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NEWS- ACHEH : WOMEN AND CHILDREN MA



Subject: NEWS- ACHEH : WOMEN AND CHILDREN MASSACRED IN COLD BLOOD

ACHEH SUMATRA NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT
PO. Box 2084, 145 02 Norsborg, Sweden
Fax:00-46-8-53188460

For Immediate Release
Stockholm, 13 May 1999

WOMEN AND CHILDREN MASSACRED IN COLD BLOOD

(This is the third massacre perpetrated by the Indonesian
Armed Forces  -ABRI-  in Acheh this year)

Once  again the world has witnessed the unspeakable brutality of the
Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) against civilians in Acheh. Since the
beginning of this year, three senseless mass-killings have taken place
in
Acheh: the massacre of Blang Kandang in February, resulting the lost of
dozens of  civilian lives; the tragedy of Idi Cut in East Acheh, also
causing nearly one hundred innocent Achehnese; and now again even more
brutal, the 3 May tragedy of Dewantara, sub-district Krueng Geukueh,
where
the Indonesian trigger happy army fired on a very large crowd that has
so
far resulted in at least 75 deaths and hundreds injured. This figure is
likely to increase. And Acheh has really been turned into the  killing
field
  by the new regime of B.J. Habibie, whose records show that he is  a
super
Suharto in terms of numbers of his victims in a very short time.

This latest tragedy, the worst so far, proves that the Indonesian regime
can
no longer manage to control the growing political activities of the Free
Acheh Movement and the students  peaceful demand for referendum in
Acheh,
nor has the provincial government any control of the situation.
Therefore,
the carte blanche has now been given to ABRI to restore peace and order
in
Acheh - at any price. As a matter of fact, none of the above mentioned
tragedies had involved any armed-clashes or exchanges of fire between
the
Forces of the Free Acheh Movement and the Indonesian army. Therefore,
Their
main target is civilians and the dispatch of additional troops to Acheh
is
to pacify the Achehnese from their demands for referendum and
self-determination.

In the waves of Students  demands for referendum in Acheh, President BJ
Habibie visited the area in March, this year, and promised  that the
responsible for human rights abuses perpetrated during DOM (Military
Operational Area) between 1989 - 1998 would be persecuted. Upon arrival
in
Jakarta, he assembled his ministers and gave official order to carry out
what he had promised to the Achehnese. But, in a militarised society

such as
Indonesia, the word of a civilian like BJ Habibie does not carry any
weight.
And, therefore, nothing has eventuated since then. What happens, the
Habibie
regime has sent more troops to Acheh to deal with the people of Acheh
whose
only wish is to demand the right of self-determination.

Now it is crystal clear for every one that  the security and stability
in
Acheh can no longer be relied  on either the murderous army of Indonesia
or
the puppet provincial government. Acheh is obviously ruled by swords,
and
more such tragedies are likely to come unless the international 
community
would  immediately intervene to reverse the situation, to prevent more
bloodshed and to protect the hapless people of Acheh. The ASNLF hereby:

1. Strongly condemns the merciless killings of the innocent civilians of
Dewantara and the dispatch of combatant troops to Acheh.
2. Demands the immediate withdrawal of the Indonesian battle-hardened
troops
from Acheh.
3. Appeals to all member states of the European Union and the USA to ban
the
supply of arms to the murderous regime of Indonesia and to take action
through the United Nations to press for an international ban on such
supplies.
4. Urgently requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to monitor
the
situation in Acheh and to report his observations to the Sub-Commission
at
its coming session.

At issue in Acheh is the inalienable rights of self-determination of the
Achehnese people. Acheh was an internationally recognised sovereign
state
for hundreds of years  before the Dutch invaded it in 1873. But after
World
War Two, Acheh was forced to become part of a newly fabricated
Indonesia. By
International Law and by the UN Body of Principles Acheh should have
been
restored to independence again similar to that of Holland after German
occupation in 1945.

ACHEH SUMATRA NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT