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 identified because they don't wear uniforms and often wear face masks - but the villagers note their dialects, from Java or north Sumatra. The people know no GAM activists are Javanese."
In June a "humanitarian pause" was negotiated to try to stop the violence in Aceh. A committee including representatives from GAM, the Indonesian security forces and aid groups was formed and a timeframe of six months was put in place to deliver aid and stop the violence.
The head of the Indonesian security committee, Police Colonel Ridhwan Karim, is pessimistic about the future of negotiations. "There is no longer any trust," he said. "There are so many violations committed by GAM." He accuses GAM of using the civilian population as a shield to operate behind, and of using the humanitarian pause to strengthen their position.
Colonel Ridhwan believes that after the January 15 expiry of the humanitarian pause, GAM should be disarmed and excluded from further talks. "If they still want independence it has to be solved by military force," he said.
Mr Zulfani, the GAM representative to the security committee, surrounded by the photographs of the military victims, says the military and the police are actively hunting their people and killing civilians in the process.
"There are clashes and the military and police burn down shops and houses and every time the military moves they frighten the civilians and they run. The police say they are GAM and open fire. But in reality they are just afraid of the police."
He says an offensive in January to seize GAM's weapons would fail, just as the decade-long military operation to wipe out GAM failed in the 1980s and early 1990s, adding: "GAM will attack only if the TNI [Indonesian military] attack, but if they have an operation there will be violence."
END
BBC ~ Dec. 19, 2000
Indonesian forces are continuing to rape, torture and murder Acehnese despite signing a peace treaty this year, according to a British researcher.
Lesley McCulloch, who has just returned from the troubled northern province, said hundreds of people had queued up to tell her about human rights atrocities being committed by the police and military.
One of the most disturbing accounts was of Muhibbudin, a young Acehnese man with a massive scar on his torso - he says this is where his kidney was forcibly removed to give to an Indonesian soldier.
Muhibbudin, 23, is also deaf and has trouble speaking - legacies, he says, of repeated beatings around the head by the TNI, the Indonesian military.
Kidney
His trouble began when he was detained on suspicion of belonging to the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) which has been fighting for independence from Indonesia for the last 24 years.
Muhibbudin says he is not a GAM member but was still held for 20 days. "In one night 10 TNI people kicked me, and abused me.
"I was afraid they would kill me. I was shot and I was burned on the legs.
"After 21 days they took me to hospital where a doctor took one of my kidneys to give to a military person."
Muhibbudin tells how he was repeatedly beaten and given almost nothing to eat. A photo apparently taken at the end of his ordeal shows a distressingly emaciated man, covered in scars.
"Please tell the world about the atrocities that are happening here," he begs at the end of his testimony. "I am not the only one."
Rape
Ms McCulloch, a research associate at the Centre for Defence Studies in London, says the West has little idea of the scale of human rights abuses in Aceh.
Although people were very afraid to speak to her, she said they were desperate for the outside world to know what was happening.
Many accounts were from women who said they had been raped by soldiers and police.
"The military came to my house and took my husband and tied him up, then they raped me," one woman said.
"All 11 houses in the village were visited. I was one of six who were raped that day. Now I am afraid in my home. I'm afraid the military will be sent again."
Many of the rape victims blamed officers from Indonsia's elite mobile police unit, Brimob, who are drafted in from Jakarta.
Shooting
Ms McCulloch's visit coincided with a crackdown on a pro-independence rally last month in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh.
One woman she met en route to the event told how troops had shot dead her husband as the family tried to reach the rally.
"The military shot my husband in a rice field. Then they began to shoot at [our convoy]," she said. "We have no weapons, we are only farmers. They have the guns."
Many of those terrorised on the road tried to get to the rally by boat, but Ms McCulloch says Brimob forces arrived at the port and started firing - two civilians were injured.
"The government says it is rogue elements who do this, but I saw people being shot at by whole units of military and police," she added.
"Outside Banda Aceh I saw people being shot at as they ran through rice paddies for cover - none of them was armed."
Graves
No-one knows how many people died during the crackdown, but Ms McCulloch says there were repeated reports of Brimob taking bodies away.
She says a number of mass graves have since been discovered - post mortems show the victims died at around the time of the rally.
At least 5,500 people have died in the violence between Indonesian forces and GAM rebels.
In June the two sides signed a ceasefire, but clashes have continued.
Local rights groups say nearly 841 people have been killed this year - more than double the total for 1999 - and several hundred others are missing.
Rebel support
In the past the issues of independence for Aceh and support for the GAM rebels were often separate.
But Ms McCulloch believes the actions of the security forces have driven many people towards backing GAM as the only way of achieving independence.
"It is quite obvious that support for independence, or at least for a referendum to let the people choose, is extremely high," she says.
"The actions of the Indonesian forces have been completely counter-productive."
END
Aceh Referendum Centre: President's Visit No Guarantee Of Solution To Aceh Conflict
Is Mujiarso / Fitri & GB, Detikworld ~ Dec. 19, 200
The Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) believes President Abdurrahman Wahid's visit to Indonesia's westernmost province does not guarantee a comprehensive solution to the prolonged conflict in Aceh. Thus, SIRA is resolved to continuing to seek support from the international community.
The Central Presidium of SIRA sent a press release to "welcome" the President who arrived Tuesday (19/9/2000) in the troubled province. SIRA said that the reform pursued by the President, who had been applauded as humanist and democratic, has not brought freedom of expression and they have demanded political rights for the province.
"It is really sad," said Presidium member Faisal Ridha in the press release received by detikworld Tuesday.
Faisal pointed out that several factors hampered and perhaps made impossible efforts to bring peace and reconcile pro-independence and pro- Indonesian forces. He said repressive actions by the military (TNI) and police had tried and failed to halt civil struggle. Repression on the part of government forces had also been the major factor in the failure of the `humanitarian pause' brokered internationally between the central government and rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Manipulating judicial processes was also cited as a factor hampering lasting peace.
"Detaining the head of the SIRA Presidium, summoning nine SIRA activists and killing three volunteers from RATA (Rehabilitation Action for Torture Victims in Aceh) last week. These have threatened the efforts of the people of Aceh to fight for democracy, peace, human rights and humanity," said Faisal. In SIRA's opinion, political conflict between the people of the oil-rich province and Jakarta is escalating at an alarming rate.
"And then, Jakarta through its ministers, TNI and Police have continually tried to declare war with the Acehnese by threatening the imposition of civil emergency operations and Martial Law," accused Faisal.
In the meantime, Faisal added, repressive actions are increasing, such as detaining, summoning and plotting to apprehend other political activists affiliated to SIRA.
It is hardly surprising that SIRA relies on the international community, in particular, organisations concerned with freedom, peace, human rights, and democracy, for support in their struggle.
As they have done on numerous occasions, SIRA again called on these parties to step up immediate, continuos and serious efforts to address Aceh's problems.
"We don't want, just because we are fighting for our destiny and Aceh's rights, for Jakarta to then end it all with great repression and brutality," said Faisal in the release.
END
An Open Letter to the Ambassadors of the Islamic Countries to Indonesia
MBGAM Eropa ~ Stockholm, 18 December 2000
Excellencies
The Ambassadors of
The Islamic countries to Indonesia
In The Name of Allah the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
"And say: Truth has come and falsehood has vanished. Indeed, the falsehood is ever bound to vanish", Al-Isra' 81.
Dear brothers in Islam,
Assalamulaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh,
The President of Indonesia K H Abdurrahman Wahid is to visit Acheh tomorrow, December 19, 2000, to supposedly declare the enforcement of the so called "Syaria Law". According to Indonesia's Foreign Minister Ali Shihab, most of you who have been invited to accompany the President have already accepted the invitation. For your concerted visit to our homeland, Jakarta has dispatched an extra 2,500 battle-harden troops, apart from tens of thousands already deployed there, to secure you, the President and his Ministers. Thus, every step you take and every move you make, you will be closely surrounded by the overwhelming, jittery soldiers who will shoot at will with the slightest provocation. Welcome to the most liberated, garrisoned territory of Indonesia in Acheh!
The Free Acheh Movement in Europe felt obliged to write to you as our brothers in Islam and to tell you about what is going on in our country and also the real purpose of the President's visit. His visit to Acheh this time has obviously puzzled not only political analysts, observers, but also the Indonesians themselves. It is really an act of desperation on the part of Jakarta in dealing with the Acheh problem. And it only shows that Jakarta neither exercises its control over Acheh nor does it have realistic mechanisms toward handling the situation. All it tries to do is counter-productive and all it tries to explain turns to be obscurum per obscurius. Imposing "Syaria Law" is such an example.
As you are all aware, "Syaria Law" is not what the Achehnese has been striving for, nor is it the cause of the conflict between Acheh and Jakarta. Indonesia is trying to raise this issue now just for political reasons - a new, tricky move to divert your and the world's attention from the real issue, namely the right to self-determination of the people of Acheh. Therefore, your visiting our homeland will unfortunately not help reduce the tension, as Indonesia will make use this opportunity to say loudly to the world that it "has done everything for Acheh, but Achehnese themselves who don not want to compromise. And thereby military option is the only left". In other words, what Indonesia is trying to do now is seeking legitimacy to apply military means to pacify the Achehnese from demanding their rights to self-determination. To obtain this legitimacy, Indonesia has approached western democracies and the USA, ASEAN countries recently and now OIC countries that you represent.
Despite all this deplorable tactics used by Indonesia to isolate Acheh internationally, however, we still hope that your presence in our country would add eyes witnesses to the progrom perpetrated by Indonesia's security forces against Achehnese civilians. And we also hope that, after returning to Jakarta, you will be brave enough to report to your respected country the true story of the real situation - that your Muslim brothers in Acheh are being killed because of demanding their right to self-determination; they are being detained and tortured because of wanting to solve the conflict peacefully and democratically; and they are being disappeared because of reporting and exposing military's brutality against unarmed civilians.
Dear Brothers,
Achehnese are good Moslems, and everything in our country is judged by Islamic standard. Islam is an inseparable part of Achehnese identity. If Acheh is a coin, Islam is the other side of that coin. As a matter of fact, Acheh is a nation founded on Islam and it was our forefathers who had brought Islam to Java, Borneo, the present Malaysia and to the whole Southeast Asia. But Achehnese are neither secularists nor fundamentalists. History has shown that Islam in Acheh is different from that of other regions, and this can be clearly seen by the way how Achehnese treat their womenfolk and even foreigners. In the history of independent Acheh, it was almost a century that our country ruled by women - and that would be unthinkable in other contemporary Islamic countries. In addition to that, Acheh has also produced great heroines such as Tjut Nja' Dhien, Tjut Mutia, Tjut Mirah Gambang etc, comparable only to that of Catherine the Great of Russia. By looking at these facts of history, Achehnese certainly do not need anyone from Jakarta to teach them or to introduce to them about "Syaria Law".
Dear Brothers,
The question of Acheh is not a question of religion or theology, but political and legal matter: to re-instate its historic state that was internationally recognised independent sovereign state, to which Holland formally declared war on March 26, 1873. The question of Acheh is merely a question of self-determination which has nothing to do with "Syaria Law" or any other religious overtones as Jakarta has been trying to implicate with. The people of Acheh want to be independent again not because Indonesia is not an "Islamic State", but because they want to keep their identity, their rights and their historic status as an independent, free, nation. Whether Indonesia is an "Islamic State" or not, is not concern to us.
For centuries the people of Acheh has been continuously bled under foreign invaders of all colours: white, yellow, and brown. Each of these alien aggressors had fabricated their own colourful justifications for invading Acheh and killing the Achehnese. For the Dutch it was to "suppress piracy and to bring civilisation"; for the Japanese it was to "bring East Asia Great Prosperity"; and now for Indonesia is to "preserve its territorial integrity, to eliminate fanaticism", and what have you. Under these pretexts and also under the watchful eyes of your governments, tens of thousands of Achehnese Moslems have been killed by Indonesia's security forces in the past two decades with impunity. And these senseless killings will continue unabated unless the international community including your governments would do something to prevent this from happening.
Again, we respectfully request you to forward this message to your governments and tell them the true situation of Acheh.
Wassalam
Dr Husaini Hasan and M. Yusuf Daud
Free Acheh Movement In Europe
P.O. Box 8804, 145 02 Norsborg, Sweden
Fax: 00-46-8-53188460 HP: 0703453784 HP: 0739756532
END
Soldiers Fire at US Chartered Plane
By Lely T. Djuhari, AP Writer ~ December 18
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) - Police said restless soldiers shot at and hit a commuter plane chartered by Exxon Mobil, forcing it to abort a landing Monday at an airport in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province.
Senior army officials blamed separatists for the attack, which came on the eve of President Abdurrahman Wahid's visit to foster peace in the oil-rich region.
Three bullets hit the four-engine, propeller-driven Dash 7 plane, said Julia Tumengkol, spokeswoman of the U.S. oil giant's Indonesia subsidiary. Two bullets pierced its underbelly and one hit a wing, she said. None of the 23 passengers and crew was injured.
"We can't say who fired at the plane. It is under investigation by police,'' said Tumengkol, who made no further comment.
Witnesses said some in a crowd of about 100 soldiers opened fire as the plane was about to touch down at an airport near Lhokseumawe, where Exxon Mobil runs a gas refinery that has been targeted by rebels in the past.
The aircraft, operated by Pelita Air Services, abruptly ended its descent and returned to Medan, where it had took from about an hour earlier, witnesses said.
Police spokesman Col. Kusbini Imbar said discipline had broken down among the troops who were waiting at the airport at the end of a tour of duty in Aceh. He did not say whether any soldiers had been arrested.
"The soldiers were frustrated in Aceh. They wanted to go back home,'' Imbar said.
A regional military chief, Lt. Col. Iskandar M.S., denied that any of his soldiers had fired at the aircraft.
"It is not true,'' he said. ``It is the Rebel Free Aceh Movement who shot at the aircraft, not us.''
The shooting was the latest in a series of violent incidents ahead of Tuesday's visit by Wahid to ease escalating calls for independence.
On Sunday night, two explosions shook government offices in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh. Nobody was hurt and damage was slight.
The explosions - apparently hand grenades - came after a week of bloodshed during which at least 22 people were killed. Citing threats on Wahid's life, the military has deployed 2,000 extra troops.
On Monday, as many as 2,500 soldiers paraded in a park as a show of force. Hundreds more guarded a mosque where Wahid is expected to meet religious leaders Tuesday.
Violence has increased sharply as Wahid struggles to revive peace talks with rebels in the oil- and gas-rich province, on the northern tip of Sumatra island about 1,100 miles northwest of Indonesia's capital, Jakarta.
Wahid, under pressure to quit over his handling of several other crises and scandals, has made a resolution of the turmoil in Aceh a personal priority.
The president plans to hand over $10.5 million in aid and has said he is ready to grant the staunchly Muslim province greater autonomy. He has also signaled that it can implement a form of Islamic or Sharia law.
But he has ruled out the possibility of full independence for Aceh amid worries it would fuel similar demands elsewhere in the sprawling nation of 17,000 islands and 210 million people.
The Free Aceh Movement has been fighting for independence since 1975. Nearly 1,000 people died this year despite a declared cease-fire.
END
No Decision to Cease Humanitarian Truce in Aceh
TEMPO Interaktif, Dec. 18, 2000
TEMPO Interaktif, Jakarta: The Aceh Humanitarian Truce remains effective until January 15, 2000 as the government has not made any decision to cease it. Director General of Political Affairs of Foreign Affairs Department Hasan Wirayuda made this announcement at the Merdeka Palace this morning (18/12). "No decision has been taken to cease the truce," he said. Hasan responded to today media reports on Indonesia's intention to cease Humanitarian Truce in Aceh. According to Hasan, the government is trying to hold a dialogue with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to seek the best solution for Aceh. "We are arranging the time and venue for the meeting," he said.
The government, Hasan added, is expecting a negotiation with Henry Dunant Foundation, the meeting initiator. Despite GAM's refusal on the option of autonomy, "Indonesian government will insist to defend sovereignty of Republic of Indonesia," he said firmly.
END
The Indonesian Observer, Dec. 19, 2000
In a typical psy-war move designed to give GAM fighters cold feet, the police leadership confirmed a finding of the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) that the police do not have sufficient firepower to confront the rebels and would welcome TNI's assistance to put an end to the rebellion.
The message would like to convey to rebel military chief Tengku Abdullah Syafei and his men that if they are going to play their cat- and- mouse game against the police, the government would send in the military again for the kill.
It is highly questionable whether talk like this, which is seen as a concealed intimidation, would make a strong impression on the rebels.
For many years the anti-guerrilla troops went on a rampage on the plains and hills of Aceh which had led to many unmarked mass graves, while resistance went on and on just as ferociously.
It is clear for everyone to see that the government is running out of positive ideas and that in the end it would use the bit of stick to impose its will on the Acehnese.
President Abdurrahman Wahid is desperate in need for a stunning success in Aceh to boost his shaky position, but it looks as if nothing will change in Aceh except that more people will be killed and that starvation will stalk the countryside.
Special measures have been taken to beef up security in light of threats from the GAM that they are going to assassinate President Wahid.
One thing the government should keep in mind is to prevent the possibility of an internationalization of the Aceh conflict. The military is going to enhance its activities and will go all out to subdue the GAM fighters.
At the same time many supporters will come in with their ships to bring in military equipment to protect the Aceh coastline.
Needless to say, it is the support of their foreign supporters which have hardened their resistance. It is a pity that on the government side there are no persons with brilliant minds to consider that it is a waste of time to use Pancasila to call the Acehnese back to the fold. It is feared that Pancasila has lost its appeal as a unifying factor for the population in the outer regions.
Our advice is to stop using violence because it is not going to solve any problem.
END
Indonesia's Gus Dur Offers Peace Talks With Aceh Rebels
ChannelNewsAsia, Dec. 19, 2000
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has made a conciliatory offer to discuss peace for the rebellious province of Aceh, after a ceasefire there ends in two to three weeks.
Gus Dur admitted that he and the military have mishandled the secessionist crisis which has killed thousands and now threatens national unity.
Mr Abdurrahman called on the armed forces to reduce attacks on the civilians and for rebels to return to the negotiating table.
The President said that Jakarta will hold talks with the Acehnese separatists until both sides agree that Aceh can be free.
But, Gus Dur made clear the province is to remain within the Republic of Indonesia.
"We cannot consider them (rebels) as our enemy, they are our partners in reaching one agreement," Gus Dur said.
"We must utilise the ceasefire period which will end in 2-3 weeks' time.
"When it ends...we will continue to hold talks until we agree that Aceh can be free as long as it remains within the republic of Indonesia.
"Criminal laws in Western countries also have Islamic principles in them, because basically Islamic criminal laws are based on the same principles - deterrence and punishment."
Mr Abdurrahman, who arrived by helicopter earlier Tuesday morning, went on to say the staunchly Muslim province would be allowed to enforce Islamic law.
Speaking at the Grand Mosque in the provincial capital Banda Aceh, he also offered Acehnese more powers of self rule.
Despite these concessions, pro-independence forces refused to meet him and hours before he arrived, two small explosions went off - one reportedly to be just 2 kilometres from the mosque.
Officials said the explosions caused minor damage and were likely homemade devices intended to create noise rather than damage.
The incidents happened despite the tight security net thrown around the provincial capital Banda Aceh, prompted by news of an assassination plot on the President.
END
Violence in Aceh Despite Tight Security Ahead of Presidential Visit
Haseenah Koyakutty, ChannelNewsAsia, Dec. 18, 2000
Security is high in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh, ahead of Tuesday's visit by President Abdurrahman Wahid.
Despite the security net cast by over 4,000 troops and police - some flew in specially to secure the presidential visit - unrest continued to rock the region on Monday.
An aircraft chartered by Mobil Oil Indonesia was shot at as it came in to land at the town of Lhokseumawe.
Witnesses said some in a crowd of about 100 soldiers opened fire as the plane was about to touch down.
In another incident, two explosions rocked government offices in Aceh's capital.
But police said no one was injured and damage was slight from what appears to have been hand grenade explosions.
President Abdurrahman's historic visit to Aceh comes against a backdrop of growing calls for a referendum on independence there.
Peace talks with the separatist Free Aceh Movement have so far stalled and it remains unclear if dialogue will resume after the January 15 deadline imposed by Jakarta.
Azwar Abubakar, Vice-Governor, Aceh province, said: "We hope when President comes to Aceh, the government of Indonesia will be more involved with Aceh, what Acehnese feel, what Acehnese need. We hope the government will bring a political solution for Aceh."
But the President is only slated to bring development aid worth US$10.5 million and pray together with the Acehnese on a holy day during this fasting month.
The palace says there are no plans to formally declare Islamic or Syariah law in Aceh, which was the case at first.
President Abdurrahman Wahid also once promised to hold a referendum there on whether the Acehnese want Islamic laws.
It appears things will be status quo for now.
Dr Humam Hamid, a sociologist, said: "For centuries, the Acehnese have been living with Islamic values, so it doesn't make any difference. I also don't think it needs to be formalised, I would see it still at the level of cultural values more than formal law."
"But do most Acehnese want it to be formalised?"
"I don't think so, I don't think so. It's been there their whole life. I don't know how people will interprete it, there are all kinds of Syariah laws, big debate on that, are we going to apply like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, or Iran? Come on! We don't know about that."
Presidential spokesman, Wimar Witoelar, told Channel NewsAsia the President's visit would only be a personal expression of support and empathy for the Acehnese.
There will be no technical substance, no target.
It is also unclear if the President will offer an apology, like what his predecessor Dr Habibie did when he visited, for all the various abuses which have taken place there under the old regime.
The President's visit comes at a sensitive time of political upheaval in Aceh - the peace talks have faulted and Jakarta has threatened to terminate the talks and even threaten to impose a state of emergency there.
The details of the special autonomy package for Aceh are still unclear.
But the very fact that the President is finally going to Aceh after so many false starts is in itself a political feat - even if it's only a symbolic gesture of goodwill.
END
Horror On Oil Islands Revealed
Antony Barnett, The Observer (UK) ~ Dec. 17, 2000
He is now deaf and has problems speaking. Muhibbudin, 23, was arrested by the Indonesian military and held for 20 days on suspicion of being a member of the group that is fighting for the independence of Indonesian's northernmost province of Aceh. He claims he was repeatedly kicked in the head, burnt on the legs and hardly fed. A harrowing photograph of this scarred and skeletal figure suggests he is not exaggerating. Muhibbudin was then taken to a hospital where he claims a military doctor removed his kidney to give to a member of the Indonesian military.
He was kept in hospital for two months where he alleges that he was repeatedly beaten and kicked. This is when he stopped hearing.
Muhibbudin's story is among more than 50 statements taken by Lesley McCulloch, a British researcher for the Centre of Defence Studies, who was in Aceh last month investigating the activities of the Indonesian military.
Many of the victims tell of torture, disappearance of male family members and rape of women, providing further evidence of human rights violations by Indonesian-government backed militia as the country's security forces crack down on separatists fighting for independence, known as the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
One local rights group has said 841 people had been killed this year in Aceh - an oil-rich archipelago - more than double the total for 1999. At least 5,500 people have died during the past decade in fighting between government and rebel forces.
McCulloch conducted her interviews in Banda Aceh, the capital of the province, in fear of raids from the Indonesian elite military police, Brimob.
She said: 'I spoke to more than 50 people who had come from all over Aceh. Hundreds of people were queueing up. It was really traumatic. I heard so many awful stories from people who were very afraid to speak to me. Western governments are simply not aware of the scale of the human rights violations carried out by the Indonesian military.'
The stories come only days after four international human rights workers were executed by a group linked to the Indonesian military.
Another human rights worker escaped to tell his story of a three-hour ordeal after he and the others were abducted by a group of 15 men.
They were beaten with rifle butts, driven around to two military command posts, tied up and shot at point-blank range in the head. One of their captors filmed the executions with a video camera.
Those killed worked for the Danish human rights group, the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture victims.
The human rights worker who escaped, Nazruddin Abdul Gani, 22, said they were killed because they were treating torture victims in a stronghold area of the Free Aceh Movement.
The surviving witness named Ampon Thayeb, who has worked with the Indonesian military for more than a decade, as the perpetrator of the executions.
He said that Ampon ordered two of the workers, Idris and Ernita, out of the vehicle in which they were all being held. Nazruddin then watched as the two were shot. He and two others were ordered out of the same van and marched to a building in their underwear. Nazruddin managed to untie his hands and escape into the forest. The killers gunned down his companions. The bodies of his colleagues were later found at the site by the Indonesian Red Cross.
Joe Saunders, of Human Rights Watch, based in New York, said: 'This is one of the rare cases in Aceh in which a victim has come forward and publicly identified the perpetrator. The Indonesian government can have no excuses for failing to arrest and prosecute Ampon Thayeb and his army backers.'
Indonesian police deny the accusations, saying the aid workers were killed by separatists of the Free Aceh Movement, and the Indonesian government said: 'If they are confident with their allegations, they have to provide evidence... but so far many of the claims have proven to be untrue.'
Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have called for the arrest and prosecution of those responsible for the killings which follow the murder of three workers for the UN's human rights agency UNHCR in the same area in September.
Human Rights Watch said: 'The Indonesia government is allowing its security forces to target humanitarian workers in Aceh, just as it allowed militias to target such workers in West Timor.'
Meanwhile, Indonesia has sent more than 2,000 troops to Aceh ahead of a visit by President Abdurrahman Wahid.
A military spokesman said the soldiers would be on standby to provide security during Wahid's visit in the light of worsening security conditions and assassination threats against the president.
But he said the troops would focus on rebuilding homes and public facilities destroyed by floods and landslides.
Wahid is scheduled to visit Aceh on Tuesday, when he will declare a form of Islamic, or Sharia, law and hand over a $10 million aid package to the province.
Last Thursday, the Free Aceh Movement warned that it had intelligence of what it called a hardline military plot to kill the president during his trip.
END
Testimony of Nazaruddin, of Rehabilitation Action for Torture Victims in Aceh
The Human Right Watch ~ Dec. 14
I am a twenty-two year old field worker for the nongovernmental organization Rehabilitation Action for Torture Victims in Aceh (RATA). We provide counseling and rehabilitation services to victims of torture and abuse in Aceh. Before working for RATA, I worked for the Indonesian Red Cross and helped collect the bodies of victims of the conflict. On December 6, at about 7:30 in the morning, I left my home village of Simpang Kramat, Kecamatan Kotamakmur, to go to the RATA office in Pusong [Lhokseumawe]. I arrived at the office at about 8:30 a.m., and then started out for the new RATA office in Kuta Blang where we were in the process of moving. I left in a RATA vehicle, together with three other RATA staff: twenty-seven year old Idriss, twenty-three year old Ernita binti Wahab, and twenty-four year old Bakhtiar.
From the new office, we left to provide treatment to some of our patients in Tanah Pasir. We reached Tanah Pasir at about 10:30 a.m., and brought three patients to the hospital [Puskesmas] in Lapang, had them treated, and brought them home. Then we left for Jambu Air around 12:30 p.m. to visit some other patients.We had only gone about 500 meters from where we had dropped off the first patients in Matang Baru, Lapang, when a TAFT [brand] car with a black top pulled up from behind us, cut in front of us and forced us to stop. Two other cars pulled up from behind us, one green KIJANG [Toyota minivan] and another darker car, and also stopped. The TAFT car had four people in it. One of them was a man well known as a government informant, a cuak. His name is Ampon Thayeb, and he goes by the name "Teungku Pon" among his followers. Ampon is from Lhokseumawe, and is in his mid-forties. The three others in the TAFT car were all young Acehnese, in their early thirties, and are also known as cuaks [government informants]. One of them I know as Madya, he has a distinctive red moustache.
The two vehicles who followed had about five men per car, and appeared to be TNI [Indonesian armed forces], but they were not wearing uniform. The driver of the green KIJANG was their commander, and the others called him "Dan" [short for "Komandan" or Commander]. These men were clearly not BRIMOB [mobile police brigade], because the BRIMOB troops being sent to Aceh these days are very young. These ones were in their thirties, they appeared big and strong. The men in all three vehicles were armed. Ampon carried a machine gun, I think it was an M-16, and had an FN pistol on his waist. Another one had a machine gun with a grenade launcher attached. The commander, Dan, had a pistol and an automatic rifle, most of the others also carried rifles.
Ampon ordered us to get out of the car, as the three other cuaks pointed their guns at us. He asked to see our IDs, and took our wallets. The men in our group also were ordered to hand over our watches, and Ernita was ordered to take off her necklace and bracelets. We did what they told us. The cuaks kept their guns pointed at us, and started questioning us as follows: Where are you coming from? We just came from treating patients.Where are your patients? We took them home.Who are you, that you can give people medical treatment? We are from an institute called RATA that treats victims of violence.What is RATA?
The men seemed to get angrier and angrier. They accused us RATA workers of giving information about abuses to the observers of the humanitarian pause [Note: There is a small monitoring presence in Aceh as a result of a "humanitarian pause" agreement between the Indonesian government and the GAM rebel movement.] We explained that we were not political, but humanitarian workers. Ampon said we were lying, because the area was known as a GAM [rebel] base, and no one would be brave enough to go there, implying that we had to be GAM [supporters].
We responded that we had an official letter [surat tugas] which allowed us to work freely in Aceh. The men wanted to see it, so I took it out of my wallet and gave it to them. [Passage of testimony withheld to protect confidentiality.] Ampon then asked, "Who is paying you?" We replied that RATA got funds from the Danish government. One of Ampon's men said that was impossible that Denmark would provide us funds, that the [RATA] workers were getting 200 million a month from PT Arun [the local Mobil oil project]. Then they started accusing us of being GAM. Ampon said, "Anyone who works for an NGO must be GAM." ["Yang Kerja di LSM-LSM, GAM semua"]. Then he accused us of stirring up the people [mengadu masyarakat].
After this, we were put in their cars. Bachtiar and I were put in Ampon's car, in the front. Ernita was taken to the dark car, and ordered to sit next to the driver. Idris was in the last car, the green KIJANG, with the commander.As the convoy proceeded, they continued asking us questions, as follows: So you work in the health field? Yes, we treat victims of DOM [military operations zone]. So how do you know who in this village is a victim of DOM? We know because we have contacts with local clinics [Puskesmas] and government health offices [Dinas Kesehatan] But you don't treat other kinds of victims, that's not fair. If we know of other victims of violence, we treat them all.
Then the cuak ordered us to take off our shoes, and told us to get out of the car. It was about 1 p.m. and we were still in Lapang village. They started threatening us, and began to beat us. When we fell down from the beating, the cuak would order us to get up again, and fire their rifles near our feet, not hitting us but getting close. I was hit hard on the side of my head, near the right temple, with a rifle butt. Bachtiar and I were dripping blood. Those doing the beatings were not only the four cuaks, some of the others also gathered around and took turns beating us. One of the other armed men, the ones whom I think were TNI, was filming the entire beating and the abuse with a large shoulder-supported camera.
Idris was beaten by the men in his car, and then brought to where I and Bachtiar were standing. As we were standing there, one of the [suspected] TNI took our RATA car and removed the RATA insignia and covered up the license plate. He then went up the road for about fifteen minutes and came back, in order to check if anyone was coming. [Passage of testimony withheld to protect confidentiality.] We first stopped at a KORAMIL [subdistrict military command] post for about fifteen minutes. I'm not sure which KORAMIL post it was. Soldiers from the KORAMIL surrounded the car and peered in, but none of us got out. [Note: According to a second source, the KORAMIL post is likely to be one of three in the area: Simpang Muling, Matang Kuli, or Blang Jreunere.]
We then started driving down along Jalan Pipa [pipeline road], before stopping again at the TNI post at A13. Some of the [suspected] TNI got out from the cars--the cuaks stayed in the car--and the [suspected] TNI briefly spoke with the other soldiers at the post. Then the cars turned around and left. We went along Jalan Pipa, then along a small road by a rice paddy. Then we passed another military post. [At one point,] the man referred to as "Dan" came over to Ampon's car. Ampon asked him where he should get rid of us, saying "Should we finish them off here?" Dan told him, "No, not here."At that point, one of the cuaks was going through our wallets, and found our ATM cards. He demanded to know our secret PIN numbers, and asked how many billions we had stashed away.
Our convoy then approached the village of Cot Mat Tahe. It was now about 2:30 p.m. A bombing had taken place there earlier in the morning, and many people were still milling around out of curiosity. The [suspected] TNI members got out of the cars and aimed their guns at the people, ordering them into a kind of village hall. Others started running, and a man named Rusli was caught and beaten by the [suspected] TNI. They first shot around his feet, just as they had done with us earlier. Then Ampon took a big stone and slammed it down on Rusli's head, giving Rusli a two-inch gash. Others started kicking Rusli also. Finally, Rusli was brought into the car with Bachtiar and I.
The convoy took off, first going north, then south, and then north again to the village of Keude Karing. Then we turned towards Lhokseumawe. We went into the village of Kandang, just on the outskirts of the city along the railroad line, then turned into the forest around Blang Raya. The convoy stopped in front of the Kandang high school, SMA Kandang. Everyone got out. At this point, Idris and Ernita were put in the same car with Bachtiar and I, and we were now the last car in the convoy. Ampon came to us and said, "Now you are going to confess and say what's what if you want to live. We will give you fifteen minutes." One of us said, "What can we confess, we are just volunteers?" "Then it's clear you want to die," Ampon replied.
Thayeb got a rope and gave it to the cuak with the red moustache. The cuak tied the hands of all five of us: myself, Bachtiar, Ernita, Idris, and Rusli. [Passage of testimony withheld to protect confidentiality.] Ampon got into the car and another one from his gang got into the back. Ampon told the one in the back to put his gun in Ernita's mouth, which he did. One of them tried to say something to us but Ampon said, "Don't talk to them, they're all pigs."
Ernita was saying, "Don't Pak [Sir], don't kill me." Two of the cars then drove off, Ampon's car and our RATA car. The other three stayed at the SMA school. The two cars drove about 400 meters in the forest along the railroad line. Near a ruined house, all of us started to get out, but Ampon said, "No, two of them first." Idris and Ernita then got out of the car. They were brought to the house by the one with the red moustache and one of the [suspected] TNI who had their guns against the heads of Idris and Ernita. A [suspected] TNI man was filming the whole time. Ampon said, "Don't shoot them standing up, make them lie down. It's enough to use one bullet per person. Ernita and Idris were then kicked to the ground, and immediately shot in the head.
I was in the meantime trying to get my hands untied. I managed to do so, but kept the rope in place so it looked like I was still tied up. I then went to work on freeing Bachtiar's hands but only managed to get a few knots untied when the cuak came back and the three of us, myself, Bachtiar, and Rusli, were ordered out of the car. Rusli said to me, "What will happen to my wife and children?" We were marched for about a meter, and when we got closer to the house I just ran. I later heard two shots as I took off, and believe that Bachtiar and Rusli were killed then. The men opened fire on me as I was running and emptied a full magazine trying to hit me.
I ran for about fifteen minutes without stopping through tall grass. When the sun set, I was still in the forest. I went up a small hill and saw a house with a light in the distance. I went to the house and called out, but the family inside was scared. I was dressed only in my underwear. Eventually, they took me in and gave me food. I asked to be taken to the next village and they helped me, and finally I managed to make it home.
END
Mahfud Repeats Threat of Military Might to Tame Aceh
Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 14
Minister of Defense Mahfud MD said on Wednesday his earlier statement that the government was seriousness about taking stern military action to restore order in the troubled Aceh province should peaceful solutions fail."We are serious that we might resort to a military operation if all efforts do not work," Mahfud said. The minister, however, reiterated that the government was committed to continuing the peace talks with the rebel group, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), and other related parties in Aceh to solve the problems."That (the military operation) will be the last option, but we will continue to hold dialogs until we all tire of it," he said. Nevertheless, he said he would not tolerate any effort by any party to separate Aceh from Indonesia's fold.
The Indonesian government and GAM have signed a truce called the humanitarian pause in an effort to stop human rights abuses in the strife-torn region.But GAM has stated that it might boycott future peace talks due to increasing violence in Aceh.Despite the truce, which has been extended to Jan 15, 2001, violence in the province has continued unabated. Since the truce was renewed in October, at least 166 people have been killed, consisting of 12 soldiers, 17 policemen, 50 civilians, 64 GAM rebels and 23 unidentified persons. The death toll was among 457 cases of violence, including ambushes, attacks and shootings. The figures are higher than the first phase of the truce -- from June 2 to Sept. 2 -- in which 63 people were killed in 196 cases of violence. Both security forces and GAM have accused each other of starting the encounters.
END
Security in Aceh Intensified Ahead of Gus Dur Visit
The Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 14
The government said on Wednesday that they were beefing up security in Aceh ahead of President Abdurrahman Wahid's visit to the troubled province on Tuesday. "We are going to clean up places that are going to be visited by the President three days before he arrives," National Police Chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro told journalists before a Cabinet meeting at Bina Graha presidential office. He said the police "have prepared enough personnel to secure the President's visit". Bimantoro, however, refused to disclose the number of security personnel deployed.
When asked whether he had asked for military backup in Aceh, Bimantoro said: "It is automatic (for the police to ask for military backup)". Bimantoro also said that he had dispatched chief of the elite police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) to Aceh to investigate Abdurrahman's allegations that Brimob members fired shots a few days ago while people were conducting evening prayers during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadhan. But Bimantoro defended his men. "If we encounter enemies at night of course we have to deal with them immediately. We can't wait until the morning," he said.
During the Aceh visit the president is expected to officially inaugurate the implementation of Islamic shariah law in the province and hand over Rp 100 billion of development aid. However, Defense Minister Mahfud M.D. said, that Abdurrahman would not declare the use of Islamic law in Aceh. "Islamic shariah law is already stipulated in the 1999 law on Aceh, so I think it would be irrelevant for the President to declare it again during his visit," Mahfud said. Separately, the Information Center for Aceh Referendum (SIRA), a non-governmental organization which organized a mass rally for peace in Banda Aceh last month, called on the president to cancel his planned visit to Aceh, saying it will not help to win the Acehnese' hearts.
An executive of SIRA's representative in Jakarta, Munawir Zein, claimed on Tuesday that a recent poll of over 2.7 million Acehnese shows that 91 percent support independence while only one percent support wide-ranging autonomy for the province. Munawir further claimed that SIRA intelligence found indications that there are people planning to shoot Gus Dur while visiting Aceh. "Potential assassins are likely to infiltrate the 2,500 troops assigned to guard the guests. The culprits are political enemies of Gus Dur in Jakarta who want the government to impose a civil or military emergency in Aceh," he added.
Meanwhile in Banda Aceh an activist with the Rehabilitation Action for Torture Victims in Aceh (RATA) recounted his escape from murder from an armed group on Dec. 6. Nazaruddin claimed he and his three colleagues -- Ernita, 23, Idris, 27, and Bachtiar, 24, along with a local resident named Rusli -- were driving in their vehicle when they were stopped by a plain-clothed man called Ampon Thayeb. He said they were forced to hand over their valuables and then beaten up before being taken away. "The convoy then stopped near a military post, where Thayeb consulted with several people, clad in military uniforms, before heading to a nearby forest," Nazaruddin claimed.
He alleged that the armed men then shot dead Rusli and his three colleagues, near an empty house. Nazaruddin escaped by rolling down the valley as the security officers fired shots at him. Police Special Operation Cinta Meunasah chief Sr. Supt. Kusbini Imbar denied on Wednesday allegations that police officers were responsible for the kidnapping and the killing at Alue Lim village in North Aceh. "We only received the report and then evacuated the four bodies," he said. The officer said the kidnapping was probably perpetrated by rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) as the location is a stronghold of the movement.
END
GAM Members Allegedly Kill Policeman, Injures Another
The Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 14
The separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) allegedly shot dead a member of the Police Mobile Brigade Pvt. Iskandar and injured another Chief Sgt. Muhammad Sufi in a clash in Kuala Unga village in Lamno district, West Aceh, an officer said during a media briefing on Wednesday.Spokesman for the Aceh Police Snr. Supt. Kusbini Imbar told reporters that the incident took place at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
According to Kusbini, the two police personnel were on their way to Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province, for an assignment. They were in a rented car along with three other police personnel and the driver from the car rental company. "When they reached Kuala Unga village, which was on way, dozens of GAM members were conducting a sweeping operation. Suddenly the driver jumped out of the car and fled," Kusbini said. The armed rebels then fired at the car from behind, he added. "The officers shot at the crowd to disperse them while one of them quickly took to the wheels of the car to escape," Kusbini said. Iskandar's body was sent to Lampung on Wednesday while Muhammad Sufi is being treated at a nearby hospital.
END
UN, US Slam Killing of Aceh Aid Workers
The Indonesian Observer ~ Dec. 13
The United Nations and the United States yesterday deplored the killing of three humanitarian workers in troubled Aceh province and urged Indonesia to investigate this month's incident as well as to bring the killers to justice."The United Nations organizations in Indonesia condemn any attacks or acts of violence on humanitarian workers carrying out humanitarian tasks," said a statement from the UN office in Jakarta.Three activists from Rehabilitation Action for Torture Victims in Aceh (RATA) were murdered while carrying out their humanitarian duties at Tanah Pasir and Cot Mat Tahe in the district of North Aceh on December 6.
The murder of Idris (27), Ernita (23) and Bakhtiar (22) has been blamed on suspected military or police personnel dressed in civilian uniforms."The UN in Indonesia calls upon the responsible authorities and other parties to guarantee safety and protection for humanitarian workers, in accordance with universally accepted humanitarian principles, in carrying out their humanitarian mission anywhere in the country," the statement said.The UN also extended its heartfelt condolences to the families and colleagues of the victims.
Philip T. Reeker, a deputy spokesman for the US Foreign Ministry, said his country strongly condemned the killing of the three aid workers and the torture of another civilian in the North Aceh town of Lhokseumawe."We urge the Indonesian government to investigate the latest killings and bring those responsible [for the incident] to court," Reeker was quoted as saying in a statement released by the US Embassy in Jakarta."We urge the Indonesian government to guarantee that its security forces respect human rights and security for all humanitarian and human rights workers."
A similar condemnation was also voiced by leaders of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI). Munarman, coordinator of Kontras, accused three policemen based in North Aceh - Junjungan, Hilman and Rasyidi - of being behind the December 6 murder. Spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry Sulaiman Abdulmanan yesterday rejected what he called the hasty conclusion that the three aid worker were murdered by security forces in Aceh."They cannot accuse [military or police personnel] of the murder without providing evidence," he told the Observer last night, adding that the incident should be investigated and the real killers brought to justice.
Meanwhile, Munarman, PBHI deputy director Jhonson Pandjaitan and head of Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA)'s Jakarta branch, Munawar Zain, urged the government to release Aceh's pro-independence activist leader Muhammad Nazar.Nazar was arrested late last month in the run-up to the September rally demanding a referendum in Aceh and is detained at a police cell in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh. Munarman said the arrest of Nazar was illegal because it was politically motivated. "The government is still using the old method of dealing with public protests against threats against [separatist activists]. So we demand that the government be consistent in upholding the law by setting free Nazar without any conditions," he said.
END
13,000 Acehnese Refugees Starving in North Sumatra
The Indonesian Observer ~ Dec. 13
Around 13,719 Acehnese refugees from 3,045 families, are starving in Langkat, North Sumatra. The basic commodities and cash they receive are not enough to satisfy the minimum requirement for nutrition, Antara news agency reported yesterday. After being driven out of North Aceh, East Aceh and Meulaboh districts of Aceh Province by members of the Aceh Freedom Movement 13 months ago, each family has received only 5 kilos of rice and cash up to Rp75,000. Normally, each individual refugee receives 400 grams of rice and Rp1,500 every day. Due to the lack of provisions, they are becoming emaciated, are lacking vitamins, and many suffer from edema (dropsy). Even menial jobs like building houses, driving becaks and farming are difficult to come by because they have to compete with locals who do not appreciate the influx of refugees desperate for work. As a result, refugees' meagre incomes have little chance of being supplemented by work.
Refugees in the subdistricts of Gebang, Tanjung Pura and Stabat, are a little luckier. They have received funds and basic commodities from the developers of Karang Sari. But this is a temporary solution.Despite various kinds of aid from many sources, parents still do not have enough food for their children, let alone enough money to send them to junior or senior high schools. Scores of representatives of the refugees, headed by Edy Gunawan, recently tried to meet the governor of North Sumatra in Medan to express their worries and seek a solution to their problems. But since the governor was out, they were received by officers from the Social Department, headed by Imran Daulay. The refugees called on the officers to get them jobs, to finance the education of their children and even to send them to Java. Spokesperson of North Sumatra Province, M.L. Tobing, told the refugees that he and officers from the Social Department will discuss their problems with the governor. The officers said they will try to prevent them from starving and to provide more nutritious food for children under five .
END
Rebels Fear Set-Up During Wahid Trip
By Chris McCall, South China Morning Post ~ Dec. 13
Rebels in Indonesia's strife-ridden Aceh province said yesterday they feared a forthcoming trip by President Abdurrahman Wahid would be manipulated to justify a new crackdown. Spokesman Mr Amni bin Ahmad Marzuki said the rebel Free Aceh Movement feared interest groups in Jakarta might use the event to engineer an act of violence against the head of state and blame them. His words come after Defence Minister Mahfud Mahmoddin warned of a new offensive if the rebels, also known by the acronym GAM, refused to return to the negotiating table by January 15. An ineffective truce is due to expire that day but the rebels have suspended talks on extending it, accusing government forces of excessive violations. "GAM will be blamed," said Mr Amni, one of five rebel representatives on a security committee overseeing the truce. "It will be engineered. We see that there is quarrelling in the Government. We are very frightened that something will happen to [Mr Wahid] and they will use that."
According to Care Human Rights Forum, the province's leading rights lobby, more than 800 people have been killed in violence in Aceh this year, more than double last year. Independent monitors blame the security forces for most of the violence, although they say GAM is not totally innocent. Mr Amni questioned the need for Mr Wahid to come at all, saying he was coming as the head of a colonising state. Mr Wahid is set to visit Aceh next Tuesday to officially inaugurate Islamic Sharia law in the staunchly Muslim province.
Mr Amni said Acehnese already adhered to Islamic law and had no need to see it formalised. The visit was hurriedly announced after a wave of violence after the 24th anniversary of an unrecognised December 4, 1976, "declaration of independence" by the rebels. Since his election last year, Mr Wahid has stressed the need to make up for years of human rights abuses in Aceh, but opponents and the military have pushed hard for a tough approach. On Monday, Mr Wahid expressed concern about recent police actions in the province. Mr Amni said if he felt so strongly he should withdraw all police and military except those permanently based in Aceh. "If the police and troops who are not based here are taken out, it will become quite peaceful," he said.
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Aceh Killings: Letter to President Wahid
By Paul Barber, TOPAL ~ Dec. 12
President KH Abdurrahman Wahid
President of Indonesia Istana Merdeka
Jakarta 10110 Indonesia
By fax: + 62 21 345 2685/526 8726
12 December 2000
Dear President Wahid,
We are writing to express our outrage at the wilful killings in Aceh by Indonesian security forces of three humanitarian workers employed by Rehabilitation Action for Torture Victims (RATA) and a fourth person last Wednesday, 6 December.
This appalling incident is part of a pattern of brutal attacks on human rights defenders, political activists and humanitarian workers every bit as despicable as the killing of the three UNHCR workers in West Timor in September. We urge your government to take the strongest possible action against those responsible for this latest outrage. As long as atrocities such as these continue to be committed with impunity, there can be no hope for an improvement in the human rights situation or for a peaceful solution to Aceh's problems. We fear that your own credibility as a defender of human rights and democracy is unlikely to survive much longer unless the perpetrators of this and other past atrocities are brought to justice.Unless you act firmly before your visit to the province next week, the visit is likely to be seen as a meaningless gesture by the Achenese people who have suffered for so long at the hands of the security forces.
We urge you to ensure that credible, independent and impartial investigations are carried out into last week's killings and past human rights atrocities in Aceh so that those responsible, including those who issued the relevant orders, are brought to justice promptly in trials whichmeet international standards of fairness. To ensure the credibility of the process, no members of the security forces should be involved as they cannot be regarded as independent and impartial. We also urge you to respond to the request made on 22 November by Experts of the UN Commission on Human Rights for your Government to provide information regarding past abuses and to ensure that the right to life, the right to physical and mental integrity and the right to be free from arbitrary arrest and detention of the population of Aceh are fully protected. We thank you for your kind attention to this vital matter.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Barber For TAPOL
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Indonesia: Sole Survivor of Attack on Humanitarian Aid Workers Speaks
Human Rights Watch ~ Dec. 12
Human Rights Watch today released an eyewitness account of the December 6 execution-style murders of three humanitarian workers and a villager, all from the Lhokseumawe area of Aceh in Indonesia. Interviewed by Human Rights Watch as he was being escorted to safety, the twenty-two-year old eyewitness described in harrowing detail a more than three-hour ordeal in which the workers were abducted by a group of fifteen men, interrogated, beaten with rifle butts, driven around to two military command posts, tied up, and finally shot at point-blank range. One of their captors filmed the executions with a videocamera. Four bodies were subsequently discovered at the site.
According to the witness, the man who ordered the killings was a well-known "cuak," or informer for the army, named Ampon Thayeb, who has worked with the Indonesian military in the Lhokseumawe area for more than a decade. He was accompanied in the operation by three other Acehnese, and at least ten other men in civilian clothes, all carrying sophisticated automatic rifles, who appeared to be soldiers and who got out of their vehicles briefly at the two army posts before proceeding to the execution site. One of the ten was referred to as "dan," short for commander, and Ampon sought instructions from him as to where the workers should be killed."This is one of the rare cases in Aceh in which a victim has come forward and publicly identified the perpetrator," said Joe Saunders, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch. "Residents of Lhokseumawe told us he has been terrorizing the area for more than a decade. The Indonesian government can have no excuse for failing to arrest and prosecute Ampon Thayeb and his army backers."
As the eyewitness account makes clear, Ampon killed the humanitarian workers because they were treating torture victims in an area known as a stronghold of the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka or GAM) and assumed they were all GAM supporters. Three of those killed worked for Rehabilitation Action for Torture Victims in Aceh (RATA), a non-governmental organization (NGO) linked to the internationally known International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, based in Denmark.
The surviving witness said Ampon ordered two of the workers, Idris and Ernita, out of the vehicle in which they were all being held. The witness then watched, horrified, as the two were shot. He and two others were ordered out of the same van, but he had managed to untie his hands, and as soon as he had both feet on the ground, he ran for his life. He heard two shots as he was running, and assumes that the other two were killed in the same manner as the first. He escaped with just a cut lip and bruises from being beaten.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have called for an investigation into the killings and for international monitoring of any investigation by Jakarta-based embassies or by a donor delegation to Aceh. Human Rights Watch today called on Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid to invite U.N. specialists on torture, arbitrary execution, and human rights defenders to conduct an independent assessment of rights abuses in the conflict-torn province. It also said that Exxon-Mobil and other foreign companies operating government-owned facilities in Aceh should publicly and privately call for an independent investigation of the murders, and assure the local Acehnese population that the companies will not cooperate with any units of the Indonesian security forces shown to have been involved in these killings or previous extrajudicial executions in Aceh.
A copy of the eyewitness account.
For More Information, contact: In New York, Joe Saunders: (w) +1 212 216 1207 (h) +1 718 398 8893 In Washington, Mike Jendrzejczyk: (w) +1 202 612 4341 (h) +1 301 585 5824
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Syariah in Aceh is Gus Dur's Dirty Trick
By Hestiana Dharmastuti / Fitri & BI, DetikWorld ~ Dec. 12
Jakarta,Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) has stated Acehnese do not want application of Syariah (Islamic Law) preordained by Indonesian government. SIRA considers the application of Syariah as a mere political trick engineered by President Abdurrahman Wahid. The Center is also opposed President's visit to Aceh on 19 December. "Imposition of Syariah in Aceh is simply a dirty political trick from Gus Dur (as the President is fondly addressed - Ed). When he was abroad, Gus Dur mentioned Islam in Aceh is a fundamentalist type, to provide legal ground for Gus Dur to slaughter Acehnese," said Munawar Zain, Jakarta based SIRA's Consultant at the Indonesian Legal Aids Foundation, Jl. Diponegoro, Jakarta, Tuesday 12/12/2000.
Munawar reasoned that Syariah offered by Gus Dur has been stipulated within 1945 Constitution. Whereas Acehnese, he asserted, do not want Syariah that is being concocted by Indonesian government. "We don't want to implement an arranged Syariah as we had in Dutch colonial era. We demands Syariah that is free from Indonesia," said Munawar. SIRA has also rejected Gus Dur's plan to invite 34 ambassadors of Islamic countries to accompany his visit. Munawar commented Gus Dur's visit would not mean much for Acehnese. "For us, Gus Dur is not that great. Whether he come or not, it would not solve the problems. We just want a referendum to determine our fate. As well as to demand the UN and Indonesia to resolve Aceh's problems," said Munawar.
SIRA also made a startling claim that it received an information of snipers infiltration into the 2,000 security forces set to safeguard him during the visit. SIRA confident that Gus Dur's political enemies assigned these snipers in order to assassinate him. This would provide more reason why SIRA has opposed to Gus Dur's visit. unawar believed that the infiltration has been conducted by military and certain quarters who wish to see civil emergency to be implement in Aceh. These snipers would be positioned in strategic spots to shoot Gus Dur or any other ambassadors during the visit. "By using that method, they would easily make the scapegoat out of Acehnese and called us a perpetrator," Munawar said and adding that SIRA only warned the President about the danger lies ahead. "It's an excuse to legalise imposition of civil emergency in Aceh," said Munawar.
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Sharia Declared in Aceh to Quell Push for Independence
By Catharine Munro, Australian Associated Press ~ Dec. 12
Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation, will declare that the rule of Islamic law - Sharia - will be supreme in one of its provinces for the first time in 55 years of independence.President Abdurrahman Wahid, himself a Muslim cleric, is offering the new regime of religious justice to the people of strife-torn Aceh in a bid to placate the militant independence movement there. Next Tuesday, escorted by ambassadors from 34 Islamic countries, he will travel to the devoutly Muslim province on the northern tip of Indonesia's western-most island of Sumatra to make the announcement. The gesture is already being criticised as ignoring calls for independence in the province, where Acehnese feel Jakarta has exploited an incredible wealth of natural resources for too long.
Declaring Sharia could fuel religious intolerance in other parts of the country which has, since independence in 1945, kept religion and government apart, analysts warn. And religious fundamentalists in Aceh would be able to exploit confusion over how to interpret Sharia because Aceh's provincial government has not had time to draw up regulations under the new legal system. Some countries which administer Sharia, such as Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, take a traditional approach to the laws, based on Islam's holy text, the Koran. Thieves have their hands chopped off as punishment while adulteresses are stoned to death. It is still not clear whether Indonesia, where the practice of Islam is less fundamentalist than in the Middle East, would interpret Sharia for criminal law in the same way.
