Terror, torture, rape and arbitrary executions had...

Terror, torture, rape and arbitrary executions had increased markedly in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh, according to Sydney lawyer Hillary Ray of the International Commission of Jurists. The Indonesian military, the TNI, had targeted pro-independence villages, and Ray said she had been told that Acehnese child soldiers had been used to intimidate the populace. The separatist Free Aceh Movement is seeking an independent Islamic state, saying the central government has been milking the province's natural resources. Violence related to operations to crush the rebels in the province has left more than 250 people dead so far in 2000.