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Pressure mounts to bring violators to court

Source
Agence France Presse - April 14, 1999

Jakarta – A presidential advisory group and students on Tuesday called on Indonesian President B.J. Habibie to fullfill his promises to the people of troubled Aceh province, including dragging past human rights violators there to court.

The calls were made by a 19-member team of advisors to the president on Aceh and by a group of Aceh students who attempted to enlist the help of the parliament in pressing Jakarta to act on its promises.

Habibie made the promises to the people of Aceh, home to a separatist movement kept under control for the past 10 years by a heavy-handed military presence, during a visit to the far northwestern province last month.

"We told him (Habibie) that after the president's visit there, the people of Aceh are awaiting the realization of what he promised in Baitulrahman," team head Usman Hasan told journalists after meeting with Habibie at the state palace.

The former ambassador to Mexico and ruling Golkar party deputy chairman, was referring to the Baitulrahman mosque in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, where Habibie met with local representative during a brief visit to the province in March.

He then promised to rebuild houses, schools and buildings damaged during the decade of anti-rebel military operations, as well as compensate and help the victims of the operations and their families. He also pledged to bring soldiers and officials to court for human rights violations there.

Habibie assured the team, composed of Aceh public leaders, intellectuals, academics and students, that all his promises would be acted upon and that the rebuilding of houses was underway.

"But what is foremost, what people are really waiting for, is legal action against human rights violators," Hasan said.

"If this legal action on the human rights violators during the military operation is not launched, all that has been done physically will be meaningless."

Indonesian soldiers have been accused of widespread human rights violations, including scores of arbitrary executions, torture, rape and destruction.

A similar call was made by a group of some 60 students who attempted but failed to demonstrate at parliament Tuesday to demand enforcement of the law in Aceh and the trial of the human rights violators and both civilian and military leaders responsible for those violations.

"This enforcement of the law will be the reference point for the people of Aceh by which they can judge whether the government of this republic can provide protection, equal rights and respect of human rights in Aceh," a statement issued by the student group said.

The group, from the Student Solidarity for the Aceh Case, said Aceh people were awaiting "concrete actions that can be seen and felt by the population," and not mere empty promises.

The students were prevented from approaching the parliament complex by a unit of soldiers and police some 200 metres before the gate of the complex.

"Damaged houses and buildings have begun to be repaired, but the rebuilding of the people's broken hearts remains the main thing and this needs to be quickly addressed," Hasan said.

He said Habibie had reiterated his government's determination to meet his promises to the Acehnese, including taking rights violators to court. The team had data on the violations, he added.

The students also pressed for a referendum in Aceh, to determine whether the people there wanted to stay with Indonesia or secede. "For that, as a preparation, we will gather people's opinion through a referendum, that will be organized and funded by the people of Aceh themselves," the students said in their statement.

Calls for a referendum had also been the main war cry of students protesting in Banda Aceh hours before Habibie's arrival there last month. The students clashed with security forces, leaving more than 10 injured, some hit by rubber bullets.

The staunchly Moslem province of Aceh is home to the Free Aceh movement which has fought for an Islamic state in the resource-rich region since the mid 1970s.

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