JAKARTA, March 8 (AFP) - Indonesia's Aceh province has gone from bad to worse, with nearly 250 reported killings in the past two months, more than in the whole of the previous year, due mostly to the security forces.
Even as authorities in Jakarta step up their assertions that they are on the road to resolving the Muslim separatist drive, this wealthy region on the northern tip of Sumatra continues to be plagued by violence.
Human rights groups have expressed growing concern, as have foreign businessmen and Indonesia's neighbors, especially Malaysia, which may be drawn into attempting to mediate the situation.
Although it has avoided putting any pressure on Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid, Washington has also recently stepped into the fray, warning Jakarta not to resort to violence.
U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering told reporters in Jakarta last week: "We do not believe the problem can be resolved by force. The police and army should respect human rights."
Amnesty International has slammed the escalating number of security operations in Aceh, which it sees as similar to East Timor.
"In a pattern seen in East Timor last year, anyone who reports on the human rights situation is being targeted and driven away to ensure that there are no witnesses to the excesses of the security forces," it said.
"Attacks against human rights activists in Aceh have increased in recent weeks," Amnesty said, adding that "The attacks are creating an environment in which the security forces can torture and kill free from any kind of scrutiny and, ultimately accountability."
A report published by Human Rights Watch based on research by Indonesia rights groups identified 115 cases of torture in January alone.
Among the victims was Nashiruddin Daud, a member of parliament and vice president of a parliamentary commission on human rights in Aceh, whose body was found recently, bearing marks of torture.
Promises by Wahid that those who carry out the abuses, mostly the military, will be brought to trial have seen little concrete action.
A trial of 20 soldiers for the killing last year of unarmed civilians was due to begin in December, but has been steadily put back month by month.
Human Rights Minister Hasballah Saad has said it will now start in April, but the main suspect, the officer who commanded the troops, has disappeared and, according to the army, cannot be found.
The military on the ground also seems to have gained renewed confidence, after been put on the back foot by threatened judicial proceedings.
Colonel Syafnil Armen, the regional military commander, has threatened to send in further reinforcements with "sufficient war and marksman shooting skills."
As to Wahid's promise just after his election that if the East Timorese were able to decide for themselves to stay or break from Jakarta the people of Aceh must be allowed to do the same, it is no longer even a matter for consideration.
