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Rights activists suffer under martial law in Aceh as navy monitors coast

Indonesia's attack on Aceh separatist rebels and the imposition of martial law in the province have brought new dangers for human rights activists, Amnesty Interna-tional said yesterday.

"There is now serious concern for the safety of all human rights defenders in [Aceh], some of whom have already been subjected to human rights violations," the London-based rights group said in a statement.

Amnesty said rights activists were banned from the province and international humanitarian organizations were being encouraged by the authorities to leave.

Journalists faced increasing restrictions and the military had threatened to sue one daily newspaper for reporting rights violations, it said.

Amnesty described the situation in Aceh, where a major military assault on the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) is in its 16th day, as dire.

If the authorities carried out plans to transfer civilians into special camps, as many as 200,000 could suffer from having their right to home and property violated.

Normal economic activity had virtually halted and hundreds of schools had been burnt down, allegedly by GAM, it said.

Amnesty appealed to Indonesia to abide by a UN declaration and give domestic and international rights monitors full access in Aceh. International aid agencies should be allowed to deliver supplies directly.

Indonesia said yesterday it had closed waters surrounding war-torn Aceh to foreign ships without proper permits to stop separatist rebels smuggling weapons into the province.

Aceh military spokesman Colonel Ditya Sudarsono said ships could be fired at if they did not heed orders within 22km of the Aceh shoreline.

But he said the new restrictions would not hamper the movement of goods to and from the province where the military launched a fresh offensive against GAM rebels two-and-a-half weeks ago.

"All foreign ships which do not have the required permits will face strict measures," Sudarsono said.

Vessels owned by US oil giant ExxonMobil would not be affected, he said.

ExxonMobil operates several gas fields in the province on the northern tip of Sumatra island.

Indonesian authorities say GAM's weapons are smuggled into the province by boats from southern Thailand.

Sudarsono said even boats with proper permits would be checked.

Indonesia has about 20 vessels, from warships to police patrol boats, for patrolling Aceh's waters.

Scores of people have been killed in the latest offensive and as many as 23,000 people have fled their homes because of the fighting. More than 10,000 people have been killed in 27 years of fighting in the oil- and gas-rich province.

Though Aceh lies at the northern entrance of the Strait of Malacca shipping lane, there have been no reports of the conflict interfering with the passage of ships through the strait.
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