Indonesian forces continue its controversial operations in Aceh

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, June 3 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Two powerful blasts rocked a city on the outskirts of Indonesia’s Banda Aceh late Monday, June 2, as soldiers accused of beating up civilians in the province is put on trial.

Home-made bombs and grenades exploded by GAM were the cause and there had been two similar blasts on a previous evening, said police spokesman Sayed Husaini said Tuesday, June 3.

The blasts came one day before first private Saiful Bakri, Second Private Tony Nuryanto and Second Private Sudaryanto were accused of injuring a woman and two men at Lawang in Bireuen district on May 27. If convicted, they will serve two years in prison.

Military prosecutor Captain Siregar told the court in Lhokseumawe that the soldiers became angry after villagers claimed they did not know anything about members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The village head was beaten up and was severely injured in the eye, a woman was beaten up thoroughly and another man lost consciousness, the prosecutor said.

Three other soldiers, including a second lieutenant, are awaiting trial over the same incident while another soldier is to be tried for alleged extortion.

The court will resume on Wednesday, June 4, to hear the defense plea.

The military, which has a record of gross rights abuses in the past in Aceh, has cited the rapid court-martial as evidence of its willingness to curb excesses this time.

It has denied reports from some villagers that troops shot dead civilians in a separate operation on May 21 and described those killed as GAM members.

The operation's commander, Brigadier General Bambang Darmono, has said he "will firmly punish" errant soldiers.

Aceh has been under martial law since May 19 when the government launched its biggest military operation for a quarter-century against GAM.

Up to 40,000 police and soldiers are confronting an estimated 5,000 separatists from GAM, which has been fighting for an independent state since 1976.

GAM has been fighting for an independent state since 1976 and some 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since then.

Some 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the past 27 years.

Rejected

In the meanwhile, the martial law administrator in Aceh has rejected requests from about 10 overseas journalists to cover the fighting there, a foreign ministry official said Tuesday.

"Yes, there were several requests but nearly all were not accepted," said the official, Wahid Supriyadi.
 He said Major General Endang Suwarya has denied requests from about 10 foreign-based journalists wishing to cover the conflict.

Normally Supriadi's office reviews visa requests by journalists based outside Indonesia. But the authority lies with Suwarya since martial law was declared in Aceh on May 19, he said.

Suwarya was quoted Tuesday as saying he did not need "foreign observers" in the province. "We are capable of overcoming by ourselves the problem here," he said, as quoted by the Kompas daily.

The Jakarta government has also said foreign non-governmental organizations cannot work in Aceh without a permit.

Last week the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said it was concerned "by mounting evidence of a systematic effort by Indonesian security forces in Aceh to restrict reporting on the fighting there."

The organization also cited several cases in which unknown gunmen had opened fire on convoys of foreign and local journalists.

Indonesia's military strongly denied foreign press reports in the first week of its campaign that civilians had become victims during its hunt for separatists in Aceh.

‘Wanted’ List

On the ground, police in Indonesia's Aceh province said Tuesday they were hunting civilian activists suspected of supporting GAM separatists.

"We will use the (criminal code) article on subversion, which carries up to the death sentence, against them," said Sayed Husaini, police spokesman in the province.

Activists who give support or assistance to the GAM separatist are violating the law, he said, adding that police have records and evidence against them.

He gave no details on the size of the wanted list other than to say "they number a lot."

The spokesman cited only one individual, Kautsar bin Muhammad Yus, the son of the head of the provincial parliament. Among the NGOs he cited were the Information Center on a Referendum for Aceh, which campaigns for an independence referendum, and Society's Solidarity for the People.