West 'ignorant of plight of the Acehnese'

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Mosque Council (DMI) accused the West of being ignorant of the tragedies in Aceh and urged Muslims across the country to help the Acehnese, at least 70,000 of them who have become refugees.

"Muslims here cannot keep as silent as the West, which claims to be a pioneer of humanity but seems passive regarding Acehnese refugees, who are mostly Muslim," Kafrawi Ridwan, the council chairman, announced here on Tuesday.

Kafrawi said the DMI opened a bank account at Bank Muamalat's Jl. Jend. Sudirman branch to collect contributions for refugees in Aceh.

Council secretary-general Oemar Ghiffary said the apparent indifference to the plight of the Acehnese among Muslims "was similar to that of the West".

However, he said the DMI could understand the apparent lack of concern from the world's Muslims because of the current attention given to Kosovo and other problems.

A group of students, meanwhile, protested at the Ministry of Defense and Security against violence in the province, and reiterated demands that troops be withdrawn from Aceh.

The Anti-Violence Student Committee reminded President B.J. Habibie of his pledges to the Acehnese during his recent visit to Banda Aceh, including the promise that violence in the province would be ended and those guilty of human rights abuses would be punished.

The government ended a decade-long military operation against armed separatists in Aceh last year, but the violence has continued, with both civilians and military members being killed, injured and abducted.

At a seminar on Aceh last week, a statement from the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission charged that the desire to protect business investments was behind the refusal of foreign governments to raise the issue of rights violations, including those in Aceh.

"The Indonesian government, the local elite and international powers are more interested in the control of the oil, gas and timber wealth of Aceh," commission coordinator Sinapan Samydorai said. The statement noted the vast poverty in Aceh, based on reports that only 1 percent of Aceh's average contribution of 11 percent to the national budget was returned to the province.

The commission, in conjunction with other rights organizations, is attempting to keep the problems in Aceh in the spotlight and has set up websites on the province, Samydorai said.

In Jakarta, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Syamsul Ma'arif confirmed the presence of former Jakarta military commander Maj. Gen. Syafrie Sjamsoeddin in Aceh.

Syafrie was assigned "to seek input to solve the Aceh case", Syamsul was quoted by Antara as saying. Syamsul said Syafrie's assignment had nothing to do with operational matters, dismissing rumors that Syafrie was involved in the current violence in Aceh.

From Banda Aceh, Antara quoted a rights group as saying that only 5 percent of the more than 7,000 cases involving military members would likely make it to court.

The spokesman for the FP-HAM rights group, Yarmen Dinamika, based his estimates on the limited availability of living witnesses and suspects.

He also said several lawyers refused to represent the victims of military violence, because in the past lawyers and their families became targets of intimidation and terror for taking up cases linked to the military.

FP-HAM recorded 7,727 cases of rights abuses during the military operation. They included 1,321 deaths, 1,958 missing persons, 3,430 cases of torture, 128 cases of rape, 81 cases of sexual abuse and 597 cases of arson.

From Banda Aceh, Antara reported that 11,735 elementary school students could not return to school because they were still living in refugee centers. The majority of the children, or 6,805, are from Pidie, the head of the local education agency, Syahbuddin AR, said on Tuesday.

He said teachers living near refugee centers might be assigned to teach students at the shelters.

Antara also reported 14 buses and trucks which had recently been set on fire had not been removed from the roads.

"If security personnel do not immediately remove these charred remains they will disturb the concentration of passing motorists," Dullah, a bus driver, said.

Separately, the chairman of the Indonesian Transparency Society, former finance minister Mar'ie Muhammad, met with the International Commission of the Red Cross in Jakarta to appeal for more international assistance for Aceh.(anr)