Aceh
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Women Cover Up in Aceh, Lely T. Djuhari ~ December 28
Three Dead Samaritans, By Anna Husarska ~ December 27
Cure or New Cancer? TEMPO Magazine ~ 24 December, 2000
The Making of A Martyr in Aceh, Chris McCall ~ Dec. 23
Wahid Seeks Reconciliation With Aceh, Rajiv Chandrasekaran ~ Dec. 20
Indonesian Minister Says No Aceh Truce Extension, Reuters ~ Dec. 20
President Abdurrahman Wahid: Break The Ice, GAM Is Not An Enemy, Kompas ~ Dec. 20
No End In Sight to Aceh Atrocities, South China Morning Post, Dec. 19
Murder And Rape in Aceh, BBC, Dec. 19
Aceh Referendum Centre: President's Visit No Guarantee Of Solution To Aceh Conflict, Is Mujiarso / Fitri & GB ~ Dec. 19
Psy-war Tactics in Aceh, The Indonesian Observer, Dec. 19
Indonesia's Gus Dur Offers Peace Talks With Aceh Rebels, ChannelNewsAsia, Dec. 19
An Open Letter to the Ambassadors of the Islamic Countries to Indonesia, MBGAM Eropa ~ Dec. 18
Soldiers Fire at US Chartered Plane, Lely T. Djuhari ~ Dec. 18
No Decision to Cease Humanitarian Truce in Aceh, TEMPO Interaktif, Dec. 18
Violence in Aceh Despite Tight Security Ahead of Presidential Visit, Haseenah Koyakutty ~ Dec. 18
Government Has no Intention of Negotiating in Aceh, By Asip A. Hasani ~ Dec. 18
Police Want Military Operation in Aceh, The Indonesian Observer ~ Dec. 18
Indonesians Flee Wars, Only to Find More Woes, By Calvin Sims ~ December 17
Indonesian Province on Verge of War, By Daniel Cooney ~ December 17
War Grips an Eden That Indonesia Won't Set Free, By Calvin Sims ~ November 11
Horror On Oil Islands Revealed, Antony Barnett ~ Dec. 17
Testimony of Nazaruddin, of Rehabilitation Action for Torture Victims in Aceh, Human Rights Watch ~ Dec. 14
Mahfud Repeats Threat of Military Might to Tame Aceh, Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 14
Security in Aceh Intensified Ahead of Gus Dur Visit, The Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 14
GAM Members Allegedly Kill Policeman, Injures Another, The Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 14
UN, US Slam Killing of Aceh Aid Workers, The Indonesian Observer ~ Dec. 13
13,000 Acehnese Refugees Starving in North Sumatra, The Indonesian Observer ~ Dec. 13
Rebels Fear Set-Up During Wahid Trip, By Chris McCall ~ Dec. 13
Aceh Killings: Letter to President Wahid, By Paul Barber ~ Dec. 12
Indonesia: Sole Survivor of Attack on Humanitarian Aid Workers Speaks, Human Rights Watch ~ Dec. 12
Syariah in Aceh is Gus Dur's Dirty Trick, By Hestiana Dharmastuti ~ Dec. 12
Sharia Declared in Aceh to Quell Push for Independence, By Catharine Munro ~ Dec. 12
Abdurrahman Set to Visit Aceh Despite Violence, Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 11
NGOs Issue Peace Calls for Aceh, Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 11
Govt. Prepared to Launch Military Operation in Aceh, The Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 11
Human Rights 'No Better Under Gus Dur', Marianne Kearney ~ Dec. 11
Police Top Human Rights Abusers, Reports Kontras ~ December 10
'Widows' of Aceh Fight For Freedom in a Bitter Land, By Jacqueline Koch ~ Dec. 9
Terror Set to Escalate In Aceh/West Papua: Tapol Urges Retraint and End to Impunity as State, TOPAL ~ December 9
Forum Data Shows 841 People Killed in Aceh This Year, Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 9
Wahid Imposes Jan. 1 Deadline for Aceh Rebels to Negotiate, Kyodo News ~ Dec. 8
Indonesian Aid Workers Tortured, Killed in Aceh ~ Dec. 8
Obstacles to Protection of Human Rights Remain in Indonesia, AFP ~ Dec 8
Aid Workers Executed in Aceh, By Joe Saunders ~ Dec. 8
Islamic Law to Soothe Indonesia Aceh Tension, By Tomi Soetjipto ~ Dec. 7
Disintegration Dreaded, The Economist ~ Dec 7
Indonesian Troops Execute Three Humanitarian Workers, AFP ~ Dec. 7
"Aceh: National Identity and Democracy in Indonesia", James Siegel ~ Oct. 23
Jakarta Offers Aceh Islamic Law Agencies in Banda Aceh and Jakarta, South China Post ~ December 5
15 People killed During Aceh Rebel Anniversary,AFP ~ December 5
GAM Vows to Continue Fight For Freedom, Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 5
GAM Commemoration, A Peaceful Event, Kompas ~ December 5
Blood on Mecca's Veranda, Tempo Magazine ~ Dec. 5
Strength in Diversity, South China Post ~ Dec. 4,
Aceh Peaceful Ahead of GAM Anniversary, Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 4
Security Forces Seize Thousands of Bullets in North Aceh, Jakarta Post ~ Dec 4
Aceh Quiet, Tense on Rebel Anniversary, Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 4
Referendum Without Options, By Hilde May ~ Dec. 4
Aceh Anniversary Mood Sombre as Promises Go Unfulfilled, South China Post ~ Dec. 4
Postcards GAM 24th Anniversary, Detikworld ~ Dec. 4
Under Threat, Indonesian Migrants Flee Adopted Hometowns, Kafil Yamin ~ Dec. 2
Aceh Separatist Still Insist On Their Independence, By Rayhan Anas Lubis ~ Dec. 4
Aceh Rebel Leader Vows to Press on For Independence From Indonesia AFP ~ Dec. 4
December 4 Anniversary Looms Large, By Rayhan Anas Lubis ~ Dec. 2
Govt. To Inject Rp100 Billion Into Aceh, By D. Sangga Buwana ~ Dec. 2
Source of Terror is 'From State, Not Rebels', The Jakarta Post ~ Nov. 27
Proud Acehnese Have Little Faith in Jakarta's Autonomy Offer, AFP ~ Nov. 26
Frustrated, Aceh Fighters Seek Foreign Role, By Andi Asrun ~ November 23
Police Detain Aceh Separatism Activist, Indonesian Observer ~ Nov. 22
A "Pause" That Needs A Pause, By Yusuf Daud ~ Nov. 22
Women, Children and Activists Living in Fear of Violence in Aceh, Amnesty International ~ Nov. 22
Call to Release Aceh Activist, By Adam Bassine ~ Nov. 21
Thousands Seek Refuge as Indonesian Troops Hunt Aceh Rebels, AFP ~ Nov. 19
UN To Open Representative Office In Aceh, By Rayhan Anas Lubis ~ Nov. 16
Urgent Invitation to Investigate Continuous Human Rights Violations in Aceh, By M. Nazar ~ November 16
Aceh Referendum Must be Decided by Assembly, Indonesian Observer ~ Nov. 16
Police Demand Powers to Crack Down on Rebels ~ Nov. 15
A Licence To Kill, MBGAM Eropa ~ November 14
Polling Held to Determine Aceh's future ~ November 14
No Talks Until Killings Stop, Jakarta Told, By John Aglionby ~ Nov. 13
Security Approach? Jakarta Post ~ Nov. 13
Security Forces at Fault in Aceh, Jakarta Post ~ Nov. 13
Repression of Aceh Grows, By Lesley McCulloch ~ Nov. 13
Brutal Actions Prevent Thousands From Attending Peaceful Mass-Rally at Banda Acheh, By Musanna Tengku Abdul Wahab ~ Nov. 13
2 Shot and 1 Burnt Alive in Banda Aceh, By Rayhan Anas Lubis ~ Nov. 12
Ghazali Abbas Adan (MPR-Aceh): Why don't Indonesian Muslims Act for Aceh?, By Koridor ~ Nov. 10
Five Aceh Youths Shot Dead, The Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 1
GAM Seeks To Delay Talks In Geneva, The Jakarta Post ~ Dec 1
Relief Work Goes On Amid Foul Weather, The Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 1
Aceh Flood Losses Reach Rp 891.8 Billion, Tempo Interaktif ~ Dec. 1
Legislature's Aceh Team Make 10 Recommendations To Resolve Conflict, BBC Summary of World Broadcasts ~ Nov. 30
Wahid Warns Separatists Of Counter-Action By Government, AFP ~ Nov 30
166 Fatalities During Aceh Humanitarian Pause II, Djoko Tjiptono / BI & GB ~ Nov. 29
Five Youths Found Dead in Aceh, The Jakarta Post ~ Nov. 29
Army Chief Ready to Face Questioning, The Jakarta Post ~ Nov. 28
Govt/ House Agree To Support Dialogue With Aceh, Djoko Tjiptono / GB ~ Nov. 26
Three Conditions To End Aceh Conflict, Arif Shodiq / BI ~ Nov. 27
Kontras: Wiranto, Sutarto Should Be Investigated On Aceh Rights Abuses, Hestiana Dharmastuti / Fitri & GB ~ Nov. 27
Arrested Development, Arif Zulkifli /MH ~ Nov. 27
Government Strike Up Agreement With Parliament Over Aceh Dialogue Approach Applicable, Kompas, Nov. 27
Report from International HR Delegation to Aceh, Michael A. Beer ~ Nov. 6
