West 'ignorant of plight of the Acehnese'

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reiterated demands that troops be withdrawn from Aceh.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)