Jakarta – Most of the people gunned down by the military in the staunchly Islamic province of Aceh earlier this month were shot at from behind, suggesting they were running away or lying down in a bid to avoid being struck, says a leading human rights group.
"The victims" wounds indicate that security authorities shot them in the back," Munir, coordinator of the Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said on Wednesday.
He said several of the victims had been shot repeatedly during the May 3 massacre at Krueng Geukeuh village, in which at least 42 people were killed.
The saddest thing is that most of the victims were lying down to avoid the bullets, he said. "This confirms the testimonies of survivors. They said that apart from shooting people in the back, the troops also shot those who had layed down."
Munir said a fact-finding team from Kontras also concluded that most victims were shot from behind. The team, based in Lhokseumawe, northern Aceh, reached its conclusion after looking at post mortem documents, as well as the victims" bodies.
"We also questioned some survivors. Some of them had heavy injuries, and on average they had been shot more than once. Our team even met one survivor who was shot three times, with the bullets entering his waist and exiting through the front of his body," he said.
"There was also a man who was shot five times in his right thigh. The bullets exited near the front of his stomach."
In view of the evidence and facts, Munir rejected the military"s flimsy claim that the savage slaughter was conducted in self defense.
Instead, it was a deliberate act of terror against an unarmed crowd, he said, adding the shootings still continued even when there was no resistance.
The cruel troops even chased people into their houses and killed them indoors, he asserted. "Some of the dead victims were found in their houses."
Munir said the "back shooters" were from the Army"s Air Defense Artillery (Arhanud) troops. He said the massacre occurred after the troops came from their barracks, located behind an area where angry locals were involved in what had been a relatively peaceful negotiation with other military personnel.
The Arhanud troops, who approached the Acehnese from behind and then started shooting, may have conducted the massacre to avenge the disappearance of one of their associates, he added.
Munir said the systematic violence was a "ritual", aimed at showing off the military"s superior power and dominance over the restive province.
"The shooting pattern at the time was not an effort to disperse a crowd or a riot; but [gunfire] was directly pointed at the crowd with the purpose of not paralyzing, but killing." The military is still defending its claim that shots were fired in self defense, because shots had earlier come from the crowd.
"The fact is that the shots came from the Arhanud troops at the back of the crowd, while the Acehnese were involved in a negotiation with troops from the 113 Battalion. They [the military] then made this situation their justification for slaughtering the crowd," Munir said.
He condemned the military for making up weak excuses for the savage massacre. "The [military"s] statement includes an accusation that all the victims were members of the Free Aceh movement, who were armed when the clash occurred." Several of the victims included women and children.
Munir said he had extreme doubts about the military"s claim that rebels tossed five grenades in an Army barrack located near the site of the incident.
"It"s very doubtful that it was done by local people." Speaking on behalf of Kontras, Munir issued several recommendations. Mainly, he said the state should remove additional troops from Aceh.
The fact that the state first put the extra troops there, indicates the violence was conducted by the state apparatus, as the result of a political decision to instigate violence against the Acehnese, he said.
Kontras also said the government must be held accountable for the massacre when the People Consultative Assembly convenes in November.