Acehnese Human Rights Activist in Police Custody, Robert Jereski ~ November 20
Civilians Suffer Violence at the Hands of the Indonesian Armed Forces, Robert Jereski, November 20
Aceh Violence Continues, Aceh Peace Edges Further Away, By Hermien Y. Kleden, Kamal Farza, Zainal Bakrie ~ Nov. 16
Half-a-Million Rally for Aceh Independence, AFP ~ Nov. 14
Aceh Rebels Pull Out of Peace Talks After Rising Police Violence, AFP ~ Nov. 13
Aceh Capital Calm, But Violence Elsewhere Leaves Seven Dead, AFP ~ Nov. 12
Mass Independence Rally in Aceh: Aceh Speakers Blast the Government, TEMPO Interaktif ~ Nov. 11
Thousands of Acehnese Demand Referendum on Self-Determination ~ Nov 11
Deaths Fail to Halt Independence Rally, By John Aglionby ~ Nov. 11
400,000 Acehnese Rally for Referendum, By Marianne Kearney ~ Nov. 11
Aceh's Political Elite Abandons its Own People: Youth Leader, The Jakarta Post ~ Nov. 11
Indonesia Rallies for Referendum, By Muharram M. Nur ~ Nov. 11
Gus Dur Will Summon the TNI Commander and Army Chief of Staff, By Budi Sugiharto, ~ Nov. 11
Call for EU Response to Aceh Killings, TOPAL ~ Nov. 11
Govt. Warns Organizers of Aceh Mass Rally, The Jakarta Post ~ Nov. 11
IFA Letters to United Nations on the Current Violence in Aceh, IFA ~ Nov. 11
Deteriorating Human Rights In Aceh ~ Nov. 11
Konras-Aceh: Provisional Death Toll 21, TOPAL ~ Nov. 10
Thousands Gather for Aceh Rally as Death Toll Hits 25, AFP ~ Nov. 10
Gus Dur Threatens Military, Police Over Aceh Incidents, The Jakarta Post ~ Nov. 10
Hundreds of Acehnese Rally Outside Dutch Embassy ~ Nov. 10
Brunei To Allocate Three Billion In Funds For Aceh, Yogi Arief Nugraha / Hendra & PT, Detikworld, Nov. 9
One Killed And Eight Injured As Aceh Gathering Draws Closer, Rayhan Anas Lubis / Fitri & PT ~ Nov 9
Aceh Authorities Act to Avert Weekend Mass Rally, The Jakarta Post, Nov. 9
Acehnese Protest for Referendum, The Jakarta Post ~ Nov. 8
Aceh Rally Must Not End in Tragedy, Amnesty International ~ 8 November
Massive Operation To Prevent Acehnese From Attending A Mass Rally, TAPOL ~ 8 November
Indonesian Troops killed Acehnese going to Referendum Rally, Jean Michael Hara ~ November 8
Indonesian Troops Killed Acehnese Going to Referendum Rally, Jean Michael Hara ~ November 8
Can Justice Be Served In Indonesia? Rodd McGibbon ~ November 6
Opposing Sides Burn Scores Of Houses In Indonesia's Aceh, AP ~ November 6
Thousands of Acehnese to Attend Peace Rally, The Jakarta Post ~ Nov. 7
Protest About Police Raid of Activists Meeting on November 3 ~ November 7
Police Instructions to Disrupt Freedom of Movement in Aceh, Cordova ~ November 5
Aceh Separatists Step Up Attacks Against Police, BBC ~ November 4
Aceh Gets New Governor as Violence Leaves at Least Seven Dead, AFP ~ November 5
Chronology "Brigadir Mobil" (Mobil Brigade) Raid on SIRA Secretariat, SIRA ~ November 6
Aceh Still Waiting for Free Port Status, The Indonesian Observer ~ November 1
Security Forces to Guard State Facilities in Troubled Aceh, The Jakarta Post ~ November 1
Victims Congress Committee Member Arrested by Police, koalisi-ham ~ November 1
Aceh Urgent Action, Amnesty International ~ November 1
Exxon Mobil Theft in Aceh: 16,990 Explosives Stolen by "GAM", Tempo Interaktif ~ October 31
Military Hunts GAM, Civilians Tortured, Tempo Interaktif ~ October 30
Activists Meeting Raided by Police in Banda Aceh, Kontra S Aceh ~ November 4
Govt Prepares Concept to Prevent Separatism, Riots, The Indonesian Observer, November 3
GAM Commander Dies In Lhokseumawe Clash, Rayhan Anas Lubis / Fitri & GB ~ November 3
Three Policemen, One Civilian Killed in Aceh Separatist Violence, AFP ~ November 2
Members of Congress write to Albright on /Papua and Aceh ~ October 30
Aceh Civilians: Terrorists or Scapegoats? Farid Gaban, Johan Budi ~ Oct 1
Pidie Regent Office Bombed, TEMPO Interaktif ~ Sept. 26
SIRA - Police targeting Acehnese in Jakarta, by Muhammad Nazar ~ Sept. 26
Aceh Police Prepare 11,000 Cops, By Nuruddin Lazuardi ~ Sept. 26
Aceh Situation Worsening, Human Rights Groups Warn, Amnesty International ~ Sept. 25
Aceh Truce Extension Welcomed, Civilians Want Role in Talks, AFP ~ Sept 25
Contributors Sought for Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities, Robin Rone ~ Sept. 27
Violence Erupts in Aceh Amid Truce Debate, AFP ~ September 24
Aceh Truce Extended, BBC ~ 24 September, 2000
Indonesia and Free Acheh Movement Reconfirmed Support for Humanitarian Pause, Acheh-Sumatra National Liberation Front ~ September 24
Text of US Congress Resolution on Jafar's Killing, Aceh Forum ~ Sept. 24
25 Arrested For Jakarta Bombings, By Geoff Spencer ~ Sept. 24
Two Arrested For Indonesia Bombings, AP ~ September 25
GAM Has Been Made Scapegoat by Police, Ananda Ismail, Aulia Andri / BI ~ Sept. 25
Detained Sira Activists Released, Waspada ~ September 20
Kidnapping of SIRA Activists, F O R S I M A ~ Sept. 23
Treatment of Two SIRA Activists Abducted Earlier This Week, TAPOL ~ Sept. 29
Humanitarian Pause Brought More Casualties, Says Graito, Jakarta Post ~ Sept. 22
Indonesian Troops Kill Five in Aceh Province, (AFP) ~ September 20
Indonesia May Not Extend Ceasefire Pact With Aceh Rebels, (AP) ~ Sept. 21
Indonesia, Aceh Rebels to Discuss Shaky Ceasefire, Reuters ~ Sept. 19
Total Number Of IDPs In Aceh, Saiful Amri ~ Sept. 19
Blasts Rock Capital of Indonesia's Aceh Province, AFP ~ Sept. 19
Two Killed, Nine Injured in Latest Violence in Restive Aceh, AFP ~ Sept. 17
Islamic Rector Assassinated in Aceh, AFP ~ September 16
Aceh Peace Talks Delayed, The Indonesian Observer ~ Sept. 16
Statement On Murder of Professor Safwan Idris, by TAPOL ~ Sept. 16
IFA Condemns the Killing of Teungku Safwan Idris, IFA ~ September 16
SCHRA Condemns the Murder of Professor Safwan Idris, SCHRA ~ Sept. 16
Information From Witnesses About the Murder of Professor Safwan Idris, TOPAL ~ Sept 16
Aceh Violence Costs Hundreds of Lives, The Jakarta Post ~ Sept. 16
Possible "Disappearance" / Fear of Torture or Ill-Treatment, Amnesty International ~ 14 September
Echo of a Violent Demise At UN, a Brutal Murder in Sumatra Protested, Maki Becker ~ Sept. 14
Aceh - The 'Special Territory' in North Sumatra: A Self-Fulfilling Promise? Karim D. Crow
Aceh's Case: Possible Solution to a Festering Conflict, Lukman Thaib
UN A Must In Aceh, Insist Rebels, Chris McCall ~ Sept. 14
7.000 Refugees in Pidie Short of Food, TAPOL ~ 13 September
One Dead, Three Children Wounded, CORDOVA ~ September 13
15 Killed In Indonesia's Gas, Oil-Rich Aceh Province, AP ~ Sept. 13
Aceh Peace Hangs In The Balance, Rayhan Anas Lubis / GB, Detikworld ~ Sept. 13
Security Forces Detain Four Pidie Residents, TEMPO Interaktif ~ Sept. 12
TAPOL Calls On Komnas HAM To Investigate Jafar's Murder, TOPAL ~ Sept. 12
Two Explosive Devices Rock Aceh, Police Officer Says, The Jakarta Post ~ Sept. 12
Free Aceh Movement: GAM Did Not Murder Jafar Siddiq, TEMPO Interaktif ~ Sept. 11
Indonesian Defense Minister Mahfud MD: We Can Cancel The Truce, Khairul Ikhwan / BI ~ Sept. 11
New Clashes In Indonesia's Aceh Leave At Least Six Dead, AP ~ September 11
Thousands Flee Surge In Violence, The Sydney Morning Herald ~ Sept 10
Remembering Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, Jackie Siapno ~ Sept. 9
Aceh Truce Won't Be Extended Beyond December: Indonesian Minister, AFP ~ September 9
Statement On The Murder Of Jafar Siddiq Hamzah ~ September 8
Aceh Rebels Say Onus On Indonesia At Peace Talks, Reuters ~ Sept 8
Twelve Die In Latest Aceh Violence, AP ~ Friday September 8
Acehnese Pay Homage To Slain Activist, The Jakarta Post ~September 08
US Sorrow Over Death Of New York Aceh Rights Activist, AFP ~ Sept. 7
An Open letter To UN SG Kofi Annan, Free Acheh Movement In Europe ~ September 07
TAPOL Mourns The Death Of A Great Friend, TOPAL ~ September 6
Fate Of Human Rights Activists Raises Fear For Others, AI ~ September 6
Mobil Sees Its Gas Plant Become Rallying Point for Indonesian Rebels, By Jay Solomon ~ September 7
Fear of Torture/Ill-Treatment, Amnesty International ~ 6 September
Fear of Torture/Ill-Treatment of Humanitarian Worker, Amnesty International ~ 6 September
Jafar's Death Confirmed by Family, TOPAL ~ September 6
Relatives Fail to Identify Missing US Activist Among Bodies in Indonesia, AFP ~ Sept. 5
Four GAM Members Killed in Two Separate Shoot-Outs, The Jakarta Post, Sept. 5, 2000
After The Truce, What? The Jakarta Post ~ Sept. 5
Aceh Poisoning Baffles Officials, The Jakarta Post, Sept. 5
ETAN Mourns Death of Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, September 6
On One Month Anniversary Of Rights Activist's Disappearance, Calls For Stronger Government Action, ETAN ~ September 5
5 Bodies Found in North Sumatra Cannot Yet be Identified, Aulia Andri & Khairul Ikhwan, Detikcom ~ Sept.4
Ineffective Truce With Aceh Rebels Extended, Chris McCall ~ Sept. 4
We Were Attacked First, Rayhan Anas Lubis / BI ~ Sept. 4, 2000
Enemies Under One Roof, Chris McCall ~ Sept. 3, 2000
Indonesia to Hold Talks With Aceh Rebels in Mid-September, Channelnewsasia, Sept. 3
Aceh Human Pause: 3 Month Extension, Budi Santoso/Aaron ~ Sept. 3
Gus Dur Agrees to Aceh Humanitarian Pause Extension, The Jakarta Post ~ September 3, 2000
Aceh Truce Extension a Loaded Issue For Both Sides, Vaudine England ~ September 2
Clock Ticks for Indonesia's Aceh Ceasefire, By Will Hardie ~ September 1
For Articles Before September 1, Please See: Aceh Archives
By Lely T. Djuhari, AP ~ December 28
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP)- Tired of daily jeers and insults, Natalia Dewi has done what she never thought she would - she has started wearing a headscarf.
Although Roman Catholic, the college student is among hundreds of thousands of women covering up in accordance with Islamic law in rebellious Aceh province.
Here, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, demands for stricter Islamic observance are intertwined with growing support for pro-independence guerrillas fighting secular Indonesian rule.
Thousands have died during 25 years of violence. Now the renewed bloodshed here and in other restive provinces has raised fears that religious tensions might one day be the tool to break Indonesia apart.
On Christmas Eve, at least 15 people were killed in bombings outside churches across the country. In the eastern Moluccan islands, where thousands more have died in sectarian violence, Christians accuse Muslim gangs of forcing them to convert to Islam at gunpoint.
In Aceh, the new enforced fashion for women is the most overt sign of change. Tight clothes, short skirts and see-through fabrics are out. Arms and legs must be covered.
Shopkeepers in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, say scarf sales have almost doubled.
"It's getting too much. Every day people shouted at me for not covering my head. I just couldn't take it anymore,'' said Dewi.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Islamic nation. About 90 percent of its 210 million people are Muslim, with Christians comprising a tiny minority among Aceh's 4 million people.
In most parts, Islam mixes easily with local culture and traditions. Many women go bareheaded, alcohol is sold and government leaders push a national creed that advocates religious tolerance.
But in Aceh, Islamic observance has always been stricter.
It was one of the first places in the sprawling archipelago to come into contact with Muslim traders from Arabia nearly 1,000 years ago. The Acehnese proudly call their homeland the "Porch of Mecca,'' and claim their devoutness sets them apart from the rest of Indonesia.
Many fear that if Aceh breaks away, other provinces could follow and the country of 17,000 islands could disintegrate.
Desperate to keep Indonesia intact, President Abdurrahman Wahid has bowed to Acehnese demands for the Islamic code called Sharia, even though it runs counter to the secular principles followed since independence from the Dutch half a century ago. He hopes it will blunt demands for full independence, which he flatly opposes.
The concession wasn't easy. Wahid, a Muslim scholar himself, advocates tolerance and has warned against Islamic extremism.
"Islam doesn't advocate force,'' says Zaitunah Subhan, an adviser at the Women's Affairs Ministry in Jakarta. "Narrow-minded interpretations are not allowed.''
It is unclear how much Sharia law will be imposed in Aceh. Alcohol is already banned. Religious leaders stress, however, that there are no plans to emulate Islamic states where criminals are flogged, the hands of thieves cut off and adulterers stoned to death.
Nowadays on Banda Aceh's streets, the few women who don't follow an Islamic dress code are ostracized and sometimes physically attacked.
Aceh's Muslim vigilante groups raid gambling halls and shops selling alcohol. Last year, a group rounded up women they accused of being prostitutes, shaved their heads outside a mosque and paraded them through the streets.
But it is not all coercion. Many Acehnese Muslim women comply willingly. Policewomen, nurses and government employees wear headscarves as part of their uniforms, as do female fighters in the pro-independence Free Aceh Movement.
Indonesia's highest-ranking woman, Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri, rarely covers her head. But she did so last week when she visited Aceh.
Suraia Kamaruzzaman, a feminist, says she started wearing a scarf in 1991, "but I stopped a year ago because I felt that women's dress was being politicized.''
Chik Rini, a 26-year-old photographer, has worn a headscarf since her teens.
"People look at me with more respect. I feel more at peace because I'm not as vain,'' she said. "Women are not treated as sexual objects if they wear headscarves.''
END
By Anna Husarska of the International Crisis Group, Washington Post ~ December 27, 2000
PARIS -- Every year around Dec. 10, the anniversary of the day the Declaration of Human Rights was adopted, a number of rogue regimes throughout the world do exactly the same thing: They increase preventive detentions, in order to undermine celebrations. By Dec. 11 or 12 each year those detained usually have returned home, shaken off the routine intimidation and are continuing to fight for human rights.
But what happened this Dec. 6 in the Indonesian province of Aceh was no routine intimidation. It was plain and brutal political assassination of three good Samaritans.
Three field volunteers from the organization Rehabilitation Action for Torture Victims in Aceh (RATA) and a torture victim whom they were planning to assist were detained by the special units of Indonesian police called BriMob (Mobile Brigade), tortured and shot execution-style on the road. One other volunteer was tortured, but he escaped and is now in hiding (still in Indonesia but trying to leave the country).
I have been privileged to spend a lot of time with Dr. Nurdin Abdul Rahman, the director of RATA. I met him last month when I investigated the political situation in Aceh for the International Crisis Group -- and especially the conflict between armed separatists seeking independence for this province of 2 million inhabitants and Indonesian soldiers and police.
Among the dozens of nongovemmental organizations that operate in Aceh, RATA is neither the biggest, oldest nor most involved in human rights. But the very nature of its work -- assistance to victims of torture, whether perpetrated by the rebels or the regime -- puts it in direct touch with the consequences of human rights violations. RATA has no political agenda, and it should be respected for its neutrality. Alas, it isn't.
