Jakarta – The Aceh representative office of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) says that it has handed over three alleged cases of gross human rights violations which occurred in Tanah Rencong – as Aceh is known – to Attorney General ST Burhanuddin.
"Out of five cases of gross human rights violations in Aceh, we have handed three of them over the Attorney General", said Aceh Komnas HAM chief Sepriady Utama on Thursday July 14 as quoted by the Antara news agency.
Utama said that the three cases are the Simpang KKA (Simpang Kraft) incident in North Aceh, the Rumoh (House) Geudong incident Pidie regency and the Jambo Keupok incident in South Aceh regency.
Meanwhile the two other cases of gross human rights violations, which have not yet been completed, are the incidents in Bener Meriah regency and in Bumi Flora, East Aceh regency.
"These cases of gross human rights violations are indeed old ones, [which occurred] during the Aceh conflict before", he said referring to the three decade long armed conflict between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian military.
Utama said that Komnas HAM through an ad hoc team has conducted a pro justitia investigation process, the results of which have been handed over the Attorney General in accordance with Law Number 26/2000 Human Rights Courts.
"In accordance with legislation we have handed over the results of the investigation into alleged gross human rights violations in Aceh to the Attorney General and hereafter is the Attorney General's job [to follow this up]", he said.
Utama said that cases of gross human rights violations must indeed be synergised with the courts and the revelations coming out of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR).
"The involvement of the KKR is important because not all cases can be processed through the courts, rather the truth is revealed and it ends with reconciliation", he said. (Antara/fra)
Notes
The five major cases of gross human rights violations in Aceh are the tortures between 1997 and 1998 at Rumoh Geudong in Pidie, a former headquarters of the Indonesia's elite Army Special Forces (Kopassus), known as the slaughter house; the 1999 May Simpang KKA incident, also known as the Dewantara incident, when the military randomly shot hundreds of protesters who rallied against an earlier shooting in April 30; the 2001 massacre of 31 people by the military at the Bumi Flora plantation in eastern Aceh; the finding of skeletons of the remains of victims of the conflict in a mass grave in Bener Meriah regency in 2002; and the 2003 massacre in Jambo Keupok village in southern Aceh.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "3 Kasus Pelanggaran HAM Berat di Aceh Diserahkan ke Jaksa Agung".]
