Indonesian activists under attack

Aceh freedom fighters are seeking indepedence

By Richard Galpin in Jakarta

Amnesty International has accused the Indonesian security forces of intimidating human rights activists working in the northern province of Aceh.

Police and troops are currently engaged in a major operation to track down guerrillas who have been fighting a long campaign for Aceh's independence.

Amnesty said human rights activists were being forced into hiding to enable the security forces in Aceh to torture, kill and abduct people without fear of being held accountable.

Some activists have been killed, while others have disappeared or been subject to arbitrary detention and harassment. As a result many have now fled.

No Security

According to Amnesty, it is impossible for those who have stayed behind to carry out their work with any degree of security.

The armed forces are therefore free to carry out what Amnesty says are excesses against the local population.

Amnesty has appealed to the Indonesian Government to take immediate action to protect both human rights activists and ordinary civilians in Aceh from the security forces.

It is estimated that up to 200 people have been killed so far this year in the province during a major counter-insurgency operation against guerrillas of the Free Aceh Movement.

Aceh wants indepedence from Indonesia

The conflict intensified late last year amid growing calls from the local population for a referendum on independence similar to the vote in East Timor.

But this has already been ruled out by President Abdurrahman Wahid. Over the past decade the security forces have been accused of widespread human rights abuses in Aceh as they have tried to suppress the independence movement.

The government has promised to prosecute those responsible but trials of members of the armed forces accused of atrocities have so far failed to get under way.