And yet organizations like RATA are the main hope of some sort of entente between the warring factions in a 24-year-old conflict not unlike the one in Kosovo, where human rights violations were adding fuel to Albanian demands for independence. A neutral group such as RATA is a necessary bridge that keeps the communication lines open, even if merely by bringing victims of state-directed torture to state hospitals for medical treatment.
Nurdin told me that he invited representatives of the Indonesian police and army to the opening of RATA in October 1999. Their presence at the event acquires a rather peculiar connotation in the light of the bestial executions by BriMob on Dec. 6.
In the year since RATA was founded -- with aid from International Rehabilitation for Torture Victims, an international organization with headquarters in Copenhagen -- it has attended to 800 victims of torture, including 15 rape victims, six persons with amputated limbs, 60 suffering from psychological trauma and the many physically deformed: "bones, eyes, ears, etc.," as Nurdin put it.
Human rights violations on such a scale tend to increase dissent and turn people from passive citizens into human rights activists. Nurdin himself was an English teacher from 1981 to 1990 -- that is, from the time after his first political sentence of four years imprisonment and before he was sentenced to 13 more years for speaking up against injustice ("sympathizer of security-disturbance group," read the charge). He served "only" eight because an amnesty was declared after the fall of the Suharto regime. "Oh, it just seemed appropriate that someone from among those who know takes this position," he said, meaning that as a torture victim himself he had some useful firsthand experience.
When I was going to see the Acehnese armed separatists in the hills of North Aceh, Nurdin proposed that my car join the convoy of two RATA cars taking field volunteers to attend some torture victims. I declined because I thought that traveling with a foreigner might not be wise for them.
After I returned safely to Banda Aceh, the province capital, we joked that the umbrella from RATA's logo would have at least protected me from the torrential rains that started then. Little did we know how vulnerable his own staff was.
The writer is a senior political analyst with the International Crisis Group.
© 2000 The Washington Post Company
END
The Making of A Martyr in Aceh
by Chris McCall, South China Morning Post ~ Dec. 23
Wednesday marked a month since the leader of Aceh's civilian independence movement was arrested. When he will be able to leave jail is anyone's guess. Muhammad Nazar, head of the Information Centre for Aceh Referendum, or Sira, was detained on November 20 after several weeks of cat and mouse among the police, Mr Nazar and his lawyers. He is accused of subversion over a banner calling for Indonesian troops to leave the province, which was put up on August 16, a day before Indonesia's 55th independence day. Police want to widen the accusation to include mass pro-independence demonstrations last month, according to his lawyer.
He has been held under the so-called Haatzai laws, repressive laws for crimes against the state that date from colonial times. These crimes are usually grouped together as "subversion". Ironically, they were once used by the Dutch against a pro-independence activist of the 1930s. Indonesia's founding father and first president, Sukarno, was detained under them for making speeches calling for independence. More recently, former president Suharto used these laws against activists who opposed his vice-like reign, which lasted for more than three decades.
When Mr Suharto finally fell in May 1998, his jails were full of political prisoners. Wave by wave, they were gradually freed over the next 18 months, first by Mr Suharto's protege and immediate successor, Bacharuddin Habibie. They included real and suspected communist sympathisers, East Timorese and other independence activists. Many had been falsely accused. The final lot were released by President Abdurrahman Wahid after he was elected in October last year as Indonesia's first "democratic" president. But Mr Wahid seems to be increasingly irrelevant. Before Mr Wahid visited Aceh on Tuesday, Mr Nazar and his lawyer put in a request for the president to see the referendum campaigner in his cell. It was rejected, but not by the president. "We asked him to meet with Muhammad Nazar, but we were refused. It was the security forces who rejected it, not Gus Dur," said lawyer Abdurrahman Jacob, referring to Mr Wahid by his nickname. "Mr Nazar is a political prisoner. He has been detained to kill a movement that was formed by a civilian group."
For more than two years after Mr Suharto fell, no one was detained under the Haatzai laws. They seemed a relic of the past, unneeded in the new democratic Indonesia, and probably destined for repeal. But perhaps they have a vibrant future ahead of them after all. Since Mr Nazar's arrest, several leading separatists have also been arrested in Irian Jaya, and the threat of impending arrest hangs over several of Mr Nazar's colleagues in Sira.
Mr Nazar is not a guerilla. He is not part of the armed Free Aceh Movement (Gam) that has been fighting Jakarta's army for a quarter of a century. He is a civilian. Aged 27, he only graduated from university in History and Arabic Literature three years ago. But he was closely involved with the founding of Sira last year and is now its leader. He has not advocated violence. On the contrary, he has been outspoken in demanding that both Indonesia's security forces and Gam lay down their weapons.
He and many other members of Sira have received numerous death threats for their activities.
Unfortunately for Mr Nazar, he might represent a bigger threat to Jakarta than the rebels. On November 8 last year, Sira brought hundreds of thousands of Acehnese on to the streets of the provincial capital Banda Aceh to demand an East Timor-style referendum. When Mr Wahid clumsily suggested he might allow one, Sira erected a giant banner quoting his words.
In November, Sira tried to repeat last year's mass rally, only to be stymied by a wave of intimidation by the police and military. It issued a seven-point memorandum with a strongly pro-independence line, including the withdrawal of all Indonesian forces and the active involvement of the United Nations. It did not advocate violence. Since Mr Nazar was arrested, police have been working overtime to add allegations relating to these events to those of which he is already accused.
Mr Nazar's lawyer fully expects him to face trial. It will be quite an event and risky for Jakarta. Thousands of horrific human-rights abuses in Aceh committed by its police and military remain unpunished, despite repeated promises. The villages of Aceh are littered with victims, and many families are very bitter. Now, instead of washing its own dirty linen as it has repeatedly promised to do, it is turning on a young man who has not used or advocated violence, and who has mass support.
It is almost guaranteed to provoke a wave of mass demonstrations, if not worse. If Mr Nazar is sent to jail, he will become a martyr for the cause of Acehnese independence. It will only stoke the flames of a separatist movement that shows few signs of dying.
Chris McCall is a Jakarta-based journalist.
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Government Has no Intention of Negotiating in Aceh
By Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 18
The signs are that the government has no plans to come to the table to seek a peaceful settlement on Aceh, sociologist Otto Syamsudin who is also the director of Cordova, a non-governmental organization focusing on human rights, told The Jakarta Post last week in a long-distance interview from Banda Aceh:
Question: The government has sent different signals, with security ministers and generals saying "there is a limit to dialog" and the President saying that more emphasis will be placed on negotiations with the Acehnese. How do you see this?
Answer: The reality is that it's impossible (that the government would not use force). Until today violations of human rights against civilians here continue. The government does not seem to pay any attention to this continuous violation. All it's done is make the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) a scapegoat; although it is true that GAM could also be involved in such violations. But I think the possibility for GAM's involvement is far less than that of the soldiers because the Acehnese can be said to be a part of GAM. GAM's philosophy is that the people and GAM are like fish and water. But to soldiers, mainly during the 10-year military operation (which ended in 1998), the people should be attacked if they are to overcome GAM because the people are like GAM's social fortress. They tried to destroy the "fortress" through violence, terror, kidnapping, and public executions.
Is there a difference in the type of violence today?
Today we see a new type of violence in the style of mysterious murders (petrus), such as those committed during the Soeharto years which were then applied on suspected criminals. Suddenly now in Aceh we have bodies placed deliberately in public areas. It is these actions that make it difficult for us to believe the government when it says the violation of rights here can be stopped. Our experience shows how hard it is to ask for the cooperation of the police and the military assigned here. In the case of arrests, they aren't open to dialog at all when we try to have the arrestees released. In the case of the August arrest of three activists of (British aid organization) Oxfam working in Jambo Dalim in South Aceh, the activists had permits and were known to the authorities. Yet they were arrested and tortured. When they were released, one of them had some 25 stitches on him.
Early this month, three volunteers of the Rehabilitation Action for Torture Victims (RATA) in Aceh were publicly executed. RATA is a NGO with funds from the government of Denmark working to rehabilitate victims of kidnapping. They were arrested, tortured and killed. Until now we have not been able to bring home their bodies. Mohammad Nazar, head of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA), has not been released either (since his arrest on Nov.22). He has been treated as a criminal detainee instead of a political detainee although the charges against him are political (creating disorder during a rally on Independence Day of Aug. 17). However he has not been tortured.
So the humanitarian pause has not reduced the intensity of the violence?
