Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – A human-rights group alleges that soldiers raped and beat villagers in north Aceh last month while they were conducting raids in search of separatist Free Aceh rebels.

Mr Maimul Fidar, the chairman of a non-government investigation team, said 20 non-local troops had conducted an early morning raid on March 7.

He said his team had interviewed four women who had been raped, one of whom was raped in front of another young girl. Three of the women were raped by soldiers inside their house while their husbands were tied and beaten outside the house, said Mr Maimul.

Revelations of the security forces' alleged brutality under the administration of President Abdurrahman Wahid, which has professed great concern for human-rights abuses, cast doubts on the President's ability to negotiate with the Acehnese.

Mr Mohammad Nazir, head of the pro-referendum group Aceh Referendum Information Centre (SIRA), has called on the President to cancel next week's proposed trip to Aceh if he cannot end the security operations there.

"If Gus Dur wants to pray for the Acehnese it is better he does it from the palace, it doesn't need to be publicised to the Acehnese people," he said.

Local and international aid groups have criticised the security forces' operations in Aceh over the past three months, accusing them of committing as many human-rights abuses as during the brutal military campaigns under former president Suharto.

Since January this year at least 300 people have been killed in clashes with security forces or by unidentified men.

The abuse claims have come to light only this week because the soldiers allegedly threatened to shoot the villagers if they reported the incidents. The Indonesian Human Rights Commission has appointed Mr Maimul to head an investigation into the incidents.

Free Aceh spokesman Ismail Syahputra said the soldiers belonged to Yonif 403 division from the Lhok Sukon command in North Aceh. He said brutality by police forces had continued over the past week, with four people shot in north Aceh.

In a statement signed by Mr Muhammad Nazir, Sira said Mr Abdurrahman's government continued to practise the same "colonial and violent" tactics used by previous Indonesian governments in dealing with the Aceh conflict.

"Gus Dur as President and the highest Indonesian military commander has never uttered a distinct commitment and issued a consensus in comprehensively solving the political conflict and humanitarian crisis in Aceh," Sira said.

It said Mr Abdurrahman had made no effort to halt harsh military operations in Aceh and had rejected international mediation for the conflict.

"Gus Dur's action against Acehnese people ... are just the same as a new war criminal, after Mr Sukarno and Mr Suharto, who also organised a number of state violence and colonialist practices," the group said.