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Chronicling horrors in
Aceh
By Lesley McCulloch
MELBOURNE - The message came via satellite
phone. The caller was out of breath and desperate: 15
civilians shot dead by the Indonesian military,
including two children. The location: the village of
Tutut Sungaimas, West Aceh. The date: July 19.
It was 10am on that Saturday when the military
arrived at the village to look for members of GAM
(Gerakin Aceh Merdeka, or Free Aceh Movement), the armed
separatist movement operating in Aceh. A gunfight
followed in which one government soldier and three
members of GAM were killed. The military then left the
village and the locals began to collect the dead, and to
attend to the wounded. According to the source, about
half an hour later, the villagers were relieved to see
an ambulance arrive. Their joy was short-lived, for this
was no ordinary ambulance - several soldiers jumped out
and began shooting randomly. Fifteen were killed,
including two children. All of them were unarmed
civilians.
Two days later, on July 21, tanks
arrived at the village of Alu Rambok. Without stopping
to collect belongings, the villagers ran to the forest.
The locals watched from their hiding place as Indonesian
soldiers went systematically from house to house helping
themselves to valuable items including electrical goods.
Three motorbikes were also stolen that day. Not yet
brave enough to return to their houses, the villagers
cannot confirm how much of their belongings were taken.
They continue to live in the forest, fearing that the
military will return to the village resulting not only
in loss of property, but loss of life. It is usual for
the military to loot houses and shops and leave little
behind; it is even more common for them to kill, arrest
and rape while on a looting spree.
Of more worry
than this looting incident is the disappearance of an
unknown number of families from Kuala Batee and
neighboring villages on July 20. Locals say more than 20
Indonesian military trucks toured the area rounding up
families whom they alleged were members or supporters of
GAM. When the trucks left Kuala Batee there was said to
be a total of 70 women and children and an unknown
number of men on board. But where are these trucks now?
The fate of these people was still unknown late last
week and local people feared for their lives.
In
the little media coverage there is of the conflict in
Aceh, the province's west is rarely mentioned. This is
not because the war has not reached this remote area,
but rather because information is not available. Even
before the declaration of martial law in Aceh on May 19,
the west was a silent and dangerous corner of Aceh.
There is no mobile-phone network in west Aceh and except
in two or three main towns, there is no land-line
facility. Internet access has not even reached the main
town of Tapaktuan. The only contact is by satellite
phone.
Of course, some will dismiss these
reports of killings and disappearances because of the
lack of verification. But confirmation is impossible in
this area. Does this mean we should assume it is a
sanctuary of peace and harmony when we know in other
areas death and destruction is the daily digest of the
local people?
We cannot confirm that 15 died in
Tutut Sungaimas, nor can we confirm that 70 women and
children were taken from Alu Rambok by truck together
with many men to an as yet unknown destination. The
exact numbers are of little consequence, but we can be
certain the incidents took place.
Death and
destruction in the villages of Aceh are matched by
torture, fear and even death of those in detention. In
the Polres (police) station in Banda Aceh, the
provincial capital, the overcrowded conditions are
compounding the agony of those arrested and suspected of
being members of GAM.
One of the latest
political prisoners is a university lecturer. Amdi (not
his real name) teaches at the local Syiah Kuala
University, but is now in a cell with 23 other inmates.
He faces four charges, including treason. Amdi is facing
a sentence that could mean he will spend the rest of his
life in jail. In Indonesia, one is never "innocent until
proven guilty" - he has been badly tortured by the
police who want information from him. A senior
intelligence commander, Captain Darmawan, and his
assistant Sergeant Safrizal beat Amdi with a rattan can
on July 18. A highly respected member of the academic
community, he now has difficulty moving, and his back
and hands are badly bruised and painful. Amdi will
appear before a court driven by nothing more than
politics and paranoia. There is little chance that he,
or any of the almost 100 others held in Aceh on charges
of treason will receive a fair and open trial.
The information about the conditions of the
prisoners in Polres comes from a disgruntled police
officer, ashamed of the system of which he is part. He
has telephoned several times to pass on information
about torture in Polres. He is worried that the level of
hate felt by the police toward these prisoners is
escalating, the torture has, he says, become more
frequent and more intense. When he called two days ago,
his voice sounded more distressed than ever.
He
worries about the reaction of the police to the fact
that information is getting out. The last time
information was published about the prisoners in Polres,
the following day police raided the cells - convinced
that a mobile phone was being concealed. Of course, they
found nothing. It is inconceivable to them that one of
their own would open the door to the horrors of the
everyday policing methods in Aceh.
With
foreigners being kept out of Aceh and only local
journalists embedded with the military able to report on
the situation, news is scarce. Today, Aceh is a dark and
grim province of horror, death and destruction. More
than 1,000 have died since martial law was declared on
May 19. While the world's attention is conveniently
diverted by terrorism and other power play constructs,
in Aceh's towns and villages, police stations and
prisons, it is the innocents who continue to suffer.
Lesley McCulloch is a research fellow
at Deakin University, Melbourne.
(Copyright
2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved.
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