INDONESIA: Aceh killings require proper investigation

 

AHRC UA Index: 000921 21 September 2000

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UA 33/00: Aceh killings require proper investigation

 

INDONESIA: extrajudicial killings, criminal impunity

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Professor Shafwan Idris (51), Rector of IAIN Ar-Raniry, the State Islamic Studies Institute, Aceh, was fatally wounded (shot in the face at close range) on 16 September. He was killed at his home (IAIN-Campus, Darussalam) on the outskirts of Banda Aceh by two assailants who arrived by motorbike.

 

The murder of Professor Safwan Idris, who was a member of the Independent Investigation Commission into Human Rights Violations in Aceh and a leading candidate for the position of governor of Aceh, has profoundly shocked all peace loving people who are concerned about the escalation of violence and extra-judicial killings in Aceh.

 

The circumstances of the killing and investigation are suspicious. A motorbike similar to that ridden by the killers was seen entering the Brimob (Police Security Force) compound soon afterwards. Also, the investigating police claim to have found the bullet shell that killed Professor Safwan in a different part of the house to where he was shot. There are doubts about the capability of local police to carry out an independent investigation.

 

BACKGROUND

There is a climate of extreme lawlessness in Aceh. The Free Aceh Movement has been fighting to establish a separate state in Aceh for 24 years. Combatants on both sides of the civil war have committed atrocities that have gone uninvestigated and unpunished. At least 5,000 have been killed during the last 10 years of fighting in the region. According to a reliable Aceh documentation NGO, at least 100 people have ‘disappeared’ this year.

 

In addition, the following Acehnese leaders have been killed since the beginning of the Humanitarian Pause in May:

1. Jafar Siddiq Hamzah (Chaiman International Forum for Aceh)

2. Nasharuddin Daud (A member of Indonesian Parliement from Aceh)

Dear

I am deeply concerned about the murder of the rector of the State Islamic Studies Institute in Aceh, Professor Shafwan Idris, at his home on September 16. Many terrible crimes committed by combatants from both sides have not been properly investigated in Aceh, which has contributed to a culture of lawlessness in the Province. Please take every possible action to ensure that the investigation of the death of Professor Shafwan Idris, who was a member of the Independent Investigation Commission into Human Rights Violations in Aceh, is carried out in an expeditious, independent and transparent manner, and that those responsible for the killing are brought to trial. This is the only way to begin to restore confidence in the rule of law in Aceh.

Yours sincerely

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SEND LETTERS TO

1. Col. Sumantyawan Hadidojo Soedardjo

Chief of Police Aceh

Kapolda Aceh

Jl Cut Meutia No 3

Banda Aceh

INDONESIA

Fax: + 62 651 26689

SALUTATION: Dear Col. Soedardjo

2. Mr. Abdurrahman Wahid,

President of Indonesia,

Presidential Palace, Jakarta

Istana Negara, Indonesia.

Fax: 62-21- 345 7782

SALUTATION: Your Excellency

3. Mr. Asmara Nababan

Secretary General

Komnas HAM (National Human Rights Commission)

Jl. Latuharhary No. 4B Menteng

Jakarta Pusat

Indonesia

Fax: 62-21-392 5227

SALUTATION: Dear Mr. Nababan

3. Ismail Syahputra (Chief Speaker for Aceh Sumatra Liberation Front / Aceh Merdeka)

4. Teuku Don Zulfahri (Head of Free Aceh Council)

5. Teungku Ilyas Ibrahim (Head of United Development Party from North Aceh)

 

[\”The Humanitarian Pause\” is a ceasefire mediated by Henry Dunant Center, a Switzerland based UN NGO. It has resulted in a decrease in violence, but this list demonstrates that killings still continue, and during the past few weeks the level of violence has been increasing again.]

 

SUGGESTED ACTION

Please write to the police chief of Aceh, Indonesian president and Indonesian Human Rights Commission, to urge them to pursue immediate, independent and transparent investigations leading to prosecution of the killers of Professor Shafwan Idris. Following is a sample letter, and the addresses and fax numbers to which the appeals can be urgently sent.

 

 

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER