Banda Aceh, June 09: Police in Indonesia's Aceh province, where a major military assault is being launched against separatist guerrillas, have arrested six aid workers -- including three women -- for alleged links with rebels, an activist said today. The four members of the Center for Human Rights and two volunteers with the Indonesian Red Cross were arrested in East Aceh district on Friday and Saturday, said Faisal Hadi, coordinator for the Coalition of Non Governmental Organisations in Aceh.
"Police suspect that the six have a relationship with GAM (the Free Aceh Movement)," he said. "The accusation is clearly erroneous because the human rights center works to uphold human rights and law.”
A police spokesman in the provincial capital Banda Aceh, Adjunct Chief Commissioner Sayed Husainy, said he was aware of the questioning of the six but did not know whether they had been officially detained. The government last month launched a major military campaign to crush GAM rebels, who have been fighting for independence for the province on the northern tip of Sumatra island since 1976.
The campaign entered its fourth week on Monday and the military said at least 150 rebels had been killed and 88 others captured. Twelve soldiers and three policemen have been killed.
Human Rights Watch said last week it was concerned that activists included on lists of alleged sympathisers with GAM had been threatened with charges of subversion, which can carry the death penalty. It said it has received reports of human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings by Indonesian forces. Amnesty International also said last week the military operation and the imposition of martial law in Aceh have brought new dangers for human rights activists there. Bureau Report