But legal expert Andi Mallarangeng fears the confusion will be exploited in the near term, further destabilising the province. "If some Muslims interpret it in a very radical way, similar to what happened in Afghanistan, that could create tensions," said a former legal adviser to the government, Dr Andi Mallarangeng. "This is ad hoc, it's reactive policy which will not solve Aceh's problems."But it will create other problems by having no legal parameters. We also have to be very, very careful because otherwise this could affect the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims outside Aceh."
Aceh's provincial government has already drawn up general regulations governing some areas of moral life. More complex areas of criminal law will be introduced after Jakarta introduces legislation on special autonomy for Aceh on May 1, according to provincial government officials. Commercial law will also have to be worked out since Sharia can be interpreted to ban banks from charging interest. One law already passed by Aceh's provincial government bans the trade and consumption of alcohol, although non-Muslims can still legally drink alcohol at home.
Another rule already in place requires all Muslim women in Aceh to cover their heads with the "jilbab" scarf or face jail terms or fines. Foreigners would be required to respect local customs, the regulations say."It's a form of discrimination towards women," according to "Siti", a women's rights activist in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh who did not wish to use her real name for fear of harassment. "I'm afraid there will be conflict because everyone has different interpretations of Islam."
As a human rights worker, Siti has reason to use an alias. Last week three Acehnese members of a Danish-sponsored group which deals with victims of violence, were shot dead execution-style by police at a roadblock in North Aceh. "Even when the situation in Aceh was safer, when we wanted to talk about discrimination against women, we were accused of being secular by the local media," Siti said. "I'm concerned about my safety because there are radical groups that could do something to us."
Jakarta-based human rights group Kontras estimates that in Aceh in the year 2000 alone, 73 people have disappeared, 310 have been murdered, 455 have been arbitrarily arrested and there have been 436 victims of torture.Many are civilians caught up in a vicious battle between Indonesian security forces and the 24-year-old Free Aceh Movement (GAM).Declaring Sharia would do nothing to appease GAM and other independence activists, according to Hasballah Sa'ad, a former Indonesian government minister for human rights who himself comes from Aceh."We know the people of Aceh have wanted to apply Sharia since the 1950s but GAM never asked for Sharia," Sa'ad said. Meanwhile, introducing a whole new legal system needed time, he said."Sharia needs a lot of preparation and that's not easy. This is just a ceremony."
Muslims in Indonesia can already opt to use Sharia law in some areas of private life, such as marriage, but unlike the plan for Aceh, the state does not enforce these laws. Dr Greg Fealy, a specialist on Islam at Australian National University, did not believe that the declaration, first planned by Wahid's predecessor President B.J. Habibie, would be repeated across Indonesia. He described Aceh as a special case and pointed out that efforts by some politicians to amend the Constitution to introduce the observance of Sharia for Muslims across Indonesia were resoundingly voted down in August.
Greg Barton, an academic from Deakin University who is currently finishing a biography on Wahid, agreed. He also did not expect the declaration would change much in Indonesia overall. "There is a danger in these areas of starting a kind of arms race ... where different parties contend to be the true author of Islam society," Dr Barton said. "I don't think that's going to happen in Indonesia because the large political groups are not radicalised."
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Abdurrahman Set to Visit Aceh Despite Violence
The Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 11
Despite a grenade attack on the home of newly-appointed AcehGovernor Abdullah Puteh and recurring violence that has claimed the lives of one soldier, two police officers and a civilian on Saturday, President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid is slated to visit the volatile province of Aceh on Dec. 19."The visit is for the imposition of Islamic law in the province, which issomething the Acehnese have long demanded for," deputy chief of the SupremeAdvisory Council, Agus Sudono, said as quoted by Antara on Sunday. Abdurrahman was initially scheduled to travel to the western tip of Sumatra on his way back from Bangkok on Friday, but continuing violence demanded that he reschedule his visit for Dec. 19. In the latest act of violence, a grenade attack was launched on Governor Abdullah's home on Saturday.
Aceh Police chief Supt. Sayed Husaini said on Sunday the grenade explodedoutside the governor's official residence as visiting Minister of Forestry Nurmahmudi Ismail and other guests were inside. No one was injured in the attack on Saturday evening. Earlier on Saturday, five soldiers who were shopping at Seunodon market in Lhokseumawe, the main town in North Aceh, were shot at by two gunmen. "The five soldiers from the Tanah Jambo Aye Military Resort Command were shopping for food. The gunmen came in motorcycles," public relation officerof the Cinta Meunasah operation Sr. Supt. Kusbini said as quoted by Antara. "They just started shooting... one soldier (Chief Pvt. Sujana) was killed. One civilian, Saiful Hanafiah, was also reportedly killed in the incident."
Meanwhile, Kusbini said Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels also attacked a Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) post located at a factory in Wiralano, East Aceh. First Pvt. Tulus Widiatna was shot dead and Second Pvt. Sasti Handonowas seriously injured in the attack. Sasti died on Sunday. "The bodies of Chief Pvt. Sujana and First Pvt. Tulus Widiatna were flown to their respective corps on a Garuda flight on Sunday," Kusbini said. Earlier on Friday evening, a grenade was thrown into a military barracks in Lambada Lhok, injuring two soldiers on duty, commander Lt. Col. Ferdinand Setiawan said. Also on Friday, a villager from Meucat in North Aceh was shot dead by unknown gunmen, according to a local journalist.
Violence in the restive province of Aceh continues despite a truce between the government and rebel forces. A three-month truce signed in May was extended for another three months in September, but it has so far had little effect on the ground. GAM has been fighting for a free Islamic state in Aceh since 1976. Jakarta and GAM have agreed to resume talks in Europe some time this month to seek a political settlement, but have yet to set a date. Earlier, Governor Abdullah said the President, during his visit, was also scheduled to witness a ceremony to mark the handover of government funds worth Rp 100 billion (US$10.6 million) for the Aceh economic recovery program.
Minister of Defense Mahfud MD said if the government was willing to take tough measures, the GAM members could be easily overcome in a short time". When pressed whether military operations would be launched to crack down on the separatist rebels in Aceh if the government and rebels fail to meet the Jan. 15 deadline for a dialog, Mahfud said: "Military action will be our last resort. There are still steps that can be taken after the deadline."
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NGOs Issue Peace Calls for Aceh
The Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 11
Non-governmental organizations, grouped in the Aceh People's Assembly for Peace (Sira-Rakan), issued a seven-point joint communique on Monday in relation with the escalating violence in the strife-torn province. The announcement, signed by coordinator Muhammad Taufik Abda, was also made to end the week of international solidarity for human rights violations in Aceh. Among others, the communique called on the government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to cease fire as a requiement to seek for peaceful solution for Aceh.
The groups also demanded the release of their chairman Muhammad Nazar from police detention. Further, the groups also called on Acehnese to remain consistent with their struggle for referendum for sake of the territory future. "We also press on international community or foreign countries agreed by both government and GAm to help settling the political crisis, security and humanitarian crisis in Aceh through media or formal intervention," the groups said in a statement as quoted by Antara.
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Govt. Prepared to Launch Military Operation in Aceh
The Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 11
Minister of Defense Machfud MD said on Monday that the government was ready to launch a military operation in Aceh to restore order if peace talks with the separatist Free Aceh Movement failed. After accompanying President Abdurrahman Wahid in a meeting with students of the National Resilience Institute, Machfud said talks with the separatist movement had currently reached a deadlock. Machfud noted that GAM maintains its initial stance, demanding independence for Aceh, a position which is not acceptable for the government. If the talks could not be resumed, the peace agreement -- officially called the Humanitarian Pause -- would expire on January 15, and the government would take necessary actions, including military operations, to restore order in Aceh. Nevertheless, Machfud noted that the government would initially pursue various other measures before any military operation was launched, including warnings and offering an amnesty program. "If GAM retains its position of demanding independence, we will also retain our position that we will never give independence," he said.
President Abdurrahman Wahid is slated to visit Aceh next week to observe the launching of the Islamic syariah law in the restive province.
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Human Rights 'No Better Under Gus Dur'
By Marianne Kearney, The Straits Times ~ Dec. 11
A year under President Abdurrahman Wahid has led to a continuation of human-rights violations.The total number of deaths, summary arrests, disappearances and tortures in some regions had reportedly far outweighed the violations during President B.J. Habibie's presidency.The Aceh Human Rights Care Forum said last week that the death toll in the province was 841, far more than last year's total of 393. Of the 841 killed, 676 were civilians, 124 were members of the police or army, and 41 were members of the Free Aceh Movement.
A separate survey by rights group Kontras found that from Irian Jaya to Maluku, to Aceh, 2,119 people had died over the past year in incidents involving human-rights violations. However, the real total may be much higher as other officials in Maluku say the death toll from sectarian fighting from January to September was over 2,000. Both the New York-based Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have condemned the rising violence of security forces across the archipelago.
This was particularly so in Aceh, where last week police executed three people working for an international humanitarian agency. 'The Indonesian government is allowing its security forces to target humanitarian workers in Aceh, just as it allowed militias to target such workers in West Timor,' the two human-rights organisations said. 'The international community should be every bit as outraged over these executions as they were over the brutal killing of three United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees workers in September, and take equally firm action.' The report also said Mr Abdurrahman, well-known for his humanism, had done little to reduce human-rights violations.'Throughout the year, he proved strong on the symbolism of human rights and weaker on the implementation of safeguards,' it said.
The head of Indonesia's National Human Rights body, Mr Asmara Nababan, said it was not surprising a high number of human-rights violations continued to be committed in the strife-torn provinces of Aceh, Maluku and Irian Jaya.He said abuses occurred because Mr Abdurrahman's government had failed to remove the armed forces' presence in territories across Indonesia, and especially because there was no significant legal prosecution for soldiers or police found to have committed abuses.'The methodology of solving political and social conflicts is still to use repressive measures through the armed forces.'As long as the armed forces are used to solve these problems, you will continue to have violations,' he said.
Abuses: Police take part
IRIAN JAYA
Dec 7: Following an attack on a police station, police raid student dormitories, beating and kicking up to 100 people. Three are beaten to death.
Dec 2: Police open fire on pro-independence supporters, killing at least nine people across Irian Jaya.
ACEH
Dec 6: Four humanitarian workers assisting torture victims were stopped by police. Three were executed.
Sept 19: Two student activists with Sira - a group that advocates a referendum on Aceh's political status - were beaten by mobile police after being seized at gunpoint.
Sept 5: A volunteer with humanitarian organisation Save Emergency for Aceh was detained by the mobile police in the Meukek sub-district. He was released after having been punched, kicked and slashed.
Aug 27: Three staff of Oxfam working in South Aceh were hospitalised after being tortured by Brimob officers.
August: A US human-rights activist was killed and an Acehnese lecturer shot.
END
Police Top Human Rights Abusers, Reports Kontras
The Jakarta Post ~ December 10
The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence(Kontras) has recorded 1,216 cases of human rights abuse throughout the year, with police troops taking the lion's share. Field investigations conducted by Kontras activists in several volatile areas in the country, including Irian Jaya and Aceh, revealed that 2,119 people had died over the past 12 months in incidents involving human rightsviolations. Konstras coordinator Munarman told a media conference held in conjunction with the International Human Rights Day here that incidents of torture wererampant in the country with 429 cases and 878 victims. Arbitrary arrests were placed second in the number of victims, with 710 in the 450 cases reported, while killings without prior proper legal process claimed 457 lives. There have been 50 cases of forced disappearance or abduction throughout the year, according to Kontras, with 78 people declared still missing.
Aceh was the province most afflicted by human rights abuse, according to Kontras. Since January the territory in the northern tip of Sumatra has seen 57 cases of forced disappearance with 73 victims; 185 cases of attempted murder resulting in 310 deaths; 315 cases of arbitrary arrest affecting 455 people; and 376 reports of torture with 436 victims. Violence remains unabated in Aceh, where separatist rebels have been waging an independence struggle since the 1970s, despite the revocation of a decade-long military operations in August 1998. The latest violence which occurred in connection with the anniversary celebration of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on Monday left 10 people dead.
Irian Jaya, at the other end of the archipelago, has also witnessed a series of violent incidents as calls for independence have intensified. At least 16 people were killed as people in the natural-resource rich province observed the unrecognized 1961 declaration of independence on Dec. 1. Kontras noted that police contributed an additional 910 violations to the litany of human rights abuses it recorded at the end of the second millennium. Indonesian Military (TNI) was blamed in 29 cases, and the two security forces (TNI and the Police) were implicated in 175 rights abuses when holding joint operations. In the restive province of Aceh alone, 735 human rights violations were attributed to the police. Munarman said the police, like the military, tended to violate human rights because its function had been reduced to an institution to enforce the government's policies. The police, Munarman said, had also been unable to change its doctrine and code of conduct in addressing security problems in the society.
Ending the conference, Munarman expressed his skepticism that human rights protection could be improved in the future due to the government's "authoritarian" stance in solving problems in Aceh, Irian and Maluku. "The state has obviously allowed human rights abuses to be committed by its security apparatus throughout the year 2000, and allowed the use of force in addressing problems, as has happened in Aceh and Irian, " he said.
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'Widows' of Aceh Fight For Freedom in a Bitter Land
By Jacqueline Koch, The Age ~ Dec. 9
The "widows" are the eyes and ears of GAM, the Free Aceh Movement. Women have suffered the lion's share of Aceh's tragedy. Now they are stepping forward to defend themselves in ways that defy traditional stereotypes. Demure and modestly veiled in jilbab headscarves, women circulate through Aceh's coffee shops, food stalls and open markets.Youth and gender shield them from suspicion as they gather bits of conversation, noting who meets whom. Most are in their early 20s and not yet married, but they are known as the inong bale, or "widows". They are trained in military operations, to fire weapons and gather intelligence; they are the reserve force and the eyes and ears of GAM, the Free Aceh Movement.
