TNI blames GAM in mass home burnings
TNI blames GAM in mass home burnings
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After 400 schools were set ablaze across Aceh, members of the
separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) are targeting residential
homes as another guerrilla war tactic, the Indonesian Military
(TNI) said on Saturday.
At least 52 houses in the Perlak Timur district of East Aceh
regency were set on fire by 30 suspected GAM members on Friday.
The spokesman of the Indonesian Military Operation Command in
Aceh, Lt. Col. Yani Basuki, said on Saturday that the torching,
the first of its kind since the government launched a massive
military offensive in the troubled province two weeks ago, was
carried out by GAM members to intimidate residents who were
suspected of taking sides with the Indonesian Military or the
police.
No fatalities were reported during the incident.
Another 30 armed GAM members burned down on Friday part of the
Kayee Uno elementary school in Krueng Sabee district, Aceh Jaya
regency, some 220 kilometers west of Banda Aceh, said Yani
Basuki.
On the same day, a company of 12 soldiers led by Capt. Amin
raided a GAM base in Sawang district, North Aceh regency. During
the raid, government troops captured Kahar Muzakkar Abdullah, 34,
who is known as the commander of GAM in the Sago Sawang region.
The military also seized a GAM flag and documents from Abdullah.
Another top GAM figure captured by TNI on Saturday was Abu
Toha, the chief of GAM in the Blang Pidie province. Abu Toha was
arrested after a tip-off from locals, said Yani Basuki.
He said a total of eight GAM members were killed on Saturday,
while TNI lost one soldier.
GAM members killed on Saturday were identified as Saifuddin,
22, Amir, 27, Mustafa Usman, 18, Irfandi, 22, Nurdin Ishak, 25
and Benny Abdullah, 20.
Yani Basuki also said GAM members had abducted a student,
Yani, 16, from Kuta Binjai senior high school in Aceh Timur
regency.
Yani Basuki said the student was going home on the back of a
pickup truck with 14 other friends when a group of 50 GAM members
blocked their path. The 14 students ran away, but Yani was
captured.
A motive for the kidnapping has not been established yet.
In a separate development, National Police chief Gen. Da'i
Bachtiar said on Saturday that 68 members of GAM had been charged
with subversion.
National Police have also detained dozens of GAM members who
have surrendered to authorities, and their cases were being
investigated, said Da'i.
The 68 suspects are being held separately in Banda Aceh
Provincial Police Headquarters and other police stations
throughout Aceh.
The suspects will be charged under Law No. 1/2000 on
antiterrorism, which carries the death penalty or a minimum
sentence of 20 years in jail, said Da'i.
In Jakarta, a member of the National Commission on Human
Rights (Komnas HAM), M.M. Billah, said that the commission had
established an ad hoc team to monitor and investigate possible
human right abuses in Aceh.
The ad hoc team, chaired by Billah, is scheduled to open two
grievance posts in Bireun and Lhokseumawe next week.
By opening the posts, the local community is being encouraged
to report any cases of human right abuses to the commission,
Billah said.
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The TNI arrested the chief commander of GAM's Sagoe Sawang
region, Kahar Muzakkar Abdullah, 34. Kahar was captured along
with his two aides in a recent raid by TNI. Below is an excerpt
from an interview between Kahar and some reporters covering the
war in Aceh:
Question (Q): When did you join GAM and why?
Answer (A): I was forced to join GAM last year. I could not
refuse, because GAM threatened to kill me and my family. I did
not have a choice.
Q: What did you do as GAM's Sagoe Sawang commander?
A: I was in charge of providing logistics for GAM and
collecting money from residents, which GAM called "tax funds". I
know that this was not right and I regret my actions.
Q: What are you hoping for now that you have been arrested?
A: I pray that God will protect my family. If GAM knew that I
surrendered to the TNI during the raid, they might kill them.