Indonesia: April 22, 2001

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A major problem with bringing peace back to areas torn by ethnic and religious violence is the lack of judges. When violence starts, people who can afford to flee, often do. This includes senior government officials like judges. Without judges, it is difficult to apply the law in dealing with criminal suspects. If the locals feel the law is being applied haphazardly, they feel more ill will towards the government. To deal with this, the government has found 200 judges willing to work in restive areas. Aceh, for example, will receive 64 of these judges. Some 1,100 combat troops also arrived by air in Aceh today. This prompted the Aceh rebels to declare that the rebellion would continue no matter what.