INDONESIA: Restore Rule of Law in Aceh

UA-09-2001: Restore Rule of Law in Aceh

INDONESIA – extrajudicial civilian killings, arson by military/police

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The Indonesian parliament has authorised the Indonesian Military (TNI) to conduct a ‘limited military operation’ (re-labelled a ‘limited security operation’) in Aceh against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), who are fighting for an independent Aceh. The operation is supposedly aimed at the leadership of the GAM. However, it is clear that the TNI have used this opportunity to target human rights defenders and to create terror amongst the civilians, as part of a prolonged campaign to destroy the rule of law in Aceh. The following are some recent incidents that have not been properly investigated:

22 March

– 5 civilian farmers were abducted by a joint army-police team in the village of Suak Bilie, in the West Aceh sub-district of Seunagan, and later found dead with gunshot wounds at the Cut Nyak Dhien hospital in Meulaboh.

23-24 March

– A civilian man, Syukri, 30, was abducted late on 23rd and shot dead on the morning of 24th by an unknown gunman near the Syah Kuala University, about seven kilometers away from Banda Aceh.

– The same night, security personnel burnt down 100 houses in Alue Gadeng Puntong in Birem Bayeum sub-district, East Aceh, and a further 60 houses in Rantau Panyang, also in East Aceh. According to the Aceh Forum Concerned about Human Rights, both villages were intentionally set on fire in what appeared to be a \”scorched earth\” policy taken by the security forces.

– At least seven civilians were killed in these fires. The seven civilians, including a 70-year-old woman, Grandmother Maryam, were killed when security personnel set fire to houses and roadside stalls in the Rantau Panyang village in East Aceh.

25 March

– In West Aceh regency, a man named Syarifuddin, 60, and his wife Misnah, 55, of Kuala Unga village, Jaya subdistrict, were reportedly shot dead at their residence by an unidentified person at about 1:30 p.m.

– In Aceh Besar, an Indonesian police officer, identified as First Brig. Yukirman Tanjung, was shot dead by two gunmen while he was jogging at Ulee Lhue beach. The two attackers were riding a motorcycle when they shot Yukirman according to the Banda Aceh police chief.

29 March

– The bodies of three men were found in the village of Simpang Tiga Alue Pakuk in Sawang subdistrict, South Aceh. They had all been shot and the wounds were still fresh. Teungku Kamal, 42, was the head of a Muslim boarding school (pesantren) Darul Kamal in Blang Pidie, South Aceh; he was also a member of the team set up to monitor implementation of the \”peace through dialogue\” agreement between GAM and the Indonesian government. Suprin Sulaiman, 37, was a lawyer with the Human Rights Coalition of Aceh. Amirduddin was a driver for the monitoring team. The three men had left the South Aceh police station about a half hour

earlier, according to witnesses. Teungku Kamal had been summoned for questioning as a suspect in a criminal defamation case in which members of the Mobil Police Brigade (Brimob) assigned to South Aceh said they had been falsely accused of raping and otherwise assaulting five young women from that district. Suprin Sulaiman was acting as Teungku Kamal’s legal adviser.[Human Rights Watch Report]

April 1

Bombings, arson and shootings took place in West Aceh and North Aceh.

April 2

Three bodies discovered in the ‘Security Zone’ of North Aceh and Aceh Besar: Brig. Safril, of Dewantara Police subprecinct, was discovered, with severe lacerations to the back of his head, in Paloh Lada village of Dewantara district, North Aceh, at around 6 am; An unidentified male body was found in the estuary of Muara Sungai Manyang, Mon Melayu village, also in North Aceh on Monday (the body had already begun decomposing); A civilian named Satino, 35, was shot by alleged armed rebels after the group intercepted his public minivan in Braden village, Aceh Besar, on Monday.

BACKGROUND

The government and rebels have been holding peace talks in Geneva since last year. They have signed a series of shaky truces but so far failed to stem violence which has left some 300 people dead this year. Earlier this month the government in Jakarta finally slapped the \”separatist\” tag on GAM — which has been fighting for a free Islamic state in Aceh since the mid-1970s — and announced a \”limited security operation\” involving more troop deployments to rid the province of rebels.

The vast majority of the population of Aceh are caught in the middle of the battle between the TNI and GAM, and have become the victims of a terror campaign that has destroyed the rule of law. Thousands of disappearances, house-burnings, abductions, torture and murder cases have gone uninvestigated and unprosecuted as judges, law enforcement officials and administrators who seek restoration of the rule of law have been attacked by both sides and many forced to abandon their posts.

Meanwhile Muhammad Nazar, 27, chairman of the Information Center for an Aceh Referendum (SIRA), is accused of having \”publicly expressed enmity, hatred or insults towards the government of Indonesia\”. Nazar was one of the organisers of a peaceful mass rally to call for a refendum on independence for Aceh. Security personnel used heavy-handed means to prevent thousands from attending the popularly-supported rally.

Human rights defenders have been targeted by both sides during the past year, most notably with the abduction, torture and murder of Jafar Siddiq, an Acehnese human rights lawyer. Nothing has been done to stop the killing of human rights defenders and civilians, and it is clear that the means used in the latest ‘limited security operation’ are exacerbating this problem and making the prospect of human rights and peace more and more remote.

SUGGESTED ACTION

Please write to the TNI Commander, the President of Indonesia, the Coordinating Minister for Security and the National Police chief to urge them to investigate the death of the human rights defenders, the arson of 160 homes and the killing of civilians at the hands of security forces acting with the authorisation of parliament. Copies of your letter should be sent to the UN Special Rapporteurs listed.

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