Lhokseumawe – Thousands of school students went on the rampage Thursday in three towns in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province to demand a referendum on self-determination, witnesses said.

The junior and high school students ripped national flags and state emblems off government offices in Lhoksukon, Baktya and Syamtalira Arun.

The young demonstrators, still in their school uniforms, painted the word "referendum" on the streets and tried but failed to enter the local military and police offices in the area. The military stood by apart from stopping the protestors taking the emblems from police and military offices.

On Tuesday thousands of students and other youths had taken to the streets of this main city in North Aceh to protest at the tearing down of street banners calling for a referendum. Such banners have blossomed throughout the province in the past month.

Aceh is the scene of a separatist movement kept under often brutal control by the military for the past 10 years.

On Tuesday a presidential advisory group and students in Jakarta warned President B.J. Habibie to fulfil his promises to the people of the province and bring past human rights violators before the courts.

The call was made by a 19-member team of advisors on Aceh and by a group of Aceh students who tried to enlist the help of the parliament in Jakarta.

Habibie made the promise during a visit last month to the province on Sumatra island. He also promised to rebuild houses, schools and buildings damaged during the decade of anti-rebel military operations, as well as compensate the victims of the operations and their families.

Troops have been accused of widespread human rights violations, including scores of arbitrary executions, torture and rape. The Free Aceh movement has fought for an Islamic state in the resource-rich region since the mid-1970s.