Jakarta-Three Aceh activists from a student-led nongovernmental organization in the Indonesian province Aceh are seeking refugee status from the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangkok, saying their safety is under threat, an Indonesian evening newspaper said Thursday.
Suara Pembaruan reported the activists from the Information Center for Referendum in Aceh (SIRA), Munarwan, Zulfikar and Muzakir, submitted a request for refugee status Wednesday.
They charge the security forces in Indonesia have conducted human rights violations against many Acehnese, including activists who are fighting for a referendum on self-determination in Aceh.
The newspaper quoted trio as telling UNHCR officials the situation in Aceh is very dangerous for activists and SIRA's struggle for a better life in Aceh has been met by interrogation, arrest, detention and trial.
Last month, an Aceh court sentenced SIRA Chairman Muhammad Nazar to 10 months in jail for spreading hatred against the Indonesian government in Aceh.
SIRA has held massive protests times in Aceh, including one in late 1999 that involved about one million people in the provincial capital Banda Aceh.
Suara Pembaruan quoted Arief Rusli of the Asia Forum for Human Rights and Development as saying there has been no response from UNHCR to the request, but that if their application is accepted they will be sent to a country willing to accept them.
Resource-rich Aceh was ravaged by separatist, police and military violence during a decade of security operations that ended soon after President Suharto was ousted in 1998 after 32 years in power.
The separatist Free Aceh Movement has been waging a guerrilla war against the government since 1975 in an attempt to gain independence from Indonesia.
April 12, 2001
