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Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances
Involuntary Disappearances

COUNTRY SITUATION: Indonesia



Sorrow in Aceh
by Atty. Sri Suprayati1

Introduction

On 26 December 2004, a disaster occurred that shocked the world. The suffering that the people of Aceh had already experienced from the implementation of the civil and military state of emergency was followed on 26 December 2004 by an earthquake and tsunami disaster that left Aceh devastated. For days, weeks, even months and years, residents had collected their belongings on their farms, trading and office work, only to be all swept away by the earthquake and tsunami. Moreover, they lost their families, relatives and loved ones whose bodies could not be recognized or were simply missing.
The tsunami and the earthquake in Aceh devastated thousands of homes and killed thousands of people. Even on the second day, the media was still unable to reach isolated areas such as Melabouh.

            The blackout also caused added difficulties for the villagers who were searching for their missing families and relatives who were swept away by the tidal waves. The communication lines also broke down which caused all those outside Aceh to have difficulty accessing information in order to find out the whereabouts of their family members and relatives. The same thing happened to our fellow human rights defenders who were working in Aceh. Until the second day, we were unable to reach them.

            Meanwhile, starvation and cold plagued the survivors. Aid in the form of instant food and clothing were two very important necessities for the survivors, as well as baby food for the infants who were still in need of special food.

            In a short time, the disasters that struck Aceh invoked the sympathy of the whole world, especially from the Indonesian people themselves. But at the same time, the military state of emergency and military operation zone remains enforced and there were still those who continue to be indifferent to the sufferings of the people of Aceh. Nonetheless, the expression of solidarity is very prominent. This was shown through the delivery of various aid efforts from all over the world. Volunteers arrived from Indonesia, as well as from other countries to help look for and help the victims who were still buried under the ruins of buildings and mud.

            It is from this situation after the disaster that this piece was written, so as to briefly describe the areas in Aceh that were destroyed, including parts of KontraS’ investigation and several logistical activities that are still continuing.

Logistic Posts2

            One day after the earthquake and tsunami struck in Aceh, KontraS took the initiative to open a logistic post as a center for the distribution of aid from the community. The donations came in the form of money, food, used clothing, medicine, bottled water and some items for babies and breast-feeding mothers. The post was opened based on the reasoning that because of the sheer number of victims and property that were lost, the victims needed to receive immediate help in order to save those who were still alive. The initiative was also connected to KontraS’ long-standing activities that have always concerned with cases of serious human rights violations in several conflict areas, especially in Aceh.

            The functions related to the post were to receive donations, pack them, then deliver and distribute them to the destined sites. The focus of the delivery were the posts in Aceh which would then distribute these further to several sites such as Sinabang, Simeuleu Island, Meulaboh, Banda Aceh, Pidie and Bireuen. The donations were distributed through volunteers who opened their posts to receive and distribute donations.

            In the course of its activities, KontraS joined the Civil Society Coalition for the Victims of the Earthquake and Tsunami, which consists of several NGOs. In this coalition, KontraS served as the center of logistics and transportation. In the beginning, this coalition focused its work on two sites: Banda Aceh with 5,000 refugees and Meulaboh with 7,000 refugees. Due to the need to also assist other areas, the coalition added one more area to its working list: Pidie, where it specifically dealt with children.
General Conditions

            Some time after the earthquake and tsunami, KontraS tried to go and take a closer look at the condition of the refugees and the distribution of aid in several areas such as Sigli and Banda Aceh, as well as the condition of political prisoners/detainees3.

• Sigli - Volunteers in Sigli reported that the Internally Displaced People or IDPs at the post in Lambase were still in poor condition, as well as in many other coastal area posts (poskos) which still had not received any aid. On 12 January 2005, KontraS surmised that there were about 850 IDPs in Lampase, including 150 children based on direct field monitoring. They had only received aid in the form of instant noodles from the local government. The IDPs were concentrated in the Sub-District Office moving from a sports hall (Gor Raya).

• Banda Aceh – The aid that arrived in Banda Aceh area was gathered at the airport or Lanud Iskandar Muda; and for every request to distribute the aid by the volunteers or the community, the aid was reduced by as much as 15% of the total. The reason for the 15% reduction in the aid at the Iskandar Muda airport is not yet clear.

            The IDP camp at the local TVRI station was the biggest camp populated by civil servant IDPs. This camp did not have the necessary logistics and was different from the other camps which still lacked aid. There were many IDPs from Meulaboh, Calang and other western coastal areas that arrived in Banda Aceh. Some of the people who were not victims of the disaster, for instance in Kecamatan Ule Kareng, also moved to IDP posts in Banda Aceh. We have not received any in-depth investigation on why they joined the IDPs.

            Field reports also revealed that many of the dead bodies that were found were evacuated because they just piled up under the ruins of the city. Evacuation was concentrated mainly on the main roads of Banda Aceh city. Lately, there were about 180 bodies that were buried within the area of Lambaro, or Blang Blintang street in Banda Aceh. More volunteers are urgently needed to evacuate the bodies.

