Bagus BT Saragih and Nani Afrida, Jakarta – Observers and human rights watchdogs are saying that recent shootings in Aceh that have killed four people in the last week alone are politically motivated.
"This is no ordinary crime. Our records show that violence in the area is always related to local political events," Al Araf, the program director of human rights watchdog Imparsial, said on Friday.
Al Araf said that the politically-charged nature of the shootings could be seen from the failure of the police to identify the perpetrators or find any significant clues.
Seven shootings, some of them fatal, have taken place in Aceh in the last month.
Four people were killed in two separate attacks on New Year's Eve. One person was killed in a shooting in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, while three were killed in a second shooting in Bireun regency, about 250 kilometers east of Banda Aceh.
Imparsial and the Aceh Judicial Monitoring Institute (AJMI) have recorded 17 cases of armed violence in Aceh in recent weeks, leaving 15 dead and 17 injured.
Aceh is slated to hold its gubernatorial election on Feb. 16, along with local elections in 17 regencies and municipalities in the province.
Some have speculated that the violence might be linked to those backing the reelection of Governor Irwandi Yusuf, a former member of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which fought a decades-long insurgency against the government that was ended by treaty in 2005.
The Constitutional Court overturned an article in a local ordinance that banned incumbents from seeking reelection, clearing the way for Irwandi to run and angering his detractors. Aceh's gubernatorial election was initially scheduled for November and has been postponed twice.
Otto Syamsudin Ishak, an Aceh-based political observer, said that the central government must take swift action to prevent more bloodshed. "If the central government neglects the conditions in Aceh, then horizontal conflicts might eventually happen," he said.
Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha, meanwhile, said that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been monitoring the escalating political tensions. "The President has also instructed National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo to conduct an immediate investigation to find and arrest the perpetrators," Julian told reporters on Friday.
Separately, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the elections would not be postponed despite the shootings.
"It has nothing to do with politics. The most important thing is to keep the upcoming gubernatorial election on schedule," Purnomo said. Purnomo also dismissed the speculation that the perpetrators were linked to GAM, although some of the assailants used AK-47 assault rifles favored by the separatist movement. (rpt)