That's right. Instead since June we've been seeing more petrus cases, in which the victims are mostly civilians. The joint committee for security modality representing GAM and the government, cannot negotiate on the field; they cannot even stop the violence conducted by field commanders. They rarely appear on the field. This shows the absence of a solid command within the Indonesian government. So we find it hard to believe that the violence will stop although President Abdurrahman Wahid has stressed the need to end the violent approach. The government has said it would impose a civilian emergency rule in Aceh, and then if necessary, impose a military emergency rule if the humanitarian pause ends without results.
Your comments?
First, we should return to the essence of the humanitarian pause which is to enable the provision of humanitarian aid to the Acehnese, not to end armed conflict. So I think Susilo (Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) has misunderstood the pause. To end violence in Aceh, what must be done is to draw up a political deal with GAM, instead of burdening the end to violence on the humanitarian pause.
The government should face the Aceh case through two channels; First, a humanitarian channel, to rehabilitate humanitarian problems. Second, a political channel, through which GAM and the Republic of Indonesia could seek an agreement to end armed conflict. If the government wants to impose martial law, it shows that it has no intention of negotiating because it has already started on a framework of the republic's unitary state. Maybe the government does not care about the humanitarian situation here. Susilo has often mentioned law enforcement in Aceh but until now there has not been any trial on those who have committed violence here. Law enforcement has only been used to make GAM the scapegoat; hence the government is using the ways of the New Order which used the law as a weapon against its political enemies. The government has never really acknowledged violations of human rights here, it has only said that there have been murders by "irresponsible" personnel.
Which party has mostly violated the humanitarian pause?
Maybe both parties are guilty of violating the humanitarian pause. But what is more important is that if both the government and GAM respect human rights in Aceh, both parties must be open to a transparent and comprehensive examination of rights violations. Such an "audit" can be done by foreign NGOs like Amnesty International or the United Nations. We have a model in the case of East Timor, in which the UN was involved but where it was the National Commission on Human Rights which set up the independent commission investigating rights violations in East Timor. So far GAM's response toward the proposed examination has been more "gentlemanly."
How large is the possibility for Aceh, and also Irian Jaya, to become an international issue?
The possibility is small in the political dimension but sympathy toward rights violations in Aceh in the international fora has been larger than in Irian Jaya simply because of the more known victims in Aceh. Recently special rapporteurs from the UN's human rights commission urged the examination of rights violations in Aceh.
Do you see any prospect of a peaceful settlement for Aceh?
There must be a comprehensive settlement comprising humanitarian and political aspects. So it depends on the government on whether it has such a comprehensive package. I see the government does not have a clear concept on Aceh. They are only asserting that the unity of the republic must be preserved but they don't know how. Maybe all they know is the military approach -- but actually in each violent incident it is the republic which stands to lose in the eyes of the Acehnese. And the reality is that GAM has managed to win the hearts of most Acehnese because of the government's approach in which many people have become victims. Maybe it's true that many don't agree with GAM's demands but it's also true that almost all Acehnese hate the government for its violations of human rights.
What are your comments on the plan to apply Islamic law in Aceh to fulfill the Acehnese people's demands?
That has not helped much to win over the Acehnese, not to say that it was futile. Acehnese are devout Muslims, what was the purpose of having them read the syahadat statements (acknowledging Allah and the Prophet Muhammad)? That was only the demand of a fraction of the elite, mainly in the local council. The main demand of the Acehnese is a referendum (to determine if they want to secede from Indonesia).
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Police Want Military Operation in Aceh
The Indonesian Observer ~ Dec. 18
The National Police yesterday backed calls for a military operation to put a stop to separatism in the rebellious province of Aceh. Satunet.com quoted National Police spokesman Brigadier General Saleh Saaf as saying the military should take charge of security in Aceh because police have found it difficult to deal with the province's rebel movement. His statement comes after Army Chief General Endriartono Sutarto on Friday claimed that only an immediate military operation would halt the bloodshed in Aceh. Sutarto told reporters in the Central Java capital of Semarang that it's time to let the military take control in Aceh because the police have failed to do so.
Saaf agreed that a military solution is the best way to resolve the conflict. "To be honest, the most appropriate way to handle the Aceh problem is with a combat operation, not by continuing to uphold the law," he said. "And such an operation can only be carried out by Indonesian Defense Forces [TNI] personnel because they have the ability to do it. Police personnel are only trained to uphold law and order," he said. Saaf said that long before Sutarto's statement, police had been asking the government to provide them with military back-up, but the request was not followed-up. "While waiting for the request to be endorsed, police underwent a training and guidance from the military to enhance our combat skills," he said. Sutarto had said the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has developed guerrilla warfare tactics that police are unable to cope with. "All we need is the political decision for [military] deployment," he said.
Saaf confirmed that police aren't equipped to deal with the guerrilla warfare in Aceh. "Even though we have a special unit in the Mobile Brigade police trained to deal with guerrilla attacks, unfortunately it's not suitable for the current situation we are facing. Their ability is limited to dealing with circumstances related to upholding law and order.
Rights body complains
The Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) has condemned Army Chief Sutarto's claim that a military operation is the only way to stop the bloodbath in Aceh. In a press release issued yesterday, PBHI Director Hendardi said the Army chief's statement was a "dangerous" attempt to maintain the military's role in the national political arena. Hendardi said the statement indicates that TNI is yet to change it's bottom line. "It harks back to the military's political role of the past. They emphasize their desire to maintain national integration, in order to disguise their desire to intervene in politics," he said. The PBHI pointed out that TNI is trying to preserve the image that it plays a vital role in maintaining national unity.
Hendardi said TNI appears to be suggesting the nation will disintegrate if the military is not given a major role in efforts to prevent conflict-areas from seceding. "The effort to offer a military solution to resolve problems in conflict-areas, or to show the military as the only savior capable of bringing about national stability and unity, has already proved that it only causes more unrest and increases the desire for secession." Hendardi said the government can peacefully resolve the situation in Aceh if it gives the people the basic right they are seeking: freedom. He called on the government to strictly control police and military personnel in Aceh. More importantly, he added, the government must win the people's trust by putting on trial troops that have violated the human rights of civilians in Aceh. "And the only possible way to achieve a peaceful solution is by holding a dialog with civilian leaders in the troubled region."
Violence has been on the rise in Aceh over recent days, ahead of President Abdurrahman Wahid's arrival in the province tomorrow. The unrest between separatists and Indonesian security forces has claimed dozens of casualties from both sides and civilian lives, despite the implementation of a ceasefire agreement in June. Many separatists say the military is orchestrating much of the violence in an effort to justify its harsh treatment of the rebels. Wahid has warned police to behave and "stop the shooting spree" in Aceh. Former president Soeharto's repressive regime classified Aceh as a special military operation region in 1989 in a bid to crush the separatists. By the time the status was lifted by ex-president B.J. Habibie in 1998, thousands of civilians had been killed by the military, apparently because the majority of locals sympathize with the separatist movement. The government has vowed to put the military perpetrators of the crimes on trial, but observers say those who ordered the violence are likely to remain free.
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Indonesians Flee Wars, Only to Find More Woes
By Calvin Sims, The New York Times ~ December 17
When Muhammad Azzar, a 32-year-old farmer from Aceh, one of the many Indonesian regions battling for independence, heard that government troops had killed and then castrated a local Islamic cleric, he fled with his family to a refugee camp in this remote jungle village. Such flights were made by more than a million people this year as fighting has increased in several regions seeking to break away from Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, and many - like Mr. Azzar - have come to regret the step. The killing of the cleric, who the military said was an adviser to Aceh rebels, set off panic in the region in November. Almost overnight, thousands of people flooded this hot, dusty camp about 50 miles southeast of Banda Aceh, the provincial capital.
As Mr. Azzar watched cockroaches crawl over his wife and three children asleep on the dirt floor of a tent they share with three other families, he lamented the lack of food and medicine to treat the diarrhea, measles, eye infections, flu and other ailments that spread quickly here. "There is nothing but misery and sorrow in this place," Mr. Azzar said. "All we want is to go home, but everyone believes that we will be killed if we do." At home in Glecut village, a few miles away, Mr. Azzar has livestock and crops. Separatist violence, religious strife and natural disasters have swelled the tide of refugees this year, spawning bleak, overcrowded camps across Indonesia, particularly in Aceh, Maluku, East Timor and West Kalimantan, where the government appears incapable of maintaining order.
Human rights groups estimate that at least 3,000 of Indonesia's 212 million people have died in the regional violence this year. Trapped in virtual war zones and areas devastated by floods and earthquakes, Indonesians have taken refuge in mosques, schools, public buildings and makeshift shelters. There is little sanitation in many of the camps, and food and water are in short supply. The Indonesian government and international aid groups have proved ill equipped to handle the abrupt rise in those forced to flee their homes. In some areas, like Aceh and the West Timor border, violence is so uncontrolled that most aid organizations have ceased operations for fear of attack.
