By Matthew Moore Herald Correspondent in
Jakarta and agencies
June 10 2003
As Indonesia's renewed war in Aceh province enters its fourth week, the
army has unveiled plans to build an island prison to hold 1000
suspected members and supporters of the separatist group, GAM.
The move came as President Megawati Sukarnoputri reiterated that she
and her Government would not tolerate separatism.
The spokesman for the Aceh military command, Lieutenant-Colonel Firdaus
Komera, said yesterday that a portion of Nasi Island, about 15
kilometres off the capital Banda Aceh, would be set aside to build a
prison camp for GAM supporters.
He said the prison may be modelled on Buru Island, near Ambon, where
thousands of political prisoners were held for decades by the former
dictator, Soeharto.
Prisoners on Nasi are expected to be encouraged to grow crops and take
part in sports, as were those on Buru, where the Government said it
wanted to change the way alleged dissidents thought.
In the first week of the war, the navy and air force shelled and bombed
Nasi Island before troops invaded and took over the four villages which
were accused of supporting rebels.
In its renewed war in Aceh, on Sumatra's most northerly tip, the army
says it has arrested 183 GAM suspects, including a number who
surrendered.
They will be sent to Nasi Island once the camp is completed in about
two months.
Meanwhile, three soldiers convicted of beating innocent villagers with
sticks and clubs were yesterday sentenced to four months and 20 days
detention.
The army has brushed aside allegations its soldiers murdered a
villager, Abu Bakar, during the raid in Lawang village in North Aceh
and said he was a GAM member who was shot dead while trying to escape.
Ms Megawati yesterday told veterans of the country's independence
struggle against the Dutch she had given "wider room" for the peaceful
settlement of separatist desires. "But what has emerged are struggles
for separatism and freedom using weapons, and I cannot tolerate these
any further.
"The life of the nation within the unitary state of the Republic of
Indonesia is, for me, not bargainable or negotiable, and cannot be
changed or erased."
This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/09/1055010934835.html
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