[ppi] [ppiindia] Indonesia Pressured Over Aceh Peace

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http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-01/26/article06.shtml

Islam Online [Qatar]
January 26, 2004

Indonesia Pressured Over Aceh Peace
=20
Photo: The Indonesian military has reportedly been accused of committing at=
rocities in Aceh
=20
By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent=20

KUALA LUMPUR, January 26 (IslamOnline.net) - The Indonesian Human Rights Ca=
mpaign (TAPOL) group told IslamOnline.net Monday, January 26, that it had g=
enuine concerns over the fate of Acehnese prisoners in the war led by the I=
ndonesian army against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).=20

TAPOL further said that it has urged both the U.K. and the European Union (=
E.U.) to pressure the Indonesian government to abandon the war in Aceh.=20

TAPOL member Paul Barber, and Agus Wandi, an Acehnese citizen, have told IO=
L in phone interviews that they were deeply concerned over the fate of pris=
oners in Aceh and that the world did not know who the prisoners were in rea=
lity.=20

Members of the U.K.-based organization told IOL that there was no response =
from the U.K. or the E.U. or even the Indonesian regime on their calls for =
a return to the peace negotiations in Aceh.=20

"We hope the E.U. and the U.K. will put pressure on the Indonesian governme=
nt, as they say they will do," said Paul Barber to IOL.=20

The group last week sent a document to the UK's foreign office urging the f=
oreign secretary to put pressure on Indonesia 'to abandon its fruitless att=
empt to impose a military solution' on Aceh, the restive province in Sumatr=
a where the military is conducting a 9 month long anti-insurgency campaign.=
=20

"We have very recent information of the displacement of some prisoners from=
 Aceh to the Java island. Our argument is that there are no reasons to move=
 the prisoners from Aceh, which violates legal procedures," said Agus Wandi=
.=20

He added that fundamentally speaking, there was no due process in the handl=
ing of the cases of prisoners by the Indonesian military and government.=20

"Most of those arrested and jailed so far did not have a chance for due pro=
cess. They were even sentenced without lawyers, and this happened in at lea=
st 40 percent of the cases," he added.=20

"We even do not know who the prisoners are. Are they rebels from the GAM or=
 are they simply those who had a political opinion over Aceh?" said Agus.=20

The Indonesian military has been accused by several human rights organizati=
ons of brutalities and of abusing the rights of the people of Aceh. It has =
also been accused of mistreating prisoners of war (POW'S) belonging to the =
GAM.=20

The Indonesian government resorted to war in Aceh after failing to allow th=
e peace process that started in December 2002 to continue its course, the G=
AM said to IOL in a separate declaration on the war in Aceh.=20

The TAPOL referred to allegations of torture and ill-treatment against Aceh=
nese citizens and gave a detailed report of such abuses as well as the abse=
nce of fair trails, denial of access to lawyers, no facilities to prepare a=
 proper defense and no opportunity to present defense evidence to courts.=20

The group called on the U.K. foreign office to urge Indonesia to stop the w=
ar in Aceh and to return to the negotiation table with the GAM in a bid to =
end the conflict that has claimed the lives of thousands of Acehnese.=20

The TAPOL pressed the U.K. amid news that 36 British-made Scorpion light ta=
nks are to be withdrawn from the battlefield and replaced with armored pers=
onnel carriers (APC's) equipped with light machine guns and grenade launche=
rs made by Indonesia's own arms manufacturer, PT Pindad Indonesia.=20

The locally made vehicles are untested in combat but will be cheaper and ea=
sier to maintain than the Scorpions.=20

The military denied that the decision to withdraw the tanks had been as a r=
esult of political pressure from the U.K.=20

Though there has been no response from the E.U. or the U.K. on TAPOL reques=
t for added pressure on Jakarta to end the crisis in Aceh on the negotiatio=
n table, the Foreign Office is said to have reminded Jakarta that the sale =
contracts of the Scorpion tanks stipulated that the vehicles should be used=
 only to defend Indonesian territory and people and not for internal offens=
ive operations.=20

TAPOL, which monitors and campaigns against Indonesian rights abuses, belie=
ves the real reason is that the type of insurgency has changed from last Ma=
y when martial law was declared.=20

TAPOL was in full offensive mode against Jakarta Thursday, January 22, over=
 the treatment of prisoners, claiming in a press release that the rule of l=
aw was being abandoned as hundreds of Acehnese were jailed in political tri=
als, reported the Laksamana website.=20

A total of 1553 Acehnese have been detained and interrogated. Of these, 756=
 have been convicted of crimes against the state and jailed for terms of be=
tween one and twenty years.=20

TAPOL claims many are political prisoners convicted on trumped-up charges b=
ecause of their alleged political beliefs or allegiances and said they shou=
ld be released "immediately and unconditionally".=20

"The condition of martial law in Aceh has created a situation where the mil=
itary are practically running the place and the existing legal procedures a=
re no longer valid," says TAPOL in the press release.=20

Claiming systematic violation of international standards of justice, TAPOL =
also expressed concern about the transfer of prisoners to detention centers=
 in Central and East Java, far away from their homes and families.=20

On Thursday, 54 rebel prisoners were reportedly transferred to jails on the=
 main island of Java to stop them fomenting separatism in their homeland.=20


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