Ferry Johannes, director of the National Board of Social Welfare, said the government had been overwhelmed. At a recent parliamentary hearing, he said each refugee was entitled to a a daily allotment of about 14 ounces of rice and a meal allowance of 1,500 rupiah, or about 15 cents. "So imagine how much money we have to spend to help these people survive," Mr. Ferry said. "Most have lost hope and have no future."
Iyang Iskandar, secretary general of the Jakarta Red Cross, said most refugees in Indonesia's troubled regions do receive at least one basic meal a day. But he is worried that the number of refugees will increase, particularly in Aceh. In the past year, the violence created as many as 180,000 refugees in Aceh (pronounced ah- CHAY), and more than 5,000 people, many of them civilians, have been killed since rebels took up arms in 1976. Aceh and the rest of Sumatra island have also suffered enormous landslides and severe flooding after some of the worst rains in decades. At least 100 people have been killed. "Every day, one or two people are killed in Aceh, and any of those incidents can send thousands of frightened villagers running to the camps," Mr. Iyang said. "It's impossible to prepare for the sudden influx."
After word spread that Tengku Syafei Amin, a respected Islamic teacher, had been killed by the military, entire villages fled to camps. The Indonesian military is known to raid jungle towns and villages, plundering and burning homes, to discourage residents from aiding rebels. Civilians are often caught in the crossfire of gun battles. "We are here because we are very, very afraid of the police," said Seddah, who fled to the Desa Raya camp with her husband and two children. "If they so easily kill our religious teachers, then they won't hesitate to kill me or my family." The slain man's wife, Nurheni, now lives here with their six children. She said soldiers came to their house early one morning, stripped her husband naked and beat him in the front yard before driving off with him. The next day, villagers found his badly tortured, mutilated body in a cave. Mrs. Nurheni insisted that her husband had no association with the rebels.
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Indonesian Province on Verge of War
By Daniel Cooney, Associated Press ~ December 17
Peace talks have broken down. Civilians and aid workers have been targeted by death squads. Hundreds have died despite a cease-fire. Six months after government and rebel negotiators reached a cease-fire for Aceh province in western Indonesia, hopes that it might lead to a lasting peace are fading fast. ``We are on the verge of all-out war,'' said military analyst Salim Said. ``It will be like nothing we have seen before.'' Indonesia's Defense Minister Mohammad Mahfud has threatened to use force to crush the Free Aceh Movement if the deadlocked cease-fire is not extended before it expires Jan. 15. Aceh's military commander, Col. Syarifuddin Tippe, said the cease-fire should not be extended since it ``only benefits the rebels as they are consolidating their power.'' He said his troops were ready to launch a major offensive to crush the independence movement. This week, 2,000 extra troops were deployed to the region. The insurgents say an extension is doubtful and have vowed to fight ``until the last man.''
More than 400 people have been killed since the truce went into effect June 2 - more than in all of 1999. The conflict has left at least 6,000 people dead in the past decade.With his efforts to negotiate a settlement in tatters, Indonesia's reformist President Abdurrahman Wahid is under increasing pressure to use massive force to crush the guerrillas. Insiders at the presidential palace say Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of Indonesia's founding President Sukarno, is leading a push by several ministers and military hard-liners for tougher action.
When he took office 14 months ago, Wahid called for negotiations to end the conflict. But he appears to have caved into the demands of hawks within his government, urging security forces to crack down on rebels in Aceh and Irian Jaya, a restive province in eastern Indonesia, ahead of pro-independence rallies in both regions. About 50 people were recently killed in Aceh in a week of bloodshed and 18 in Irian Jaya before Wahid called for peace. On Tuesday, Wahid is scheduled to visit Aceh. He is expected to offer the staunchly Muslim region greater autonomy, including the right to impose Sharia, or Islamic law, and a greater share of revenues from oil and natural gas in the region. But his trip may have little effect.
Aceh's provincial governor has demanded 80 percent of oil revenues, a much higher figure than Jakarta can afford. And rebel leaders say they have no faith in Wahid's promises. ``There is no other option other than independence,'' said Zaini Abdullah, the chief rebel negotiator. ``Ninety-nine percent of the people in Aceh are ready to give their money and lives for our cause.'' He claimed the guerrilla army was 5,000 strong, well-armed and financed and highly disciplined. Said, the military analyst, warned that an open conflict would lead to a ``bogged-down war with so many casualties like in Chechnya,'' where Russian forces have been battling independence fighters for the past 16 months with an incredibly high death toll.
The rebels pulled out of peace talks this month, accusing Indonesia's security forces of killing civilians. They said they would not return to negotiations until the violence stopped. New York-based Human Rights Watch said there has been a significant increase recently in human rights abuses in the area. An Acehnese human rights worker, smuggled out of the region by the group, said he escaped from an Indonesian death squad after three of his co-workers were beaten and shot in the head. Indonesia's security forces denied responsibility for the killings.
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War Grips an Eden That Indonesia Won't Set Free
By Calvin Sims, New York Times ~ November 11
It was almost dawn, and the men of this remote jungle village were sitting down to coffee after morning prayers when heavily armed troops descended on the local cafe searching for pro-independence guerrillas. The troops herded the men into a truck and sped away. A few days later the mutilated bodies of 10 of the men were found strewn along ravines and riverbanks, according to villagers interviewed in a rare journey to this secessionist province of Aceh, on the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. They were the latest casualties in a long-running conflict in this lush jungle region. Many Indonesians fear that their deaths are a harbinger of the risks of fragmentation in other parts of the country. Aceh, a province of shimmering beaches, dense forests and abundant resources 1,100 miles northwest of Jakarta, is a virtual war zone.
More than 5,000 people have been killed here since the fighting began in 1976. Scores of people are missing, hundreds of homes and businesses have been destroyed and tens of thousands of fearful Acehnese have fled their villages for refugee camps. "Aceh is a powder keg and the fuse has already been lit," said Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin, a political science professor at the University of Indonesia. "If it blows, the impact will be felt not only across Indonesia but the whole region as well." While international attention has been focused lately on East Timor, which voted to secede from Indonesia last year, the deteriorating situation in Aceh has gone largely unnoticed, partly because it is difficult and dangerous to visit. But Aceh, an overwhelmingly Muslim province with rich oil and gas reserves, is far more important to Indonesia's future and that of Southeast Asia than East Timor ever was.
Government officials are worried that if Aceh succeeds in gaining independence, the restive provinces of Irian Jaya, Riau and East Kalimantan could follow. There are also concerns that the Aceh conflict could create a refugee problem and ultimately destabilize shipping lanes like the Strait of Malacca, through which Japan receives most of its oil. The instability feeds on itself. Thousands of mourners from across Aceh have converged on Cot Baroh to pray at the simple dirt graves of the victims, who villagers said were murdered by Indonesian security forces in revenge against the rebels.
Often sobbing uncontrollably, relatives and friends of the dead, who ranged in age from 14 to 60, invited well-wishers to view photographs of the bodies. Many of them had bullet holes through the forehead. Some of the eyes were gouged, while many hands and feet had burns and cuts typical of torture. One skull was smashed, and the body of a teenager was scorched and dismembered. "These were good men, innocent men who were killed in cold blood," said Abdurrahman, a farmer who came from a neighboring town to pay his respects. "Unless Aceh gains its independence from Indonesia, the police can kill any of us at any time," he said.
Grisly, indiscriminate attacks like those in Cot Baroh have become an everyday occurrence in Aceh, despite an internationally brokered cease-fire between the guerrilla movement and the Indonesian government. The conflict has only escalated in recent weeks. The truce was signed in May and extended in September, but since the signing at least 300 people have been killed. Most of the dead were civilians caught in the brutal cross-fire of security forces and guerrillas.Both sides admit to violating the truce, which was reached to allow aid distribution. But the rebels, who are opposed to what they see as the central government's economic exploitation, have stepped up their offensive in recent days.
The guerrillas are known for ambushing security patrols, firebombing military installations and killing police officers and civilians suspected of cooperating with the police. Seeking to crush the rebellion, security forces have increased attacks on villages, where the police and military commit random killings, kidnappings, torture, arson and looting to flush out guerrillas, villagers say. [Officials are bracing for a possible intensification in violence Saturday and Sunday as tens of thousands of people start descending on the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, for a two day independence rally. [Organizers are calling for a United Nations-supervised referendum that would grant independence to the 4.1 million Acehnese. Since Nov. 8, at least 20 people have been killed in clashes with police officers seeking to block demonstrators from reaching Banda Aceh. Next week, Indonesia plans peace talks with rebel leaders in Geneva.]
Ridhwan Karim, the government's chief negotiator, said in an interview that while independence was not workable, the government planned to offer Aceh increased autonomy that would give it a bigger share of the profits from its huge oil and gas supplies, as well as greater political and administrative control. Aceh has long complained that the central government takes the great majority of oil and gas profits, sending back only five cents of each dollar to the province. "If they don't accept wide-ranging autonomy, which is the best we can offer, then we will have to handle things in our way," Mr. Karim said. Asked to clarify his statement, he replied, "There will be repressive measures taken against them."
