[Waspada, the Medan daily, published today photographs of the exhumed skulls and bones and of the detention/torture centre ablaze, as well as a photograph of local people joyfully kicking and demolished a photo of Suharto that they had found hanging on the wall - Tapol.]

The National Committee of Human Rights Team Friday (21/8) discovered at least seven skeletons at the village Kualatari and Dayah Teumanah, Pidie Regency, about 170 km east of Banda Aceh. The skeletons were discovered after the team dug three places thought to be mass graves of victims of violence by the security apparatus in Aceh.

Speaking at the location of one of the digs of mass graves, the Secretary General of the Human Rights Team Baharuddin Lopa, who was accompanied by other members of his team – Koesparmono Irsan, M Salim and Soegiri – said that what had happened in Aceh was beyond human comprehension , and should be given proper attention. It was the duty of the government to investigate the case in conformity with the laws in force, he said.

The first place investigated was on the Kualatari Coast, about 330 km east of Banda Aceh which is along the Malacca Strait, far from centres of human settlement. When the human rights team arrived, villagers turned up in large numbers to provide information. They said that since 1990, in an area of about two hectares along the coast, a number of persons had been buried by the security forces at night. The local people said they did not know where the people who were buried had come from. "The bodies were transported in vehicles with darkened windows, and we didn't dare to ask about anything." said Ibrahim, a local inhabitant. He and several others knew the exact location of the graves but had never dared to speak about it. "There was a military operation going on, so who could we report to? We didn't want to create problems for ourselves."

After taking a close look, the team dug at a place about 200 meters from the sea. After digging down 60 cm, they came across a white package which proved to be a fertilizer sack wound round by plant roots. In it was a skull and human bones. There was a bullet hole in one of the skulls. Another skeleton was clad in Hing's underwear No. 31 which had not yet decomposed and a belt. They then found another sack which also contained a skull.

The team then halted their dig so that forensic experts could examine the findings. Lopa said that even before the experts had undertaken their investigations, it was possible to conclude that these were the victims of murder. After examination, the local people buried the remains in another location, praying as they did so.

Set ablaze by the people Later that day, a second dig was performed near a large house called Rumoh Geudong, surrounded by a spacious garden. This had formerly been a tradition house of the Acehnese nobility (ulee balang) of Glumpang Minyeuk. The house has been vacated for many years and in the past few years, had been used as a post by the security forces. It is located about 15 kms from the location of the first dig. Several witnesses told the team, that a number of corpses had been buried there but the dig only produced some bones which will be examined by forensic experts.

The members of the team entered the building and found several rooms 2x2 metres in size. There were chains hanging on the walls and a 70cm long piece of wood.which was partly splintered. This was probably the place where victims had been beaten.

The dig was witnessed by thousands of people from the Pidie Regency who arrived in buses and cars. They suspected that this was the location of a mass grave but the team which took earth samples only found parts of a hand. The upper part of the building had been turned into several cubicles. On the floor, the team found a pile of electricity cables.

This had been a building full of horrors for the local people who had frequently heard the screams of people being tortured there, but they had to pretend that they had heard nothing because they were so afraid. They spoke of their sense of horror during the time the building had been occupied by security personnel and their prisoners.

According to local inhabitants, since March 1998 the place was used as a detention centre for about 50 men and women, accused of being involved in the Wild Disturbers Movement (GPL). But when the Parliamentary Fact Finding Team visited the location at the beginning of August, there were only a few security guards there and no prisoners. An hour after the team left, the local people set fire to the house.

Lopa, Koesparmono Irsan, M Salim and Soegiri were also approached by dozens of women who reported that their husbands had disappeared, and who said they had been raped and tortured by the security forces. They wept as they told the team what they had experienced. They expressed the hope that the security personnel who perpetrated these crimes would be brought to justice.

"We want our husbands to be returned to us. If they are dead, we want to bury them," said Nurjannah, the mother of three children, who wept as she spoke. Her husband Jamaluddin, had been a government employee in Sigli, but he never returned home after being taken away by security personnel on 26 February 1998.

Nyak Maneh had suffered even more tragically. When she was unable to tell the security personnel of the whereabouts of her husband, M. Kaoy, this mother of three was taken to a security post, stripped naked and raped. "I dont know who the rapists were because they all wore masks," she said. Most of the women who came to testify said they knew the names of the people who had taken their husbands away and who had maltreated them. They mentioned the names and units of the persons.

Five skeletons found

In the afternoon the team went to Dayah Teumanah village, Trieng Gadeng district, about 170 km east of Trieng Gadang where they dug till the nightfall as they want to find more facts. Towards evening, they found another five skeletons. An eye witness named Hasan Ishak, told the investigators that they had been bound together and shot at the same time by security personnel in May 1991. The names of the victims were Muniruddin Kaoy (24), Armiya (26), Ibrahim, M Yusuf and Ismail Hasan (45) all of whom were teachers of religion.

Lopa said that these investigations had been heart-rending. It was often difficult to accept that such things had happened here in this country, women raped and tortured and men made to disappear. "May the Almighty give us the strength to go on looking for the fact," he said. The team plans to carry out digs at several places in north and and east Aceh on Saturday.

[According to a August 19 report in Serambi Indonesia, as troops from Kopassus are being withdrawn from parts of Aceh, human rights abuses are still continuing. The report quoted Nyak Maneh who was held as hostage for her husband, then raped and tortured by Kopassus officers wanting her to divulge his whereabouts. She had told the Jakarta daily, Republika earlier this month that she knows the names of her rapists and is prepared to expose him to the authorities - James Balowski.]