Tribunal convicts 24 soldiers, civilian in Aceh massacre

May 18, 2000
Web posted at: 6:46 a.m. HKT (2246 GMT)

In this story: Trial symbolic of changes in Aceh Separatists denounce trial RELATED STORIES, SITES

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia -- A human rights tribunal has convicted 24 Indonesian soldiers and one civilian of murdering 57 villagers during a separatist uprising last year in Aceh.

"All the defendants have been (found) guilty of murder," Judge Ruslan Dahlan announced Wednesday during the hour-long, unscheduled court session. Separatist rebels later denounced the tribunal.

VIDEO CNN's Atika Shubert explains the verdict. QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     RESOURCES Asiaweek: Time Of Danger     QUICK VOTE Do the guilty verdicts against soldiers in Aceh mark a turning point for Indonesia's human rights record? Yes No View Results

The defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging between 8 1/2 and 10 years. The rulings, by a 5-member joint civilian-military tribunal, came after prosecutors dropped demands for the death penalty. Chief Prosecutor Sukarno Yusuf said the defendants would appeal.

The soldiers and their civilian guide were found guilty of the June killings of 56 students and a teacher from an Islamic boarding school in the village of Beutong Ateuh, in central Aceh.

Some of the victims were executed in a field near the school after the military tried to capture the teacher, Teungku Bantaqiah, a well-known activist for the separatist Free Aceh Movement.

Trial symbolic of changes in Aceh

Journalist Jose Tesoro told CNN that the trial helped address some of the human rights aspirations of the Acehnese, and reminded the military of the ethics that it should uphold. He cautioned, however, that one trial would not solve Aceh's problems.

The trial, Tesoro added, was symbolic of the changes that have taken place in Aceh, and an indication that President Abdurrahman Wahid and his reformist government were making progress in dealing with these types of issues.

Wahid has in the past year cracked down on human rights abuses by the Indonesian army, which has waged a war against separatist rebels in Aceh for the past 25 years. Last week, the government and rebels agreed in Switzerland to start the first formal cease-fire in the conflict. It will begin June 2 and last for three months.

Aceh province, on the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra, has been a separatist hotspot for decades. Human rights groups say more than 5,000 people -- 350 in the past year -- have died in clashes there in the last decade.

The Free Aceh Movement has been fighting for independence, a greater share of the profits from their oil-rich region, and the right to impose Islamic religious laws on the Acehnese people.

Separatists denounce trial

Some Acehnese were furious that the prosecution, which called for six- to 10-year jail terms, did not demand death sentences, saying that the defendants had been following orders. There were also complaints that those at the top of the military haven't been punished. Capt. Anton Yuliantoro, who received 81/2 years, was the highest-ranking defendant.

Separatist rebels denounced the trial, saying the real murderers had yet to be brought to court, including the officer who issued the orders.

The officer disappeared shortly before an official probe into the massacre. Free Aceh rebels have said former armed forces chief Gen. Wiranto and former President B.J. Habibie were responsible for the killings.

"There is no justice unless Wiranto and Habibie are brought to court, because they are the ones who gave the order to kill," Free Aceh spokesman Ismail Sahputra said.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Indonesia to sign cease-fire with Free Aceh leaders
May 4, 2000
Sectarian violence eases in Indonesian province
April 20, 2000

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