Acheh: Report on human rights in Acheh The following are latest data and information that we have managed to gather in Acheh that is approaching the end of the second Martial Law rule on May 19 2004.
A. ONE MONTH BEFORE THE END OF THE MARTIAL LAW II, THE NUMBER OF CIVILIANS EXECUTED IS ON THE INCREASE Since 25 April 2004 the TNI has been increasing the intensity of its repressive actions against civilians in Acheh. The number of those arrested and killed for allegedly helping or giving money to the Acheh National Armed Forces (TNA/GAM), is on the increased. According to reports that we received, hundreds of civilians have been arrested and many of them have already been executed without any due process of the law. In East Acheh for example, the TNI troops continue to gather information through �cuak� (paid turncoats) to establish data on any civilian who has helped or contributed money to TNA/GAM, or any civilian who had ever asked for contribution from the public or from petty traders or those who had contributed to such requests for funds by TNA/GAM. There are hundreds of civilians in detention at present, causing members of their families to be very worried and traumatized of the possibility that they too would be executed like the others. There is no law, authority or anything that can protect them from this possibility. B. TNI MOBILISING THE PEOPLE TO DEMAND EXTENSION OF THE MARTIAL LAW 1. District of Bireuen April 17-18, 2004 The people of Bireuen were forced to participate in the rallies on 17-18 April organized by the militia group led by Sofyan Ali to demand the extension of the martial law in Acheh. The TNI threatened people even from the remotest villages that those who did not come to the rallies would be considered GAM supporters. 2. North Acheh District Monday, 19 April 2004. TNI District Command: Korem 011 Lilawangsa in North Acheh, organized a joint meeting with BERANTAS militia group in the office of the District Commander. BERANTAS is in fact a militia front formed by the military and police authorities for the purpose of creating a horizontal conflict in Acheh. The head of this militia group, Satria Insan Kamil is a resident of the Banda Masen transmigration settlement in the sub-distritc of Banda Sakti. In that meeting the TNI asked the BERANTAS leadership to gather the people from among the elements of society including religious leaders and their students, ordinary school children, university students, as well as children of the victims of the conflict and other civilians in order to participate in mass rallies for the purpose of demanding the extension of the martial law in Acheh. Thursday-Saturday, 22�24 April 2004. For 3 consecutive days TNI forced civilians from several villagers in North Acheh, to come to Lhokseumawe for the purpose of pronouncing their demands to have the Martial Law in Acheh extended once again. Every village chief was told to send at least 20 to 40 villagers to the rally. They were told anyone failing to comply with this request must leave his village immediately. No villager dared to oppose the order. The troops performed terror and intimidating actions on the civilians. �Whoever refused to comply with the order will be considered GAM and will be arrested�, announced the TNI. The same situation prevailed before this when the people of Acheh Jaya who did not come to the rallies as ordered were rounded up and transported in military trucks to gather in front of the North Acheh Legislative Assembly office (DPRD) in Lhokseumawe. They were ordered to read a declaration demanding the extension of the Martial law. This performance was led by the BERANTAS militia front and tightly guarded by TNI troops and police. Friday-Saturday, 23-24 April 2004. The chief of the BERANTAS Front, Satria Insan Kamil became frightened and asked the TNI for members of his militia to be armed and be placed in a protected area, �if the Martial Law is not extended this May 2004�, he stated. 3. Pidie District 20-23 April 2004 Everyone in Pidie was forced to attend the public rally held to demand the extension of the Martial Law in the District capital Sigli on 24 April 2004. The ation was sponsored by the �Acheh Anti Separatist Popular Movement� (Gerakan Rakyat Anti-Separatis Acheh or GEURASA) militia group backed by TNI/Polri. Other than ordinary civilians, members of Youth Clubs and Social Organisations were also roped in to make the stage-managed �popular� action a success. As usual, those who refused to attend were told that they would be considered members or supporters of GAM. This occasion was enforced in no less than 20 sub-districts and the rally was held at the Alun-Alun field in Sigli. Zulkifli Gade, the leader of the Geurasa militia group told the people in no uncertain term that they had no choice but to support the demand for the extension of the Martial Law in Acheh. 4. Acheh Jaya District 22 �24 April 2004 The people of Acheh Jaya were forced to attend the rallies demanding extension of the Martial Law. The rallies were organized and co-ordinated by the TNI through its Koramil (Resort Command) office which was given the task of conveying to all village heads the order to bring their people to the rallies. The rallies were also spearheaded by the Secretary General of the militia group that the TNI/Polri have created earlier: the Front Milisi Anti Separatis, Syaifuddin Amnur. The action was held on 24 April 2004 in front of the office of the local Legislative Assembly building at Calang. The people forced to participate were from the Sub-Districts of Panga, Krueng Sabee, Setia Bakti, Sampoiniet Jaya and Teunom who were brought to the site in trucks and cars. Upon arriving at the site the people were told to make speeches and then to repeat the declaration read by burly men with crew-cut hair. They also displayed various banners and posters with the messages saying that GAM must be wiped out for having caused the suffering of the people and that GAM must be destroyed through the Martial Law. Some general observation based on the results of monitoring by our Investigation Team The sites chosen for the rallies are the same everywhere: the offices of the local legislative assembly DPRD and all events were well organised while the participants were visibly tense. The rallies were always attended by local civilian and military authorities. The responses of the DPRD have always been the same, that they would convey the �popular aspiration� to the Martial Law Administrator. Members of TNI and Polri were working extra hard in assuring the tight security from the villages, on the routes and all the way to the rally sites. In a few areas the participants were even given money to reward them for having participated in the rallies. The threats and modus operandi of the mass mobilisation were all the same in every occasion. The texts of the �popular� declarations condemning anti-NKRI groups, the praising of improving economic conditions under martial law and the more conducive security situation in Acheh were identical. The number of people required from every village is always the same: 20 to 40 persons. C. RECCOMMENDATIONS Considering the condition, the reports and the information presented above, we have the honour to recommend the following: to urge the National Human Rights Commission, KOMNAS HAM and other independent institutions to investigate directly the various serious violations of human rights in Acheh occuring during the implimentation of of the martial law. to urge the Indonesian president to allow a UN team to visit Acheh in order to investigate the various human rights violations there. to urge the top commanders of the TNI and POLRI not to repeat in Acheh their mistakes in creating militia groups in East Timor because this would worsen the situation and create new problems. to urge both the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the Government of the State of Acheh to return to the negotiation table and to the peace process, because violence can never solve their conflict. 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