War captives await legal proceedings

War captives await legal proceedings

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post
Lhokseumawe/Banda Aceh

"I'm not GAM (Free Aceh Movement), I'm NKRI (Unitary Republic of
Indonesia) to the core," said Fatimah, 29, who is being detained
in Lhokseumawe prison, North Aceh.

"I was probably arrested because my house was always full of
people. I opened a small kiosk and my husband repaired electronic
goods. So, no wonder people kept coming and going from our
place," Fatimah told journalists who visited her in the prison on
Saturday.

Their home is in Panggoy village, Muara Dua district, North
Aceh, and is located right across from a military post manned by
members of the Army's 143rd Battalion.

Fatimah was arrested with her husband, Zaini Zainuddin, close
to midnight on May 19, several hours after President Megawati
Soekarnoputri imposed martial law on Aceh.

"I'm not guilty and I want out. I miss my three kids ... they
are not allowed to leave the refugee camp to see me here," she
said, adding that the children were now being cared for by her
parents in Reuleut refugee camp.

Fatimah, however, sees some light at the end of the tunnel as
the police have finished processing her case, and now she is
waiting for her trial.

Only a few out of the nearly 200 war captives held in
Lhokseumawe prison have had their cases processed and will
shortly face trail. Many others in the prison have still not even
been questioned by the police or military police.

Maj. M. Zabur Nawawi, commander of Military Police Task Force
A, which is responsible war captives detained in Lhokseumawe,
Bireuen, Langsa, Sigli and Takengon, explained that all captives
had to be interrogated by military police officers before being
sent to the police for the further processing of their cases.

"We will turn them over to the police for further
investigation only if we find prima facie evidence of their
involvement in the separatist movement," Zabur said.

As Indonesia has never ratified the 1920 Geneva Convention,
the Aceh martial law administration uses a 1999 government
regulation in handling war prisoners.

This regulation gives the power to the military police to
detain war captives for 20 days, which can be extended for
another 20 days.

When asked about the case of Fatimah, Zabur insisted that
Fatimah and her husband Zaini were GAM informants.

"GAM police official Saiful alias Sipon, who was arrested at
about the same time as they were, admitted that GAM got
information about movements of the Army's 143rd Battalion from
the kiosk owners across from the post. That's why the battalion
was always ambushed on patrol."

Nevertheless, Zabur said the courts would determine who was
telling the truth.

Zabur explained that only 68 out of 412 detainees in the five
prisons under his supervision had had their cases fully processed
by police investigators.

Zabur also explained that 255 out of 412 detainees were
arrested during the military operation, while the remaining 157
had surrendered to the military or the police.

The military's latest figures show that more than 1,300 rebels
have been arrested or have surrendered since the military
launched a massive six-month operation on May 19 to crush GAM.

Zabur said the military police treated detainees who
surrendered themselves differently from those who had been
arrested. The former would be detained only if they were high up
in GAM. Those who were not high up in GAM would be sent for
"vocational training", and then be released.

"However, many who were to be released were loath to go home
for security reasons," he said.

The Aceh martial law administration started providing
vocational training for surrendering GAM supporters at the
Teachers' Training Hall (BPG) in Aceh Besar, according to Husni
Bahari, an assistant with the Aceh administration's public order
office.

"The training continues for five months. They are given
training on carpentry, farming, fishing, sewing, as well as auto
repair," said Husni.

"In addition, they are also given religious instruction and
taught about nationalism."

Long before they joined the training courses, GAM supporters
who turned themselves received indoctrination about nationalism
and the unitary Indonesian state right after they entered prison.

When journalists visited Lhokseumawe prison early on Saturday,
the detainees started their day by doing exercises, followed by
singing the national anthem Indonesia Raya and other love-the-
nation songs. Later, some of them gathered in groups and played
volley ball.

Others were seen cleaning and painting the area to make sure
that it would be suitably spick-and-span for Indonesia's
Independence Day on Aug. 17.