Woman recounts horror events in Aceh

Woman recounts horror events in Aceh

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It was April 24 when most of the villagers of Seuneubok Pango
subdistrict in Banda Alam district, East Aceh, fled their homes
after fighting broke out between the Indonesian Military (TNI)
and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels there.

However, Ramadan, 25, and his wife, who was in her ninth month
of pregnancy, refused to pack up and make the trip to his in-
laws' house as his wife was ready to go into labor at any time.

After government troops arrived in the village, they
instructed the few remaining residents to gather in a field. The
soldiers demanded the villagers show them where the rebels were,
but the civilians, including Ramadan and his wife, remained
silent as they knew nothing.

To the villagers' horror, the soldiers kicked the pregnant
woman in the stomach, and hit Ramadan with their rifles.

Ramadan's wife immediately fainted, while he suffered a broken
rib.

The soldiers only let Ramadan go after his wife, who suddenly
went into labor. Despite his pain, Ramadan somehow managed to
assist his wife give birth. When born, however, the baby's head
was clearly injured, and its body was badly bruised.

The baby died after only four short months of life.

Ramadan now fears that they will never have another child due
to the injuries his wife experienced.

Ramadan's story was recounted by Acehnese woman Khadijah, who
has fled war-torn Aceh.

Khadijah, in her early 30s, lived in Langsa, East Aceh, where
she was witness to unceasing violence before she abandoned her
home.

Every now and then, she has the opportunity of assisting
refugees and people whose villages have been raided by government
troops or rebels.

Ramadan's case happened about a month before the imposition of
martial law in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam on May 19.

Khadijah said violence and human rights violations against
civilians were widespread before martial law was imposed, and
have continued unabated since its imposition. She wondered where
all the journalists who covered the first weeks of martial law
had gone.

"Now is the right time for the media, especially TV, to come
to Aceh and show the world what is really happening to the
Acehnese people. It's important for the media to do something to
restore its image," she said.

She stressed that aside from arbitrary arrests, torture,
abductions and extrajudicial killings, the Acehnese people were
also suffering in many other ways.

"It's difficult for people to make a living because they have
to obtain travel permits even to go fishing. Loan sharks have
taken control of the people's crops with the support of military
officers," she said.

Khadijah, better known as Incah, said the Aceh people hated
the Jakarta-based TV channels because of their unbalanced and
distorted reports on the current military operation in Aceh.

"The press should stay neutral, not take sides with either the
TNI or GAM. They should be there to help the victims, us, the
ordinary people of Aceh," Khadijah said.

An old man from a village in Langsa, who identified himself as
Tengku, said he had lost all respect for the press,

"They are war journalists, not peace journalists," said
Tengku.

Tengku, who is in his late 70s, said he objected to the
vocabulary and terminology used by most journalists reporting on
the war in Aceh. He pointed to the headline, "TNI succeed in
killing eight GAM members," as one example of the sort of biased
coverage coming from the Jakarta-based media.

"If killing people is a success, why don't they treat Amrozi
as a hero after his "success" in killing hundreds of foreigners
in last year's Bali bombing. What's the difference?" he said.

He demanded that the press promote peace instead of violence,
and give more coverage to the suffering inflicted on the people
by the war instead of political statements.

According to Khadijah, people were driven to tears seeing the
corpses of their fellow Acehnese displayed on TV with reporters
parroting the TNI line that they were GAM members without even
bothering to check with their families.

"The families won't lie, even if their sons were GAM members.
They will confirmed it, and also tell you why they joined GAM.
Just ask, that's all, and stop putting out lies on TV," she said.

Tengku told Khadijah that the Megawati government had made a
mistake by imposing martial law. However, it could make amends
for its mistake to some extent by not extending martial law.

"Throughout human history, no dispute has been settled through
violence. Rather, most conflicts have been solved through dialog
and communication," he said.

"Living under martial law is like living in hell," Tengku
said.