After 24 years of conflict, women in this north-west province of Indonesia are increasingly responding to the violence that surrounds them. Emerging from traditional Muslim roles, they have become activists, politicians, human rights defenders and rebel fighters. Cut Nur Asyikin is known as the "Lion of Aceh". A mother of five and a devout Muslim, she is a soldier fighting to stop military aggression against civilians. The political activist is imbued with a personal commitment to her people.
Travelling to refugee camps, she distributes food, supplies and moral support. At the hospital, she is a regular, stopping in on recently wounded civilians, digging into her purse for money to help the family. Her allegiance is to the Free Aceh Movement, which launched its struggle to gain independence from Indonesia in 1976. Following the fall of president Suharto in 1998 and subsequent promises for reform, Acehnese demands for a referendum on independence grew more insistent. The political elite in Jakarta, dependent on Aceh's vast oil and gas resources, has refused and a repressive military and police presence remains.
Early this year, Aceh was again in the grip of violence. The situation prompted the government and separatist rebels to negotiate a "humanitarian pause", hoping to secure aid to victims and find a workable solution. Yet progress has been marginally successful at best.Following the most recent wave of violence last month, where 51 people lost their lives attempting to attend a pro-referendum rally, talks have broken down.Two weeks ago, President Abdurrahman Wahid threatened to impose a state of civil emergency and squash the separatist movement. The crisis continues to brew and the scenario becomes eerily reminiscent of East Timor.
In the mist-shrouded hills looming beyond the capital, Banda Aceh, 250 women attend a lecture on international human rights laws in a makeshift meeting hall. It is the nucleus of an extensive separatist military camp, carved out of the tropical forest. Their commander, the soft-spoken Teungku Tarzura, says: "These women were not recruited. They come here on their own, they come out of concern for their country." The "widows" enlist for a month-long induction in military operations and intelligence gathering. They also learn pro-independence ideology, international human rights laws and further their Islamic education. At the end of four weeks, "we return to our villages, or start our university studies, but if our people need us, we are ready to defend them", explains one inong bale initiate who asked not to be named.
Indonesia has repeatedly tried to quell GAM separatists using brutal measures, but with little success. In 1988, then-president Suharto ordered special military operations in Aceh. Conservative estimates put the civilian death toll at 5500. Thousands were wounded, imprisoned or simply disappeared. Countless civilians were confined to the institutionalised rumah geudong, or torture houses, where they were beaten, mutilated and subjected to electric shock.Women have suffered the lion's share of the tragedy. Losing their husbands, sons and fathers, many are left unable to support or protect themselves or their children. Scores of women were systematically targeted by military personnel, raped, sexually abused and mutilated.
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Terror Set to Escalate In Aceh/West Papua: Tapol Urges Retraint and End to Impunity as State
TOPAL ~ December 9
As the number of victims of human rights atrocities in Indonesia's far-flung provinces of West Papua and Aceh mounts daily, TAPOL today called for Indonesia to seek peaceful and democratic solutions to the provinces' problems and punish those responsible for the wave of violence and repression. In the past two days, four Papuans have been killed while in police custody in apparent retaliation for the deaths of two police officers during an attack on a police station and market in the capital Jayapura. In Aceh, police executed three humanitarian workers and a torture victim on Wednesday.
Recent weeks have seen lethal crackdowns by the security forces on independence movements widely supported in both provinces. The peaceful expression of political opinion has led to extensive bloodshed and loss of life. Independence leaders and political activists who advocate non-violence have become the first prisoners of conscience of President Wahid's regime. 'The President's reputation as a pro-democracy reformer and advocate of human rights is in danger of being destroyed by the alarming return of the dark days of the Suharto regime characterised by the brutal repression of dissent and of opposition to rule from Jakarta. Human rights atrocities are bound to escalate in the coming weeks if the security forces remain committed to confrontation as opposed to reconciliation,' TAPOL said.
There are alarming signs that events are now beyond the President's control. His political power has weakened considerably in recent months as he has come under increasing pressure from military hard-liners, political opponents and ultra-nationalists determined to defend the unitary state at all costs. On 5 December, the military (TNI) announced that troops would be deployed in villages in West Papua and Aceh for 'social programmes', a thinly-disguised pretext for a further crackdowns on independence supporters. The President's spokesman, Wimar Witoelar, admitted that the Wahid administration was concerned about the TNI's motives and that the President had no choice to agree. 'It's really hard not to allow the military to do anything,' he said [Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 5 December 2000].
This is a severe blow to reformers' hopes of ending TNI's socio-political role in society and establishing civilian control over the military. The strategy of adopting the military solution to the problems in restive provinces does not augur well for human rights and democracy in Indonesia. West Papua remains extremely tense following muted celebrations on 1 December to mark the day in 1961 when a Papuan Council adopted the 'Morning Star' flag as their national emblem amid promises from the Dutch colonial administration of a process leading to a genuine act of self-determination. Thousands of extra troops have been sent to the province since August to crackdown on separatist aspirations. At the end of September, British-made Hawk aircraft buzzed the town of Wamena in an operation designed to intimidate independence supporters, and this week 37 warships were deployed around the province.
The security forces have adopted a strategy which involves repression, support for pro-Jakarta militias, splitting the moderate and hard-line elements of the pro-independence movement, and creating conflict between local people and settlers from the outside. The arrest last week of moderate leaders of the pro-independence Presidium Council - Theys Eluay, Taha Al Hamid, Don Flassy, John Mambor and Herman Awom - on subversion charges appears designed to provoke unrest, which can then be used as an excuse to intensify the crackdown. Flag-raising remains a particular focus of attention since the 'Morning Star' flag is a powerful symbol of Papuan identity closely associated with the people's sense of injustice since Indonesia took over the province. In the worst incident so far at least 30 people, including many settlers, were killed after police gunned down two flag-raisers in the town of Wamena on 6 October. Ten people were killed at the time of the 1 December celebrations in the towns of Merauke and Fak Fak.
The principal grievance of the West Papuan people is their betrayal by the United Nations in 1969 when the fraudulent 'Act of Free Choice' resulted in their delivery to the mercy of the Indonesian military regime. Just 1,025 hand-picked tribal chiefs out of a population of 800,000 were forced to decide at gunpoint that their country should become part of Indonesia. It is vital that the UN now reviews the Act of Free Choice and allows the people of West Papua to exercise their right to self-determination in accordance with international law. In Aceh, a 'Humanitarian Pause' agreed between the Government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has brought no respite from military violence.
Amnesty International has drawn particular attention to attacks on women, children and human rights defenders. Security operations have been characterised by "serious and widespread human rights violations, including unlawful kiliings, 'disappearances', arbitrary detention and torture," it says. According to the Care Human Rights Forum, 841 people have been killed this year compared to 393 last year. Violence is likely to escalate even further when the 'Humanitarian Pause' ends on 15 January after Defence Minister, Mohamad Mahfud, warned this week of a military campaign against GAM. 'If only we act firmly and forcefully, it (GAM) could be overcome militarily in just a short while,' he said.
On 11 November, a mass rally for peace was held to mark the first anniversary of a similar event on 8 November 1999 when up to a million people converged on the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, to call for a referendum on independence. Thousands of people were prevented from attending this year's event. The security forces were under orders to stop people travelling and opened fire in many districts, killing dozens of people. Muhammad Nazar, a leading political activist with the Information Center for a Referendum in Aceh (SIRA) which organised the rally, has been arrested for his peaceful activities and tortured while in police custody.
Several other civil society leaders have been forced underground out of fear for their safety. An editorial in the Jakarta Post newspaper condemned the arrest of Muhammad Nazar and the West Papuan independence leaders, saying they 'bore all the hallmarks of the Suharto regime'.'The arbitrary detention of these men is an abuse of their basic democratic and human rights. They must be released immediately and unconditionally,' said TAPOL.
TAPOL is demanding that the Indonesian Government now demonstrates a proper commitment to the fight against impunity, which is a principal cause of continuing human rights violations. Tens of thousands of people have been killed by agents of the state in Aceh and West Papua since Suharto came to power without the perpetrators being held to account for their crimes. On 22 November, Experts of the UN Commission on Human Rights called on Indonesia to investigate violations against human rights defenders and cases of extrajudicial executions, torture and arbitrary detention in Aceh. 'The Government must conduct credible investigations into the recent killings and past human rights abuses in Aceh and West Papua, using the new human rights legislation if appropriate, and ensure that those responsible, including those who issued the relevant orders, are brought to justice in trials which meet international standards of fairness,' insisted TAPOL.
Contact: Paul Barber on 01420 80153 or Liem Soei Liong on 020 8771 2904 Paul Barber, TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire GU34 2JJ Tel/Fax: 01420 80153 Email: plovers@gn.apc.org
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Forum Data Shows 841 People Killed in Aceh This Year
The Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 9
The number of people killed in the strife-torn province of Aceh reached 841 from Jan. 1 to Dec. 7 this year, much more than last year's toll of 'only' 393, the Aceh Human Rights Care Forum revealed. The forum executive director, Syaifuddin Bantasyam, told a breaking of the fast gathering at a restaurant in Banda Aceh on Friday that 676 of the 841 deceased were civilians, 124 police/Army officers and 41 members of theseparatists' Free Aceh Movement (GAM). From the 393 victims in 1999, 278 were civilians, 74 police/Army officers, and 41 GAM members, Syaifuddin said. The revelations regarding the number of victims were part of the Forum's "political" statements on Aceh.
According to the Forum, which is based in Banda Aceh, the Indonesian government had been ignorant by allowing human rights violations to occur in Aceh for years. "Knowing that the current truce agreed to by GAM and the government of Indonesia has resulted in no decrease in the number of fatalities, we want both sides to disarm their forces," Syaifuddin said. The Forum also condemned Wednesday's killing of activists from the Rehabilitation Council for Tortured Victims (IRCTI).
Sources said on Thursday that an IRCT field assistant, Idris, and two nurses, Ersita and Bachtiar, were driving a car bearing the IRCT emblem to collect sick and injured people in the Tanah Pasir and Blang Mangan districts in North Aceh, when security personnel intercepted the vehicle and shot them. One of the three activists survived the shooting. Indonesian authorities have yet to clarify the incident. In an effort to ease tension in Aceh, GAM and the Indonesian government agreed to sign a three-month humanitarian pause last May during talks in Switzerland. The cease-fire was extended in September, however killings continued with both sides blaming each other for the violence. Further talks were planned on Dec. 5 and Dec. 6, but GAM asked for a delay, until between Dec. 10 and Dec. 15, following the commemoration of its 24th anniversary on Dec. 4.
Hatred
The Acehnese' hatred for the "oppressor", Indonesia, nowadays is as fierce as their hatred for the Dutch colonialists a century ago, Syaifuddinsaid. "Acehnese just want justice and proper law enforcement. Jakarta must pay more attention and prioritize Aceh for development and aid programs." "On Aug. 7, 1998 Wiranto (the then Indonesian Armed Forces chief) promised to have those involved in rights violations in Aceh brought to court. He has never kept his word." The forum also suggested that political dialog be enhanced to achieve peace in Aceh. "There are at least 350,000 people in Aceh who have had to seek refuge due to the prolonged unrest.
The Indonesian government has been too slow inhandling the refugees. If Indonesia is not capable of dealing with them, why don't we ask the United Nation's High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)to handle this," Syaifuddin said. "So far the UNHCR cannot interfere as therefugees are all locals and the government of Indonesia has never given UNHCR permission to step into the matter." Meanwhile, Abusyeh, GAM spokesman in the regency of Pidie, said that GAM had identified 43 local people, 12 of whom were women, who were being hiredby the Indonesian Police and military to spy on GAM activities. "We've been pursuing them," Abusyeh said, refusing to identify the 43 informants.
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Wahid Imposes Jan. 1 Deadline for Aceh Rebels to Negotiate
Kyodo News ~ Dec. 8
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid imposed a Jan. 1 deadline Friday for the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels to cease violence and negotiate, otherwise appropriate 'actions' will be taken against them.Wahid did not elaborate on what actions the government might resort to, but said, 'They will be decided at the appropriate time.' On Thursday, about 2,500 troops were deployed to Aceh Province to secure a planned visit by the president Dec. 19, a local military commander said. 'The situation in Aceh is currently getting hotter and clashes between rebels of the Free Aceh Movement and the Indonesian military and police are increasing, so security should be tightened prior to the president's visit,' Col. Syariffudin Tippe, commander of Greater Aceh Regency's Teuku Umar Military Command, told Kyodo News.'If we feel later the 2,500 soldiers are not enough, we will dispatch more,' he said.
On Sept. 25, Indonesia and GAM agreed to extend their cease-fire in Aceh Province until January next year and to hold talks aimed at resolving long-standing tensions in the province. The cessation of military hostilities is aimed at facilitating the supply of humanitarian assistance to Aceh residents. The resource-rich province was wracked by separatist, police and military violence during a decade of antirebel operations that ended in 1998 when President Suharto was ousted from power after leading the country for 32 years. Japan and many other Asian countries support Wahid's struggle to keep Aceh, a province rich in oil and crucial to securing safe sea passage from the Middle East to Northeast Asia, as part of Indonesia.
Speaking in Banda Aceh, Tippe said that prior to the arrival of the new troops, about 10,000 soldiers and police were working in a joint military-police operation to crack down on the separatists.Wahid and 34 ambassadors from Islamic countries are scheduled to visit Aceh on Dec. 19 to officially declare the application of Islamic law in the province and to deliver medicine, food and other basic supplies. The assistance is a part of a three-month, 100 billion rupiah (about $10.5 million) 'economic crash program' by the government to address the economic and social demands and 'win back the hearts' of Acehnese.
