Reuters, July 7, 2003

JAKARTA: Three low-ranking Indonesian soldiers went on trial in Aceh on Monday over the rape of four women in the province, where government troops have been fighting separatist rebels for seven weeks in a major offensive.

Prosecutors told a military court in the town of Lhokseumawe, a key base for the military operation, that the women were raped on June 21 in separate incidents at a village in north Aceh.

They said one of the victims approached one of the defendants on the understanding she was to be questioned about her involvement with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels.

The soldiers, all privates, face a maximum penalty of 12 years each in jail.

A total of six government soldiers has faced court since Indonesia launched a massive offensive in the oil and gas-rich province on May 19.

Those troops, also low-ranking, were all found guilty of beating civilians and received less strict sentences than prosecutors had demanded.

The trials come after the country's human rights commission criticised the military for not doing enough to stem the number of victims from the offensive.

Military sources say around 380 people have been killed in the fighting but rebels say the toll is far higher and mostly comprises civilians.

Local authorities say almost 50,000 people have fled their homes since the offensive began.

While soldiers in Aceh have long been accused of systematic human rights abuses, leading rights groups say rebels have also been responsible for serious abuses including kidnappings and unlawful killings.

Government troops have been fighting GAM since 1976 in a conflict that has killed 10,000 people, most of them civilians.