For the Free Aceh Movement, known in Indonesia by the acronym GAM, nothing short of independence is acceptable, and its sentiment is echoed across the province. Tengku Kamaruzzaman, a GAM representative in the truce negotiations, said that while the separatists were willing to negotiate, no one was optimistic about a resolution anytime soon. "We've fought far too long, and too many people have died to accept promises of autonomy that will never be fulfilled," Mr. Tengku said. The rebel movement was founded by Hasan di Tiro, who now lives in exile in Sweden. It has gained public sympathy in recent years as a result of the military's brutality. The guerrillas have also become more aggressive in their assaults on the military, a tactic intended to strengthen their position at the bargaining table.
In a recent rebel attack, guerrillas armed with grenade launchers and automatic rifles attacked a truck carrying soldiers, the police said. Two soldiers were killed. GAM says that it is never the aggressor in such clashes and that it possesses weapons only for defense. In the remote villages of Aceh, which are pro-independence strongholds, residents serve as lookouts and provide logistical support for the movement. That explains why security forces come to villages only in large numbers and in the early morning. Then, as in Cot Baroh, they try to round up rebels. Nurdin, a farmer from Cot Baroh, said his two sons, Azhar and Ayud, had been tortured and killed in the recent military campaign. He added that they had "died a good death," not simply to achieve autonomy, but for the larger goal of independence.
END
TEMPO Magazine ~ 24 December, 2000
If a woman wants to visit Aceh in the near future, she had better be prepared to pack a headscarf or two. From December 19, whether or not she is a Muslim and whether or not she is Acehnese, she will be obliged to cover her head in public. For most Acehnese women it will not make much difference. There is already an unwritten rule that women must respect the rules of Islam in the so-called Verandah of Mecca. Few local girls would think of taking a public bus without covering their heads. But now the government has decided to write it all officially into law-special laws which will only be valid in Aceh. Next week President Abdurrahman Wahid travels to Aceh to see it in person.
The headscarf is not the only issue. Another issue is that of hard drink. Production, distribution and consumption of beer, vodka and other alcoholic drinks will be banned. Acehnese who break these laws will face legal sanctions. They could be jailed for up to three months or face fines of Rp2 million. In practice, however, alcohol is already virtually impossible to buy in Aceh.
This is the first time Jakarta has formally ordered sharia law in Aceh. Although this Islamic moral code already in effect exists, the hope is apparently that enshrining it into law might reduce some of the tension in the war-torn region. Wahid's trip was announced suddenly after a spate of violence earlier this month, which itself followed the 24th 'birthday' of the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
GAM insists Aceh must separate from the rest of Indonesia. The youth-led Information Center for Aceh Referendum (SIRA) has recently been making similarly strident demands, although its original remit was merely to seek self-determination. After years of human rights violations, Jakarta has few options to coax Aceh back into Indonesia's 'great family'. Sharia law is viewed as one. A presidential advisory team on the Aceh problem, headed by former ambassador Usman Hasan, suggested implementing sharia law while former president B.J. Habibie was still in office. This is no new idea.
Legally, sharia law will be supported by five regional regulations approved back in June and July. These five regulations ban alcoholic drinks, set up the framework for the law, Islamic education and organization of adat or cultural life. "We also used law No. 44 of 1999 about Aceh's special status as support," said Governor Abdullah Puteh. That law gives the Acehnese people freedom to organize their own affairs for themselves in the fields of culture, education and religion.
The legal basis is quite clear, but what is set out in the regional regulations is not that detailed. Dress and drink are two of the clearest issues. The rest is less so. One of the clauses, for example, only states that the regional government and the community need to prevent anything that causes breaches of morals and moral decadency. What exactly constitutes moral decadency? Unclear.
And who will police the sharia law? The regulations only state that investigation of breaches will be carried out by regional civil servants. Police will also help with this task. Exactly which civil servants and police, to date, remains a puzzle. The police are not exactly the most popular of people in Aceh. "Can Aceh's Islamic sharia law be enforced by officials of the regional government while it is not clear whether their own behavior is in line with sharia or not?" said Teungku Muhammad Nasir Djamil, a member of the provincial legislature from the Reform Alliance faction.
The regional government realizes this weakness. Implementation of sharia law has been awaiting a decision from the governor for some time. In October, the governor formed a team to get feedback on the subject. But to date nothing clear has come out of it.
Given this vagueness, many people think the law will cause more problems in Aceh than it solves. Without correct policing, the fear is that Acehnese citizens will take the law into their own hands. Last year some women in the province had their heads shaven and were paraded around by mobs just because they did not wear a headscarf. Before that a man was whipped because he was accused of committing adultery. Those memories are still fresh.
Students and activists have deeper and darker suspicions. They believe this is only a grand scheme by Jakarta to divert the current conflict away from itself. Instead of war between state and public, the powers that be want war between public and public, or so the argument goes. "Conflict will occur between the Acehnese people and the Islamic scholars," said Tarmizi of the organization Human Rights.
Not so, says Hasan, the Acehnese who chaired Habibie's advisory team. According to the former Indonesian ambassador to Mexico, bringing in sharia law could be the beginning of a solution to the Aceh problem. Through Islamic law, the role of the Aceh religious scholars or ulamas can be revived, after decades during which they were sidelined. The ulamas can become new guides for the people, and usurp GAM's place in their hearts. "Islamic sharia law can sort out GAM from the public," he said.
It is a neat argument. Who knows, it may even have some truth to it. But it could come flying back in everyone's face. If things go wrong it might not be peace that Aceh gets, but a new and bigger bloodbath.
Arif Zulkifli and J. Kamal Farza (Banda Aceh)/CM
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Wahid Seeks Reconciliation With Aceh
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, The INternational Herald Tribune, Dec. 20
SINGAPORE In a desperate attempt to quell a separatist crisis that has claimed thousands of lives, the Indonesian president, Abdurrahman Wahid, traveled Tuesday to the restive northern province of Aceh to apologize for failing to stop military abuses in the territory that have effectively scuttled peace talks.
Wearing a bullet-proof vest and guarded by thousands of troops as he spoke at the main mosque in the provincial capital, Mr. Wahid ordered Indonesian troops to stop targeting civilians and to treat "the Acehnese people not as enemies but as friends."
"I blame myself for this, because I allowed it to happen," Mr. Wahid said of the separatist conflict that, according to human rights groups, had killed more than 850 people, many of them civilians attacked by soldiers, this year. The president urged military commanders, with whom he has repeatedly clashed, not to be "an enemy of the people."
Top generals have taken a hard-line approach to dealing with the secessionist crisis, contending that a cease-fire agreement signed last summer between the government and the main separatist group, the Free Aceh Movement, has been a failure. Military leaders, who argue that the rebels have been using the cease-fire to regroup, are pushing for an even stiffer crackdown when the agreement expires next month.
Mr. Wahid, however, said he was still holding out hope for a peaceful resolution to the long-running conflict. He urged the rebels to participate in a new round of talks.
The rebels have been fighting for the last quarter-century to transform their resource-rich province on the northern tip of Sumatra into an independent nation. The conflict has spiraled into a guerrilla war that has claimed more than 5,000 lives in the past decade and has helped to spawn independence movements in other parts of the Indonesian archipelago.
Mr. Wahid has said that he would not grant independence to Aceh, but he has promised to provide a wide-ranging autonomy package that would give the province a greater share of the oil-and gas revenue it generates. The president also said that the province would be able to implement elements of Islamic law, known as Sharia.
But, in a blow to his reconciliation efforts, rebel leaders refused to meet with Mr. Wahid during his four-hour visit to Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, about 1,750 kilometers (1,100 miles) northwest of Jakarta. A rebel spokesman said such a meeting should take place somewhere outside Indonesia - and with a mediator.
"We feel that just meeting up with him will not solve anything," said a rebel spokesman, Amni Achmad Marzuki. "Anything he has to say would not be anything the Acehnese want."
The spokesman said rebel leaders doubted Mr. Wahid's ability to rein in the military. "It is just sweet rhetoric," he said. "We have heard him say this many times. Where is the implementation of those words? His military makes no effort to obey his orders. If they did, things would not be as bad as they are now."
Military analysts also have questioned Mr. Wahid's control of the armed forces. Although the president, who is widely regarded as a moderate and pluralist, has urged the military to take a more conciliatory approach in dealing with the country's myriad separatist and sectarian conflicts, field commanders have largely disregarded those orders.
Mr. Wahid's speech, laden with contrition and sprinkled with humor, was broadcast live by Indonesian television stations. "This is truly bitter, especially for me. If I was not a Muslim, I would have committed suicide because of the bitterness," he said, drawing chuckles.
