Two killed, 10 injured in fresh violence in Aceh

JAKARTA (JP): Two died and 10 people were injured, in an outburst of violence early Wednesday in Idi Cut, East Aceh, reports said.

East Aceh Police chief Lt. Col. R. Suminar confirmed the incident, which began at 1 a.m. when a crowd gathered to listen to a speech about the Free Aceh separatist movement.

"Those people openly talked about Free Aceh," Suminar said, as quoted by Antara, adding that security personnel attempted to "disperse" the crowd because they were disrupting traffic.

Reuters quoted him as saying that two died from gunshots and that 58 had been detained for questioning.

Suminar said that in order to "prevent an unsavory situation from developing", police set up roadblocks and halted traffic heading toward Idi Cut, Peureulak, which is 370 kilometers east of the Aceh capital of Banda Aceh.

Police also stopped motorists traveling from Banda Aceh to Medan via Idi Cut, causing a huge traffic jam.

No fatalities were reported in the incident, and police detained 48 people for questioning.

Since the military operation zone status was lifted in August 1998, a string of unrest has been reported in Aceh. The Armed Forces began their operation in 1989 to quash a separatist movement there.

After the military operation zone status was lifted, reports of military atrocities committed during the operation began to surface. In one estimate, 781 people were killed and thousands of children orphaned during the military operation.

Among the latest violence to occur in the area was the attack and torture of 38 civilian detainees by dozens of soldiers in a makeshift detention center in Lhokseumawe. Five people were killed in the incident.

The 38 detainees were captured in a raid conducted by the military after the killing of seven off-duty soldiers and the abduction of two marines in Lhoknibung, North Aceh, in December.

Major Bayu Najib was recently sentenced to six years imprisonment for battery leading to death for his role in the incident. He was also dismissed from the Armed Forces.

Bayu was tried separately from four other soldiers -- privates Amsir, Manuhun Harahap, Efendi and private first class Manolam Situmorang -- also accused of battery leading to death.

Another 23 soldiers will be court-martialled for their involvement in the tortures and murders.

Legal expert Moersidin Moeklas of Syiah Kuala University in Banda Aceh said on Wednesday that the military tribunal trying the soldiers had not appeased the pain that the nine-year military operation had inflicted on the Acehnese.

"The Acehnese will not be satisfied if all those who violated human rights (before the current reform era) are not tried in accordance with the existing laws," he said as quoted by Antara.

He said those who committed atrocities during the military operation should be brought to justice. "If the government fails to do this, the Acehnese will never again trust it and will harbor a hatred toward the Armed Forces," he said.

Meanwhile, order has reportedly been restored to the Krueng Simpo transmigration site in Jeumpa district, North Aceh, following a riot on Tuesday which razed six houses and three government offices.

Community leader Samsul Rizal said peace was returning to the village, located 80 kilometers from Lhokseumawe, and local farmers had gone back to the fields to continue the harvest.

The incident itself was triggered by a conflict among local residents over the death of Abdullah, 48, who was reportedly killed by his nephew, Azar MS, 28.

North Aceh Police chief Lt. Col. Iskandar Hasan said the police were investigating the incident. (swe)