
rebels in Aceh, students have been targeted with the burning of
an estimated 185 schools throughout the province.

Both Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatists and the Indonesian
Military (TNI) have denied involvement.

Fire destroyed the elementary school of 12-year-old Husaini in
her village of Aleu Awe in Bireun regency. Neither police nor the
fire brigade were present when the fire broke out.

"I can no longer go to school," Husaini told The Jakarta Post
on Tuesday, "because all the other schools have been burned down
as well."

Fire has razed schools in five regencies throughout Aceh since
martial law came into effect early Monday morning, affecting
thousands of students, including junior high school third-graders
sitting their final exams.

Bireun lost 78 schools, Pidie regency 74 schools, Aceh Besar
regency 28 schools, Aceh Jaya two schools and one school each was
destroyed in Aceh Tamiang regency and the provincial capital of
Banda Aceh, Antara reported.

Bireun and Pidie are GAM strongholds.

Despite the scale of the act not a single perpetrator had been
arrested and no party has claimed responsibility.

Indonesian Military (TNI) Chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto
blamed the rebels, voicing disbelief over their actions.

"I don't know what GAM expects from burning down schools when
all the time they claim to be fighting for the people of Aceh,"
Endriartono said. He promised to have soldiers protect schools.

Military operation spokesman Lt. Col Achmad Yani Basuki said
GAM was setting schools on fire to ease pressure on them by
diverting soldiers to protect the schools.

GAM military spokesman Sofyan Dawood denied the charges,
Reuters reported. "People were shot and then even burned. Many
houses have been burned as well," he said.

Fauziah, an elementary school teacher in Djuli district in
Bireun, was in the process of removing equipment from her school
after hearing of the fate of other schools.

But after returning to remove other essential equipment her
school was already on fire. "Many schools were burned down at
night," she sobbed.

The destruction affects the education of tens of thousands of
elementary, junior high and senior high schools students,
provincial education office deputy head Anas M. Adam told Antara.

He said the damage could amount to Rp 100 billion (about
US$11.76 million).

While skirmishes continued on some battle fronts on Tuesday,
police in Banda Aceh arrested a women's rights activist for
allegedly having links to GAM.

Two vans of police officers arrested Cut Nur Asikin, an
activist with the Srikandi Aceh women's rights organization, from
her home on Jl. Fatmawati and took her to police headquarters.
The officers also seized documents and discs from her house.

"We suspect Ibu Cut has connections with GAM, so we arrested
her for questioning," Aceh Police deputy chief Comr. Arie Rachman
said.

In North Sumatra, police shot dead an alleged GAM commander,
identified only as Tison, as he and about 30 GAM members
attempted to enter the province from Pangkalan Susu district,
Langkat regency on Monday evening.

"We tried to hunt the other GAM members but they escaped. They
failed to infiltrate North Sumatra," Langkat Police chief
detective First Insp. M. Khadapy Marpaung said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza
Mahendra said the government had no plans to offer amnesty to
rebels wishing to surrender.

Yusril said the amended 1945 Constitution clearly stipulated
that amnesty could be granted upon approval from the House of
Representatives.

"The opportunity for them (GAM members) to receive amnesty
remains wide open, but the President must consult the House
beforehand," Yusril said in Jakarta. "But there has been no
discussion on that matter so far."

Yusril's statement came after Army Chief of Staff Gen.
Ryamizard Ryacudu said rebels who surrendered could be given
amnesty.

"If they repent, they will be treated as a patient who must be
cured. But if they put up a fight, they will be shot dead,"
Ryamizard said in Bandung, where he was attending the 57th
anniversary celebration of the Siliwangi Military Command
overseeing West Java.

He said now martial law was in effect, GAM members who were
captured would be treated as prisoners of war and would be
brought before a war tribunal.

On Monday the TNI said it had 28,000 soldiers in Aceh plus
8,000 regular police and 2,000 paramilitary police. They are
facing off against an estimated 5,000 guerrillas with 2,000
weapons.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said the campaign and
the imposition of martial law in Aceh "sets the stage for gross
human rights violations."

It expressed particular concern about recent comments by
Indonesian military leaders about plans to "crush" the
separatists.

"These statements are particularly worrisome given the
appalling track record of the Indonesian Military in Aceh."

During the previous 10-year campaign, thousands of civilians
were murdered, disappeared or tortured, the group said.

Amnesty International called on both sides to protect
civilians, saying that previously "both sides have been
responsible for serious abuses and ordinary civilians have
overwhelmingly been the victims."