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Indonesian Aid Workers Tortured, Killed in Aceh
(Reuters) ~ Dec. 8
Three Indonesian humanitarian volunteers attached to a Danish-sponsored rights group have been tortured and shot dead in Aceh, underscoring the growing threat to aid workers and civilians in the rebellious province. The New York-based Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International accused plainclothes security forces of torturing and then summarily executing the three on Wednesday on a road near a village in North Aceh. A fourth aid worker managed to escape, while one patient, a recent victim of torture, was also killed.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty said initial reports indicated members of the elite Police Mobile Brigade were involved, along with soldiers.Police in Aceh, where rebels have fought an independence war for decades, denied the accusations, saying the three aid workers were killed by separatists of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). The killings follow the murder of a leading Aceh human rights activist several months ago and an upsurge in bloody clashes between soldiers and rebels that have made a mockery of a cease-fire agreed in June.``This is all GAM's doing. Most of the time they commit crimes, turn around the facts and make us look like the bad guys,'' Aceh police spokesman, Kusbini Imbar, told Reuters, adding there were indications the three had been tortured.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty said that after a vehicle carrying the aid workers was stopped on Wednesday, the three were tortured, then lined up along the road and shot in the head.``The Indonesian government is allowing its security forces to target humanitarian workers in Aceh, just as it allowed militias to target such workers in West Timor,'' the two international rights groups said in a statement obtained on Saturday. ``The international community should be every bit as outraged over these executions as they were over the brutal killing of three United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR) workers in September, and take equally firm action.''
Foreign governments and the U.N. slammed Indonesia over the UNHCR murders, carried out by members of pro-Jakarta Timorese militias who killed hundreds of people and laid waste to much of East Timor when the territory voted for independence last year. The three aid workers killed in Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra, were local volunteers of an organization called Rehabilitation Action for Torture victims in Aceh (RATA), Human Rights Watch and Amnesty said. Danish diplomats in Jakarta were not immediately available for comment, and RATA officials could also not be reached. Independence demands have simmered for decades in Aceh, where the military has waged a brutal war against rebels and the central government has exploited the province's natural resources, including its reserves of oil and gas.
Civilians Being Killed
Highlighting the headache Aceh poses to the beleaguered government of President Abdurrahman Wahid, a separate local human rights group said more civilians had been killed in violence there this year than in any year in the past decade. The Forum for Concern for Human Rights, quoted by the official Antara News Agency on Saturday, said 676 civilians had been killed in violent acts so far in 2000. ``Hundreds of victims died in violent acts such as gunshots, grenade explosions, torture, stabbings, hackings and burnings,'' Antara quoted the group as saying. It added that 124 police and military personnel had been killed, along with 41 rebels. While it was unclear how many civilians had been killed this year as a direct result of the rebellion, the figures underscore the depth of violence in Aceh, home to four million people out of Indonesia's 210 million.
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Obstacles to Protection of Human Rights Remain in Indonesia
(AFP) ~ Dec 8
As Indonesia lurches further towards democracy, major obstacles remained in the way of ensuring respect for human rights and bringing violators to justice, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said in a report. The US-based human rights group said in its annual survey released Thursday that "serious regional conflicts, a weak legal system and delicate civil-military relations posed ongoing obstacles to the protection of human rights." Acknowledging that "most of the country continued to benefit from increased civil and political liberties," the HRW report noted that "Papua (Irian Jaya), Aceh and the Moluccas (Malukus) continued to experience widespread violations. "The government failed adequately to protect the hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Aceh and the Moluccas as well as East Timorese refugees in West Timor."
Human Rights Watch noted President Abdurrahman Wahid had begun to assert civilian control over the military and named a civilian as defence minister, while in some high profile cases generals were questioned on past atrocities. However, the military's dominant role in local government remained and it retained a bloc of appointed seats in the People's Consultative Assembly. The report noted that in Aceh, while the army, police and the Free Aceh Movement "were all responsible for abuses, including extrajudicial executions of civilians, the violations were disproportionately on the government side."
In Irian Jaya, a pro-independence movement gained pace and major clashes between civilians and security forces occurred, the HRW report said. The Malukus civil war pitting Christians against Muslims produced the most civilian casualties, it said, noting 5,000 people were estimated to have died from October 1999 to September this year. "Civilian and military authorities in Indonesia, sensitive to the loss of East Timor and the nationalist backlash it engendered from a wide range of politically powerful groups, rejected any notion of outside assistance in resolving the conflict," it said. Close to 400,000 people were displaced by the Malukus conflict. In a separate Christian-Muslim conflict in Central Sulawesi, 200 people died and 60,000 were displaced. Violence by pro-Jakarta militia against refugees in Indonesian West Timor remained high, and even agencies such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees were targeted, the report noted.
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By Adam Bassine, Human Rights Watch ~ Dec. 8
In a joint statement today, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International condemned the execution-style killings by Indonesian police of three humanitarian aid volunteers and a torture victim in Aceh. The two leading global rights monitors called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of the security officers responsible for the killings."The Indonesian government is allowing its security forces to target humanitarian workers in Aceh, just as it allowed militias to target such workers in West Timor," the two human rights organizations said. "The international community should be every bit as outraged over these executions as they were over the brutal killing of three United Nations High Commission for Refugees' (UNHCR) workers in September, and take equally firm action."
The organizations noted that the government of President Abdurrahman Wahid only began to take steps to curb militia violence in West Timor after the UNHCR killings prompted a strong UN Security Council resolution and veiled threats of economic sanctions. In Aceh, the systematic targeting of activists by security forces has been underway for months, but the international response thus far has been muted.Four humanitarian who workers were travelling to pick up torture victims for rehabilitation treatment in the vicinity of Cot Mat Tahe village, North Aceh district on 6 December were stopped by plainclothes Indonesian security forces. They were transferred to other vehicles and tortured. One volunteer escaped but the other three were lined up on the road and shot in the head execution-style. According to the reports, a patient accompanying the volunteers was also killed in the incident. Initial reports indicate that the Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) and the military (TNI) were involved.
The volunteers were all local staff members of an organization called Rehabilitation Action for Torture victims in Aceh (RATA), a group sponsored by the Danish government through its embassy in Jakarta. There are now serious concerns for the safety of RATA's other staff and volunteers, especially the witness to the incident who is now in hiding.
The two organizations call on the Indonesian government to immediately initiate an investigation into the incident and to bring those responsible to justice. In view of the apparent involvement of the security forces in the killings any investigation must be carried out by experts who are independent of both the police and the military if it is to be regarded as credible. Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International also demanded that the security forces, including Brimob, be under orders to comply with international human rights standards and that any of its members, including commanding officers, suspected of involvement in human rights violations be immediately suspended from duty. Brimob, although a police unit, is military in character and has been implicated in many recent violations in Aceh.
Acehnese human rights defenders, humanitarian workers and political activists have been the specific target of many of the violations in recent months. In a letter sent on 22 November 2000, experts of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights noted a "pattern of serious human rights violations" in Aceh including torture, extrajudicial executions of civilians, and death threats against human rights organizations personnel and called for investigation and prosecution of the crimes. "These latest murders underline the urgency of the UN experts' call for action by Jakarta to end attacks against the Acehnese population and for immediate measures to be taken to protect humanitarian and other human rights defenders," the rights groups concluded.
Background
Active armed groups in Aceh have mounted numerous attacks on police and military personnel, leading government forces to step up counter- insurgency operations. Hundreds of unlawful killings and arbitrary arrests of civilians have taken place in the process. Recent violations in which Brimob involvement has been reported include:
* On 19 September 2000, two student activists with SIRA, a group that advocates a referendum on Aceh's political status, were beaten with rifle butts, cable, and belts and threatened with knives by members of Brimob after being seized at gunpoint in Banda Aceh.
* On 5 September 2000, Amrisaldin, a volunteer with a humanitarian organization, Save Emergency for Aceh (SEFA), was detained by members of Brimob in Meukek Sub-district. He was released the next day having been punched, kicked, slashed with a knife. He was also threatened with death and had his his pubic, chest and armpit hair burnt with matches.
* On 27 August 2000, three staff of Oxfam working in South Aceh were hospitalised after being tortured by Brimob officers. All three were beaten. One had a fingernail pulled out and was burned with cigarettes.
For More Information Contact: Joe Saunders (New York, NY): (w) +1 212 216 1207 (h) +1 718 398 8893 Mike Jendrzejczyk (Washington, DC): (w) +1 202 612 4341 (h) +1 301 585 5824
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Islamic Law to Soothe Indonesia Aceh Tension
By Tomi Soetjipto, Reuters ~ Dec. 7
The planned declaration of Islamic sharia law in the rebellious Indonesian province of Aceh will help ease tensions and meet a key demand of the people in the troubled territory, its newly-elected governor says. Abdullah Puteh said the declaration should also please Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatists, although one rebel spokesman dismissed the offer and accused Jakarta of trying to make Aceh look like Muslim-fundamentalist Afghanistan. President Abdurrahman Wahid, who has firmly ruled out independence for Aceh on the plans to declare sharia law in the staunchly Muslim province on the northwestern tip of Sumatra island on December 19. "This is a kind of medicine," Puteh said in an interview. He also indicated the province could expect a fairly wide-interpretation of sharia law. "What the president of Indonesia plans to do will meet the great expectations of the Ulemas (Moslem clerics) and the people as a whole. This is a positive move, which will cool down the situation in Aceh," said Puteh, himself an Acehnese.
LONG DESIRE FOR INDEPENDENCE
Independence demands have simmered for decades in the province, where the military has waged a brutal war against rebels and the central government has exploited the province's natural resources, including its big reserves of oil and gas. Allowing the Acehnese to implement sharia law is part of measures to placate separatist tensions. The government will also announce in May a special autonomy package for Aceh, along with the restive province of Irian Jaya in Indonesia's far east, that will give both provinces more control over their affairs and their resources. Jakarta has long promised Aceh special freedom to implement sharia law, but this was never carried out. Puteh conceded details over exactly how sharia law would be implemented were still unclear, adding officials as well as leading local Muslim clerics would need to discuss the framework. "Every action which violates Islamic norms will get punishment, but this will not be carried out all at once, but rather gradually," he said. Sharia law imposes amputation of hands for theft and death for adultery. People found drinking alcohol also risk flogging. Puteh insisted sharia law would not affect non-Muslims. "Things like alcohol will still be available for foreigners... but things which we think can lead to adultery such as discos for example will be banned."
REBELS SHOULD BE PLEASED
Puteh insisted the rebels should be happy with the plan. "With GAM... I think they must be happy because they are Muslims and they should abide by the religion," he said. "The Acehnese are very close to their religion and with the declaration of the law there should be less killing," Puteh said, referring to regular clashes between rebels and security forces despite a ceasefire agreement in place since June. The rebel spokesman said GAM had never requested sharia law. "The Indonesian government wants us to look like Afghanistan," Amni Marzuki told Reuters. "It's not our demand because we have implemented Islamic law naturally in Aceh. If Gus Dur wants to learn Islam, he should go to Aceh," he said, using the Muslim cleric's popular nickname. Jakarta has said it would crack down on the rebels and refuse to extend the frayed ceasefire if GAM did not resume peace talks by the middle of January, when the truce expires. The rebels broke off peace talks last month.
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The Economist ~ Dec 7
Two and a half years after Suharto's dictatorship fell, Indonesia's separatist headaches are growing despite the benefits supposedly brought by democracy. President Abdurrahman Wahid's government faces a crucial test of its abilities in the far-flung provinces of Aceh and Irian Jaya, and so far it is failing miserably. The past eight days have seen two separate anniversaries of failed declarations of independence at the two ends of the archipelago, and banned separatist flags flew at both. They were quickly followed by yet more bloody clashes with Indonesian security forces in both provinces.
In Irian Jaya, police arrested several leaders of the separatist Papuan Presidium Council, including its chief, Theys Eluay. Those arrested are being accused of treason, despite repeatedly exhorting their followers to avoid violence at all costs. After the commemoration on December 1st of a 1961 "independence declaration", police shot dead around ten Papuans in the towns of Merauke and Fakfak, claiming they "had no choice". In Merauke, non- Papuan migrants were also killed by Papuans. Police have forced down the separatist "Morning Star" flag across virtually the entire province, and Papuan hardliners are now talking of stepping up guerrilla warfare.
Aceh's rebels, richer and better armed and organised than their Irianese counterparts, used the December 4th anniversary of their own declaration to make it clear to the government in Jakarta what to expect if the present fragile truce is not renewed in January. Abdullah Syafii, the rebels' military chief, reviewed row after row of would-be martyrs before invited television cameras. Among them were dozens of women warriors, dressed in military fatigues and wearing Muslim headscarves. As in Irian Jaya, the most senior figure in the civilian self-determination movement, Muhammad Nazar, was arrested after calling for an Indonesian withdrawal from the province. Hundreds of people, possibly as many as 1,000, have been killed in Aceh this year.
Sometimes, Mr Wahid appears to realise that the indiscriminate killings and intimidation of the Suharto era are not really a solution any more. As his policemen were shooting Papuans in Merauke, the government rushed out a $10.5m aid package for Aceh. It also announced an early adoption of Muslim sharia law, a widespread demand in the Sumatran province. Mr Wahid arranged to travel to Aceh to inaugurate it later this month. The trouble is that Mr Wahid is losing his grip on the separatist problem. His initial promises to right the wrongs of the past have been exposed as hollow, since he has so often failed to deliver on them. He quickly reinvented his hasty offer of a referendum to Aceh last year when it proved tricky, saying he meant simply a vote on whether to implement sharia. In the meantime the army has made it clear that it would oppose any East Timor-style independence vote, with force if need be. Most outside observers say that holding a fair referendum in either place would produce a resounding yes for independence.
In Irian Jaya, Mr Wahid's offer to revive the indigenous name "Papua" (a move now on hold, since parliament has declined to ratify it), to allow the "Morning Star" flag to fly and to sponsor a Papuan congress last May have simply fanned the separatist flames. The flag, still technically illegal, began sprouting all over the province, and thousands of Papuans signed up to defend it to the death if need be. Rival politicians now blame Mr Wahid for the mess. There is talk of new dissatisfaction among his ministers. The vice-president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, his probable successor should he be removed from office, seems deeply unwilling to let go of either province, both part of the legacy of her father, Indonesia's founder, Sukarno.