• Medan - On 7 January 2005, Kepling (head of sub-village, Red) X –Kelurahan Sumber Mukioreja, Kecamatan (sub-district) Binjai Timur, was arrested for keeping a pile of IDP aid in his house. After a one-day imprisonment, he was subsequently released due to a request by the Binjai Major (Mr HM Ali Umri, head of Golkar party there) for the reason that his act was with his approval and knowledge. He further stated that these basic needs were needed for distribution to the IDPs at the soonest possible time, because they did not have enough storage space. To avoid rain, they distributed the aid to other needy communities. (Resource: Sumut Pos, Sabtu, 08 January 2005, page 8).

Condition vis-a-vis Aceh Civil Emergency Status

            Soldiers from the military or Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI) and police or Polri who were deployed to Aceh had been fully equipped with rifles. Based on information gathered by KontraS from Kesdam Iskandar Muda, there were two officers from Kopassus (Special Force) who were shot and one of them died. They have been deployed by the Rider 600 to Rumkit area. On the way to Sigli, you could also meet many fully alert soldiers from TNI and Polri beneath the path ways to the Selawah mountains. From this investigation on the death of the Kopassus member and his colleague who was wounded, this incident occurred in the area of Lepung about 25kms away from Banda Aceh city towards Meulaboh (Aceh Besar district). There are still no further details regarding this incident.

            There had also been clashes between a military provost of Iskandar Muda (Kopda Juned) with some police apparatus who examined vehicle papers or licenses in Banda Aceh. A short chronology explained that a police officer gave a ticket to a civilian motorbike owner who did not have a license. The police then took this motorbike to an unknown spot, while the owner of the motorbike was from the family of Kopda Juned, the member of Provost Iskandar Muda.

            It is reported that there have been shots towards civilians by the apparatus in the area of Tangse Pidie (there has been no report whatsoever about the identity and which unit where these apparatus came from).

Condition of Political Prisoners:

• Banda Aceh - Banda Aceh has three (3) Rehabilitation Institutions, all of which were knocked down by the earthquake and tsunami waves. These rehabilitation places were, LP Lhoknga, LP Keudah and LP Lamprit toward Darussalam area. The condition of many of their prisoners is still unclear and their existence unknown, but many of them are believed to have died due to the disaster.

• Aceh Besar - In Aceh Besar, there is one (1) Rehabilitation Institution or LP, 45 of the prisoners escaped with the following details: 26 of them were political prisoners and 19 ordinary prisoners. This LP had not been affected by the disaster, but the prisoners escaped on 29 December 2004. Before this happened, the prisoners asked for a release to visit their families after the disaster, but the request was rejected. They finally escaped using their clothes as rope and broke out from the bars. At this moment, some of the prisoners have surrendered. Four of them were political prisoners and one ordinary prisoner. In this center, there are a total of 180 prisoners and 32 of them are political prisoners.

• Pidie - In Pidie there are two rehabilitation institutions, in Sigli and Lamno, Sub-District or Kecamatan Kota Bakti. In Sigli, the prisoners were released by the officials because of the earthquake and tsunami. Their total was 222 . So far, 41 political prisoners have returned to the jail while three (3) prisoners had died. Some of the prisoners also returned to the judge’s house-complex to help out on the cleaning up of the area.

            In the rehabilitation institution in Kota Bakti, there are about 48 political prisoners from other jails and 83 criminal prisoners. In this place, one prisoner died in the hospital or RSU Kota Bakti, 36 are unknown as to their whereabouts of which some 20 are political prisoners.

Condition of families of victims of involuntary disappearance

            Kontras is still experiencing difficulties in conducting investigations into several families of victims of involuntary disappearances, victims who may also be tsunami victims. There has only been one person that the KontraS could meet. KontraS gave donation from the Tiananmen Mothers Campaign Group to: Ainsyah Adnan. Ainsyah Adnan’s husband went missing in April 1998; she lives in Pasi Lhok, Kembang Tanjung District, Pidie Regency. Her husband, Adnan, was arrested by TNI in sweeping the Trieng Gadeng area. At that time he was with several of his friends to buy shrimp seeds and was immediately taken by TNI while his friends were released.

            Since then, his family has tried to look for him in several areas such as North Aceh, Rancong Detainment Camp, Military Sub-district command in Pidie and TNI posts. Unfortunately, in all the posts she went to, none of them admitted having arrested her husband.

            At the moment, she lives with other people as a refugee in Triggadeng. She lost her house due to the earthquake and tsunami. Fortunately, not one of her family members became a victim of the earthquake and tsunami.
A Form of Solidarity

            As a form of solidarity the Redemptorist Community in Manila, Siervas de San Jose, Augustinian Missionaries of the Philippines and other kind hearted groups and individuals had donated a substantial amount for the tsunami victims in the area. To a large measure, the amount will go a long way towards some relief and rehabilitation for these re-traumatized people.

            1Sri Suparyati is the head of the Advocacy Department of KontraS. As a lawyer, she appeared before the President of Indonesia, the Chief of Indonesian Police, the District Police of Kotawaringin Timur, Governor of Central Kalimantan, District Office of Kotawaringin , Timur on the issue of ethnic conflict in Sampit, Central Kalimantan and in Citizens’ lawsuit of migrant workers in Nunukan . She participated in a fellowship program on Transitional Justice in the University of Cape Town, South Africa .

(Footnotes)
2 Report from the Coordinator of KontraS Jakarta Logistic post.
3 Result of KontraS’ investigation team.