About 2,500 additional troops were brought to the province to protect Mr. Wahid after officials received assassination threats. Several small bomb blasts shook Banda Aceh before his arrival, and police said a small bomb had been planted on a road that was to be used by the president's motorcade.
END
Indonesian Minister Says No Aceh Truce Extension
Reuters ~ December 20
JAKARTA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesia's defense minister appeared Wednesday to rule out extending a cease-fire with rebels in Aceh, a day after conciliatory gestures by President Abdurrahman Wahid during a visit to the province.
The cease-fire, which has done little to curb clashes and killings in the province on the northern tip of Sumatra island, has been in effect since June and expires on January 15.
Indonesia has threatened a crackdown if a new round of peace talks, delayed since November, failed to take place by then, although it has not been entirely clear if the resumption of the discussions in Geneva would lead to an extension of the truce.
Defense Minister Mahfud M.D. signaled that the cease-fire, called a humanitarian pause in Indonesia, would not be extended even if peace talks with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) resumed.
"The government will not extend the humanitarian pause with GAM. However, we will continue dialogue with the Aceh people through other methods,'' Mahfud told reporters, without saying if a resumption of talks before January 15 could impact the truce.
Asked whether GAM would join the dialogue, Mahfud said: "It depends on them.'' Both sides have blamed each other for the frequent violations of the cease-fire.
During a visit to the bloodied province Tuesday, Wahid urged separatists who have been fighting for independence for decades to join in developing Indonesia, and blamed security forces for creating enemies among the Acehnese.
The deaths of thousands of mainly civilians in military operations during the 1990s under the harsh rule of former President Suharto (news - web sites) have combined with economic exploitation of the resource-rich province to leave much bitterness.
Wahid's key plank for soothing tension revolves around more autonomy for the province's four million people, expected to be implemented next May. He has ruled out independence, and before Tuesday, had been taking an increasingly hard line on separatism.
Mahfud added the government wanted to resolve the Aceh dilemma peacefully, but use military power if necessary.
"Peaceful efforts are the main priority. The military action will be done if there is no other choice. GAM is only one small part of the Aceh people,'' Mahfud said.
Most analysts have scoffed at suggestions that the military, after having failed to stamp out the rebels when given free reign to carry out operations during Suharto's iron rule, would be more successful under the current leadership.
The rebels, operating in tropical jungles or in the open among villages sympathetic to their cause, are well armed and believed to number in the thousands.
END
President Abdurrahman Wahid: Break The Ice, GAM Is Not An Enemy
Kompas, Dec. 20, 2000
An unselective security and frosty approach in Aceh has instilled fear in the hearts of people which has turned part of the people into antagonists of the Indonesian Government. For this reason, efforts have to be made to break the ice, moreover, since the Independent Aceh Movement (GAM) is not an enemy.
"We have been wrong all this time, I am wrong too for letting this happen," said President Abdurrahman Wahid. There are bitter memories, he said. This should be changed instantly in future.
Speaking before a community at the commemoration of Nuzulul Quran at the Baiturrahman Mosque of Banda Aceh Tuesday (19/12), President Abdurrahman said that this error should not be allowed to go on. Real action is needed in future along lines of a brotherly approach, the gesture is meant for GAM as well despite the movement's antagonistic position against government.
The President was in Aceh with several ministers and a number of envoys representing Moslem countries. Before his speech in front of an audience of 500, Religion Minister Tholhah Hasan gave a lecture in relation to the anniversary of Nuzulul Quran. President Abdurrahman also distributed presents to former fighters which retired Police Colonel, Muhammad Daim accepted on behalf of the veterans.
The President's speech frequently referred to Islam syariah which is in effect in Aceh because of Law No. 44 Year 1999. This law stipulates the region's special position in the religious sector, education, traditional customs, and the role of Islamic scholars.
He admitted that Islam syariah in Aceh has raised questions in several circles who fear the unforgiving Islam law in which thieves will have their hand severed when they are caught. The President, however, said that such fears are groundless as Islam treats all with wisdom.
As to the "humanitarian ceasefire", government plans to end it around the middle of January 2001, the President said. The end of the Humanitarian Ceasefire will not come in the way of the meeting process of government and GAM. GAM should not be regarded as an enemy.
They are brothers, protesting past injustices in their own way, which have left a bitter after taste in their mouth. Future steps to improve and create an independent Aceh within the environs of the Indonesian Republic, can be made together, "Let's display these improvements as of now. We will offer them consciousness, we will not recognize them as enemies. Everything can be negotiated," the President said.
No dialogue
The program was run without a dialogue with the audience. After the President's speech, several students raised their hands as a request to talk with the President. Their request was not granted, a protocol officer was dealt the task to say prayers, signaling the end of the program.
After prayers were said, students again signaled their desire to exchange some words with the President. The President left the place instead. Several minutes later, the president saw three students in a room of the mosque.
Faisal Fadli and Keumala Sari (Syiah Kuala University) and Efendi Hasan (IAIN Ar- Raniry) told the President that the government should end violence in Aceh.
"Gus Dur understands a lot about Aceh, contradictory to stories in the field," Efendi Hasan said. The President needs to hold dialogues with the public to get an insight of what really happened in Aceh.
Keumala Sari added that the President needs to pay attention to this matter since violence is growing day by day with fatal results. "I cried before the President, as the President he should be able to end the tragedy," she said.
Efendi Hasan also requested freedom for Muhammad Nazar who is detained by the police in Aceh. The Chairman Aceh Referendum Information Central (SIRA) has been detained since November 20 on charges of disturbing order and peace and spreading hateful stories.
But, many are of the opinion that Nazar is held for his activities as SIRA Chairman and his endless discussions of referendum and politics.
They also blamed the President for promising a referendum for Aceh, but, this promise has to materialize still. According to Efendi, the President asked that all elements should have their say to prevent disappointment in other parts.
Meanwhile, the National Commission of Human Rights Representative in Aceh expressed his disappointment in a press communiqui over the absence of a dialogue with the President.
Iqbal Faraby, Komnas HAM Aceh representative, did comment that the Aceh people's aspirations could never be gauged without dialogue. Albert Hasibuan, leader of the Komnas HAM team which researched Human Rights violations last month in Aceh, issued a statement expressing hope for an immediate visit of the President on account of the present conditions in the region.
Human Rights violations by the state are a daily occurrence and immediate handling of these atrocities are called for.
"The president has not said a word about Human Rights today, while Aceh people have demanded this since long," Iqbal Faraby said. They are hurt, but the President did not touch the subject at all, he said again.
The President canceled prayers at the Baiturahman Mosque , he headed right away to Iskandar Muda Airport to return to Jakarta.(*)
END
No End In Sight to Aceh Atrocities
The South China Morning Post, Dec. 19, 2000
Handing out gruesome photographs of Acehnese shot point-blank in the head in recent violence, Free Aceh Movement (GAM) representative Zulfani saw nothing positive in the visit today of Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid to Aceh. He said Mr Wahid's visit, to implement Islamic sharia law in the separatist province, would do nothing to stem the violence in the province.
The photographs show victims of a security force operation last month which, according to GAM, led to the deaths of at least 72 people, the wounding of 109 and the torture and beating of 562 people in an attempt to prevent Acehnese attending a rally for independence in the capital, Banda Aceh.
Other photographs show the bodies of three humanitarian workers shot dead on December 6. The three, who worked for a Danish-funded organisation, were killed as they tried to assist victims of the violence. A fourth worker escaped and is now in the care of the Danish Embassy in Jakarta, from where he identified those responsible for the killing as military personnel.
After initially denying involvement in the killing, the Aceh police chief, Brigadier-General Rasjudi, announced on Friday that three security personnel and one civilian had been detained in connection with the deaths. Two more civilians were held on Sunday in connection with the case.
Local human rights activists do not hold much hope for justice in the current environment, where security personnel out of uniform routinely carry out killings and blame GAM rebels.
The latest report by non-government organisation Kontras describes a pattern of similar death-squad style killings. On Monday last week in East Aceh, Bari Bin Bahkri answered the door of his home to two plain-clothes men: they shot him in the face and he died immediately. In North Aceh two days earlier, Iskander Hamden was grabbed by four men and taken away. The next day his body was found nearby, with gunshot wounds to the head.
In other incidents, uniformed police are directly involved. Feisal Hamdi, of the Coalition for Human Rights, described how police in South Aceh responded last Tuesday to a grenade attack on their post. "They called for back-up and then surrounded a house. They start shooting and they arrest a man and beat him after dragging him out. They grab the other two in the house and beat them. They deny they are members of GAM. After half an hour of beating they don't confess and the police shoot them dead."
Mr Hamdi said the perpetrators of such violence "cannot be identif