E/CN.4/2001/66 page 117 598. Villagers of Memo were reportedly attacked by a number of militia members who were led by a police escort into the village following a pro-integration rally in the nearby town of Maliana on 27 August 1999. On arrival, the militia groups are said to have begun to throw rocks at the villagers. At some point during the confrontation, police and militia members are believed to have opened fire. 599. Several students from Student Solidarity with the People (Solidaritas Mahasiswa untuk Rakyat) (SMUR), a human rights group, were reportedly attacked by officers of the Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) on 3 January 1999 during a memorial ceremony marking the anniversary of a shooting incident in the town of Lhokseumawe. The SMUR students were reportedly severely beaten, over 10 students were reportedly injured during the attack and one student is said to have required hospital treatment following the assault. 600. Local staff of the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) in Baboe Leten village were reportedly beaten, kicked and stamped on by several militia members accompanied by a member of the Indonesian National Army (Tentara Nasional Indonesia), when they were preparing to escort ballot boxes to the town of Atsabe on 30 August 1999. During the attack, members of Brimob are said to have stood by and not to have intervened. 601. By letter dated 23 October 2000, the Special Rapporteur reminded the Government of a number of cases transmitted in 1998 and 1999 regarding which no reply had been received. 602. In a joint letter with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, dated 22 November 2000, the Special Rapporteur expressed his deep concern with respect to the current situation in the province of Aceh. In particular, he noted information he had received regarding alleged acts of torture, including sexual violence, committed by the military and security forces against civilians, in particular human rights defenders, as well as peaceful pro-independence activists. On the same day, a press release was issued by the authors of the joint appeal. Urgent appeals and replies received 603. On 6 January 2000, the Special Rapporteur sent a joint urgent appeal with the Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression on behalf of Syaifuddin Gani and Nauzaruddin Ibrahim, two human rights lawyers who had reportedly been arrested on 4 January 2000 by the police in Sigli town, in Aceh, during an operation against presumed members of the separatist group GAM. 604. By letter dated 14 February 2000, the Government replied that an investigation had confirmed that Syaifuddin Gani and Nazaruddin Ibrahim had been arrested during a police operation against presumed members of GAM on 4 January 2000. After finding documents relating to GAM in their car, the police questioned the two men, who were released on the same