Jakarta – Indonesian police tortured imprisoned rebels from Aceh province to warn them that they must confess to terrorist attacks when they are interviewed by visiting Swedish investigators, a spokesman for the guerrillas said Friday.
The Swedes were in Aceh for two days this week to look into the Indonesian government's position that the Free Aceh Movement is a terrorist organization and that Stockholm should take legal action against the movement's exiled leadership in Sweden.
"The prisoners were tortured to admit to whatever the interrogators charged them with," rebel spokesman Sofyan Dawood said in a telephone interview from an undisclosed location. "They said it was horrifying."
Indonesian police immediately denied the accusations. Swedish diplomats in Jakarta weren't available for comment.
The Swedish delegation, headed by prosecutor Tomas Lindstrand, left Aceh Thursday after a two-day visit to the region, where separatists have been fighting for independence for almost three decades.
Indonesia repeatedly has urged Sweden to take legal action against the movement's chief, Hasan di Tiro, and other rebel leaders. Sweden granted them asylum and citizenship in the 1980s.
The Indonesian government claims that the insurgents were responsible for a September 2000 blast at the Jakarta Stock Exchange that killed 15 people, several other bombings, two assassinations, six arson attacks at schools, and 243 cases of kidnapping. The Free Aceh Movement strongly disputes the accusations, saying its actions are confined to the province of 4.1 million people on the northern tip of Sumatra island.
Dawood said prisoners were tortured before they were interviewed by the Swedes to force them to back the government's terrorism charges.
A prisoner identified only as Dhani was beaten after the interview on Thursday because his testimony was different than what was agreed upon beforehand with Indonesian police, Dawood said.
May. Gen. Bachrumsyah Kasman said police did "not intimidate prisoners" ahead of the interviews with the Swedish team.
It was impossible to independently verify the rebels' claim, because Indonesia's military has restricted media access to the region.
During their two-day visit to Aceh, the Swedish delegation toured several prisons and inspected a school allegedly destroyed by the rebels.
In May, the government in Jakarta pulled out of internationally sponsored peace talks, ended a six-month cease-fire, and arrested a group of rebel negotiators after reprimanding them for refusing to accept an autonomy deal.
The government proclaimed martial law in Aceh in May, and launched a military offensive against rebel strongholds. The operation is ongoing.
The military claims to have killed 1,500 rebels and captured 2,000 more during the past year. But, human rights groups say most of the casualties have been unarmed villagers killed in army sweeps.