Indonesian forces kill 19 rally-goers in restive Aceh

Army soldiers and policemen indiscriminantly opened fire on bus convoys carrying civilians, and individual motorists during several incidents on Wednesday in three districts of the strife-torn province.

"At least 19 were confirmed killed and 101 were seriously wounded," Faizal, an aid worker with the Human Rights Coalition in the capital Banda Aceh, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"This a preliminary figure. I believe the total could be higher than 19." he said, adding that most of the shootings occured in the districts of Pidie and East Aceh.

Security forces also shot out the tyres of vehicles and forced people to turn back at road checkpoints across the province to prevent people from traveling to the capital. Faizal said at least 55 people had been arrested, and security forces were continuing to block roads.

The state-run Antara news agency reported that nine people were shot dead and several wounded, while the Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence office in Banda Aceh put the death toll at 15.

The Aceh Referendum Information Center claimed that 60 people were killed and around 65 wounded, but that could not be independently confirmed. Aceh police could not be reached for comment.

The London-based Amnesty International on Thursday warned that the two-day pro-independence rally, scheduled to begin on Friday, could end in tragedy if security forces kept trying to prevent people from attending. The rally will mark the one-year anniversary of a landmark gathering of more than 200,000 people demanding the Jakarta government hold a referendum on independence for Aceh.

Aceh, an oil and gas rich province on the northern tip of Sumatra, some 2,300 kilometers northwest of Jakarta, has been fighting the central government since 1976 for an independent Islamic state.

As many as 5,000 people, mostly civilians, have died there during the past decade amid fighting between security forces and guerrilla fighters from the armed Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

The Jakarta government and GAM signed a cease-fire agreement in May, but both sides continually violate the pact, pushing the death count to more than 250 since June. The rebels are angered by perceived economic exploitation and a decade of human rights abuses by the military, and have refused to relinquish their right to independence.

President Abdurrahman Wahid, trying to prevent Indonesia from disintegrating amid separatist movements in at least three far-flung provinces, has offered Aceh broad autonomy but ruled out independence.

Humiliated by the successful breakaway of East Timor last year, the Jakarta government has warned it will take stern measures to stop separatism in Aceh, as well as Irian Jaya province, locally known as West Papua. Amnesty called on the Indonesian security forces to show restraint when the rally begins.

"The government must, as a matter of urgency, issue orders to the security forces to respect international human rights principles and not use force or firearms against unarmed, peaceful demonstrators," the group said in a statement. Colonel Syarifuddin Tippe, army commander of Banda Aceh, denied that security forces had shot dead civilians trying to attend the rally, saying they were GAM members.

"The question is not why do the army and police kill the people," he told dpa. "The question is why does GAM get the people together to go to Banda Aceh? Our police have permission to look for guns, to look for people who can provoke the situation in Banda Aceh."

The rally's organizers have said the demonstration will be peaceful, but claim they have nonetheless been harassed by security forces. Amnesty said there were fears GAM may attempt to exploit the rally as a show of force, and to garner international attention to their cause.

"The level of tension in Aceh is likely to be extremely high over the next few days and it is incumbent on GAM to ensure that their actions do not lead to civilian casualties," the organization said.

(la/dpa)