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DATE=3/7/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA / ACEH / RIGHTS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-259910
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  The human rights group Amnesty 
International says the Indonesian military is 
forcing Indonesian human rights investigators to 
go into hiding in the northern province of Aceh. 
As Patricia Nunan reports from Jakarta, Amnesty 
says the alleged military abuses in Aceh are 
similar to those seen last year during the chaos 
surrounding East Timor's vote for independence.
TEXT:  Amnesty International says it is now 
"virtually impossible" for human rights 
investigators in Aceh to work.  The group blasted 
the Indonesian military for creating an 
environment in Aceh where soldiers can "torture 
and kill"-- and not be held accountable.  Amnesty 
also says that in recent weeks there has been a 
steady increase in attacks on human rights 
workers -- many of whom the group alleges are 
victims of harassment, intimidation or even 
abduction and murder. 
Amnesty International has also drawn a parallel 
between the situation in Aceh and the violence 
that took place in East Timor last September. 
Human rights investigators say the Indonesian 
military launched a deliberate campaign of 
violence, in part to force human rights workers 
and the media out of East Timor in the days 
surrounding the territory's vote for 
independence. 
A spokesman for the Indonesian military could not 
be reached for comment.
Hundreds of people were killed and much of East 
Timor was left in ruins when elements of the 
military allegedly supported armed militia groups 
as they rampaged across the territory.  Much of 
the local and international media, as well as 
most United Nations personnel, were evacuated 
because of the violence.
But the chaos surrounding East Timor's 
independence ballot did little to quell demands 
in Aceh for the same right. 
Many Acehnese are resent the government in 
Jakarta because they say it exploits the 
province's natural gas and oil reserves, with 
little of the profit being returned to Aceh.
There is also widespread hatred of the Indonesian 
military -- which has been trying to crush a 
separatist rebellion in the province since the 
1970's. 
Amnesty International says at least 200 people 
have died so far this year in military counter-
insurgency missions against the guerrilla "Free 
Aceh Movement." 
Human rights groups also say that at least two 
thousand civilians have died or have simply 
disappeared at the hands of the military since 
the crackdown on the rebels began.
NEB/PN/FC/KL 
07-Mar-2000 09:59 AM EDT (07-Mar-2000 1459 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.