Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – The Indonesian government's attempts to negotiate Acehnese demands for independence or autonomy will be fruitless unless violence in the province decreases, say human-rights groups.

Contrary to President Abdurrahman Wahid's assessment that difficulties in the restive province would be resolved soon, human-rights groups and Western observers say the situation has worsened.

"People want all the troops removed and a public dialogue opened. Privately, they still say they want a referendum but they are too scared to express it," said Mr Otto Syamsuddin from the Acehnese Research Institute.

Last week's talks between the Free Aceh Movement leader Abdullah Syafie and State Secretary Bondan Gunawan was intended as a first attempt to reach out to the rebels. But it backfired when the security forces conducted a violent raid later in search of the rebel leader. During the raid, police officers beat up at least 20 people.

The meeting between the two sides was seen as a mechanism for the government to deal with what Acehnese say is a significant political force in the province. It was considered a step before talks between Acehnese political and community leaders and the government next month, which the government hopes will stop demands for independence.

However, even members of the government have admitted that negotiations will be difficult if the violence is not brought under control quickly. "Yes, the political situation has improved recently, with the meeting between the state secretary and Abdullah Syafie but there is still a lot of tension. In order to create space for a dialogue we need to reduce the tension," said Minister for Human Rights Hasballah M. Saad.

In the last week since the rebel leader met the President's emissary, 12 people have been killed. In addition the death toll this year – 300 people – is at its highest since the Indonesian military ended its special operations 18 months ago.

Although Mr Abdurrahman and his Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono have committed themselves publicly to reducing the violence in the province, particularly the rough raids conducted by security forces, it appears that this has not been co-ordinated on the ground.

Mr Sudarsono denied initially that a raid was held following the meeting with the rebel leader. However, National Police Chief Lt-General Rusdihadjo admitted there had been a search for the rebel commander, which he said was a mistake.

The President's recommendation that the police and the military be confined to their barracks does not seem to have the support of his police chief. Lt-Gen Rusdihadjo on Tuesday defended the frequent patrols, saying the police would continue to conduct such operations in order to flush out the rebels.

And on Wednesday the defence minister announced he had formed a team to investigate the brutal raid. However, he said the team would only investigate raids in one village and not go into the reasons behind why the police and the army were still conducting raids despite orders not to do so.

Western observers attribute the President's upbeat assessment of the situation in Aceh to the apparent watering down of the demands for independence. But human-rights and student groups warn that this does not indicate a backing down in the demand for a referendum on the territory's future. Both agree that support for Free Aceh rebels has declined. However, they say, many groups such as the Islamic student group, Thaliban, still want independence.

Mr Mohammad Nazar, leader of the Aceh Referendum Information Centre (Sira), the group that organised last November's one- million strong demonstration for an East-Timor style referendum, says the government should be prepared to discuss the terms of a referendum.

Yet Acehnese groups also admit that support for the rebels has declined as ordinary people have had to bear the brunt of their increasingly violent campaign.

Analysts say that if the government does not hold trials quickly for five outstanding military abuses, which were originally scheduled to start last month, people will lose faith in the government's promises. Conscious of this, Mr Hasballah says he hopes the first trial will begin before next month's congress.