Victims' kin land civil service posts

Victims' kin land civil service posts

BANDA ACEH, Aceh: At least 350 relatives of victims of
violence allegedly committed by the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI)
in their decade-long military operation in the province have
received accreditation certificates as new civil servants.

Diplomas were presented to them on Monday by the head of the
Civil Servants Administration Agency (BAKN), Sofian Effendi.

According to Sofian, the measure was part of the government's
actions following the recent visit of President B.J. Habibie to
the area.

One of Habibie's promises was that relatives would receive
promotion to the civil service.

"To follow up on the promise, we've allocated 2,188 posts for
the families of the victims," Sofian said as quoted by Antara.

The documents were symbolically presented to eight people,
representing the four regencies of Pidie, North Aceh, East Aceh
and Central Aceh.

Also in attendance was Aceh Governor Syamsuddin Mahmud.

Syamsuddin contended the move was not an attempted payoff to
coax the families into abandoning their grievances.

"It's not true that the policy is an attempt to bribe the
people here. The policy is determined as a form of sympathy and
healing for our people's disappointments," he said. (emf)