Neither the Acehnese nor the Irianese are strangers to war. Separatists in both places are increasingly ready to fight, even against Indonesia's well-trained and well-equipped soldiers, who in turn have made it clear they will not let go of either without such a fight. They have lost hundreds of their own men to rebels in each province. These rebel movements have the potential to open deep wounds elsewhere. Despite confident predictions that Indonesia will not break up, there have already been separatist rumblings in several other parts of the country. Potentially most worrying is Sumatra's Riau province, which is on some measures Indonesia's richest. It produces most of its oil and sits astride the Malacca Strait, the world's busiest shipping lane. Riau's separatist leader, Tabrani Rab, says thousands are prepared for the fight for independence, unhappy like the Acehnese and Irianese at the central government's practice of siphoning off their area's wealth and giving little back. And Riau is not alone. There have been muted calls for independence in Borneo's resource-rich East Kalimantan, Christian North Sulawesi, the historically powerful trading hub Makassar and even among the beleaguered Christians of the Moluccas. Fresh ideas are urgently needed, but Mr Wahid shows no signs of having any.
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Indonesian Troops Execute Three Humanitarian Workers
(AFP) ~ Dec. 7
Indonesian security forces have killed three humanitarian workers and a torture victim they were escorting in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, a rights activist said Thursday. The three were among four volunteers for the Rehabilitation Action for Torture Victims in Aceh (RATA) who were ambushed by a convoy of police and soldiers while travelling from the Tanah Pasir area of North Aceh on Wednesday, RATA chairman Nurdin Abdurrahman said. The group were returning to Lhokseumawe from Tanah Pasir, where they had picked up a torture victim for medical treatment, he said, quoting the fourth member of the group who escaped. "They were hauled to a Brimob (anti-riot police) truck and taken to Cot Matahe subdistrict," Abdurrahman said.
The three volunteers and the patient were later executed but the fourth managed to escape and reported the ordeal to the local Red Cross, he said. The bodies of the victims were collected by Red Cross volunteers and subsequently buried by their families in North Aceh. Aceh police spokesman Superintendent Yatim Suyatno said he had not received any report on the killings.
In August, a US-based Acehnese human rights campaigner, Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, who heads the New York-based International Forum for Aceh (IFA), went missing in the North Sumatra city of Medan. His body was found later outside the city. The reported killing of the humanitarian workers came after Acehnese separatist rebels stepped up attacks on military and police installations there, leaving three people dead.
Police Private John Heriadi was shot dead on Wednesday in an exchange of gunfire after suspected separatist guerillas hurled a grenade at a police post in Bireun district in northern Aceh, police spokesman Suyatno told AFP. Another policeman was seriously injured in the fighting, Suyatmo said. A local commander of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Darwis Jeunib said his group was responsible for the attack. A grenade attack was also mounted on a military post in Pantenlabu, North Aceh, leaving a soldier wounded in the ensuing gunfight, police said.
On Wednesday rebels attacked a military post at Malikussaleh civilian airport in the industrial city of Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, wounding one soldier, Suyatmo said. In a separate incident a policeman gunned down an unidentified man who tried to attack him with a machete in Jeumpa subdistrict. A ticket attendant at the bus station in East Aceh was shot dead by an unidentifed assailant on Tuesday night. Two bodies, believed to be victims of violence, were also found in two places in Banda Aceh on Wednesday night, hospital staff said.
Supporters of the rebels in Aceh, an Islamic stronghold in Indonesia and the world's largest Muslim-populated nation, are embittered by nine years of harsh military operations against the GAM, and Jakarta's syphoning off of the region's abundant natural resources. The GAM and Jakarta have agree to resume talks in Europe some time this month to seek a political settlement, but have yet to set a date. Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid has flatly ruled out independence for the province but has instead promised broad autonomy by next year. Wahid is due to visit Aceh on December 19 to inaugurate the implementation of Islamic Sharia law and hand over 10.5 million dollars in aid for the staunchly Muslim province.
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"Aceh: National Identity and Democracy in Indonesia"
James Siegel, Professor of Anthropology, Cornell University ~ October 23, 2000
Human death and especially murder makes us ask, 'why'? Political murder we assume has a logic or a reason to it. The logic of this murder gives us no satisfaction, not only because the motives are wholly reprehensible but because this is a logic out of control, a reason that is then paradoxically senseless. The political facts are clear. There has been killing on a large scale in Aceh since the 1980's, increasing in the last years of the New Order and probably continuing to increase since then. At first the victims of the army were villagers. And these, naturally enough, formed the bulk of the supporters of the Free Aceh Movement , whose acronym from the Indonesian (and not the Acehnese) is GAM. Recently a new type has been targeted. Students on a large scale joined the movement for a free Aceh late, after President Suharto took office. When I visited Aceh last, in February of 1999, many were afraid of being disappeared in the way students had been in Java in the days of Suharto, but it had not yet occurred. Now we have this obscenity.
In several places in Indonesia the army has followed a policy that was well developed during the Suharto regime. To prove that Indonesia needs a strong army, it provoked violence, acting through hired thugs or simply doing the job itself. The result, more or less generally accepted in Indonesia in the past, was the conviction that a strong army and a strong government were needed to control violence. The imperfection of the logic did not diminish the feeling, prevalent in the middle class and permeating most of Indonesian society, that a dominating government was needed in the face of threats from within Indonesian society itself . There was little evidence for this need.
One effect of this fear was that cruelties which occurred in Aceh and in other places were discounted in the capital and elsewhere. That, I believe, is one condition for the continuation of the violence today.
Why does it continue today? For one thing, because the army has interests in Aceh as does the Indonesian state. Presumably the army is needed to protect the natural gas complex in Lhok Seumawe which furnishes a portion of the national budget. Indeed, it was in Lhok Seumawe that the GAM got its toe hold in Aceh. Peasants displaced when the plant was constructed furnished its first large group of followers. But the security of the plant is in fact jeopardized today by the conditions the army has created which produce recruits for the GAM. The interests of soldiers themselves are considerable. Before the end of the New Order it is widely known that a peasant could not sell even a cow without giving 10% to the army. And the development projects which commenced when Aceh finally voted for the government party were a source of corruption on a grand scale. The possibilities for corruption have diminished since the change of regime. What is left is control of the ganja trade. It was, indeed, a fight over control of this trade between police and others, possibly from one faction of the GAM, that led to the sending of the special forces under the notoriously brutal Suharto son in law, Lt. General Prabowo.
This set off the large scale brutalities in Aceh as the army bored its way into everyday transactions. Prabowo is gone, but the atrocities continue. Material interest, though diminished, remains, but I do not think it is sufficient to account for the continuing violence.
That might be ascribed to the strategy of the army and possibly to political interests connected with Suharto. Killing, torture and rape are the desperate acts of those who will not accept that they have been displaced. But there is more. Mussolini was hung by the heels. Suharto remains perfectly safe in Jakarta, protected ultimately not by soldiers or by concern for law but once again by fear of political disorder and violence. This fear is in the interests of anyone else who is willing to resort to large scale violence. Suharto is not necessarily the mastermind behind the present violence, but the political assumptions he developed can be used by others. The belief that the criminal has a power and that that power will be recognized, accepted and guarantee political position was generated by Suharto possibly during the massacre of hundreds of thousands of suspected communists in 1965 and '66 when he came to power. Suharto put it into practice on other occasions since then. If criminals are to be feared, criminals are powerful. Those who act like them are therefore powerful too. When they are the head of state, criminality is granted legitimacy. A state governed by criminals is one thing. A state that founds itself on criminality only seems like an impossibility. The terrible condition of Indonesia is that violence is not merely directed toward determined ends. It is thought to have a general significance and to compel recognition and assent. For some in Indonesia today it is the way to gaining or regaining respect and position.
What does this mean in Aceh? There the result is that Acehnese are pitted against the army and, since the army is the most powerful Indonesian institution, against Indonesia. This has led to a situation that only looks like the ex Yugoslavia. The difference is important I think in understanding the desperate situation of Jafar Sidiq and others like him. In the exYugoslavia the end of communism led to the resurgence of ethnic identities from the time of the Austro-Hungarian empire that Tito had not been able to eradicate. One cannot say the same about Aceh. Geoffrey Robinson says that Acehnese resistance to Indonesia owes nothing to the reputed character of Acehnese as resistance fighters. Acehnese gained their reputation by fighting the Dutch 'pacifiers' of the Acehnese kingdom between 1873 and 1914. Forty years of very bloody struggle. Yet, Robinson says, it does not contribute to Acehnese resistance. And he is correct, in my opinion. The great heroes of the Acehnese wars remembered in Aceh and in the rest of Indonesia are only a few. They have streets in Jakarta named after them and are precisely national heroes, heroes of the anti-colonial struggle and not in particular Acehnese heroes. I failed to note this fact in my years in Aceh. There are a few figures celebrated in Aceh from the 17th century. But there is not a single monument in Aceh to any of the very numerous men who died in the holy war against the Dutch. The point is that the war against the Dutch became a popular war when it became a holy war; it was not an Acehnese war except in that the people were Acehnese. Some of its important leaders, for instance, were Indian or Arab. The anti- colonial war it seems did little to form a sense of ethnic identity. That war was a Muslim war, which should make us ask why the present struggle is not framed in religious terms When peace was imposed and Acehnese history resumed, it was as part of the Indonesian nationalist movement in which so much of the archipelago was involved. Aceh wanted a large place for Islam in independent Indonesia. But when it revolted against Sukarno's Indonesia it called itself Darul Islam Indonesia, and not Darul Islam Aceh. It thus separated itself from the chance it had to think of itself as an ethnic group or a people defined by their particular language or descent.
Hasan Mohammed Tiro, the founder and the head of the GAM, bases his movement on his own descent from the last important leader of that war. He places himself in the line of the Acehnese sultans. Some of his followers use titles reserved for sultans when they refer to him. This fits oddly in present day Aceh which has been part of Indonesian history from the beginning of that nation. Aceh's leaders, its thinking, its traditions have been incorporated into Indonesia. When, then, the atrocities began and resistance arose, it took two forms.
The peasants who had themselves been tortured by the military, had their family members killed and raped called for revenge. They joined the GAM and there they waited for their revenge until Hasan Mohammed Tiro, in distant Sweden, gave the word for war to start. Hasan Mohammed Tiro wanted Acehnese to be instructed in their own traditions and history first and to understand that Aceh had never legitimately been a part of the Indonesian republic. Then they could fight. Most are still waiting.
The students who wanted an independent Aceh in 1999 when I last visited Aceh had no or little idea of the GAM's program. Nor did they care. There was no other leader in sight, the religious leaders having been co-opted by the government party during the New Order. 'Hasan Mohammed Tiro' and 'Gerakan Aceh Merdeka'(GAM) were words which to them meant 'release'. Release, of course, from the relentless violence of the army. At that time no student had yet been killed. Student hatred of the army came from their deep sympathy, indeed, deep identification with the injured peasants of the countryside. This was no more than identifying themselves with their own origins. But in doing so, they were left without a means of conceptualizing their situation. What does it mean to be 'Acehnese' today ?. It means to be free of the armed brutes who massacre at will. But the designation 'Aceh' is without the sense of historical continuity and without the resurrection of ancient hatreds that went with the resurgence of ethnic politics in the exYugoslavia. There are, for that matter, a few non Acehnese who are supporters of the GAM in Aceh.
The break in history from the Acehnese War to Indonesian nationalism might have been repaired by recourse to the study of history. But yet another mark of the devastation of the New Order, of the thorough deculturalization that hollowed out the country, is that nothing students studied helped them. None of the many I spoke with drew in anyway on what they had learned. On the one hand, a large university and an important institute of Islamic studies, founded in the 1950's, expanded and established itself in the New Order, educating large numbers of young people. But on the other, that education had nothing to do with the realities of life in the province or in the nation. The difficulties of establishing an identity apart from Indonesia have not yet been overcome or even begun to be broached.
One result of this, in my opinion, is bewilderment in interpreting specific events. For instance, when someone is killed one can soon after hear two stories. He was killed by the army as a member of GAM or he was killed by GAM members or fellow villagers because, for instance, he was an informer for the army. Often the same person told me both stories without any awareness that they were contradictory. Such people tell the same story from two points of view. They are successively Indonesians, reciting the event as it would have been told in the time of Suharto, and they are Acehnese.
But they remain, despite this, clear that responsible for their suffering is a tyrant. That tyrant they call Indonesia.. In these circumstances, one has enormous sympathy for a people who have been violated out of criminal greed and brutality. They are not armed, intellectually and culturally speaking, against the onslaught. Their movement rather comes out of a deep humanity. It is from human and not national or ethnic motives that they feel the torture suffered by their fellows. We owe them respect and we pay it today in honoring Jafar Siddiq Hamzah.
James Siegel - Professor Anthropology and Asian Studies, Cornell University (PhD, University of California at Berkeley, 1966), teaches and writes about politics, culture and religion in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, as well as related theoretical issues.
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Jakarta Offers Aceh Islamic Law Agencies in Banda Aceh and Jakarta
The South China Morning Post ~ December 5
In a bid to ease separatist tensions in the predominantly Muslim province of Aceh, Jakarta said yesterday it would offer Islamic law. The offer came as police forcibly pulled down hundreds of independence flags. Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh said after meeting President Abdurrahman Wahid in Jakarta that the President would visit Aceh on December 15 to celebrate the Nuzul-ul Quran, the beginning of the revelations of the Koran. "He will . . . declare the implementation of [Islamic] sharia law in Aceh," Mr Puteh said. Although strict sharia law can include punishments such as stoning and amputation, in Aceh it is more likely to involve the maintenance of more conservative morals and Islamic banks.
In the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, residents hoisted separatist flags to mark the 24th anniversary of the founding of the main separatist guerilla group. Villagers said security forces shot at rebel flags hoisted secretly overnight along main roads in the province before tearing them down. Police said one officer had been shot to death and another injured in a gun battle with rebels in the north of the province. Security forces also gunned down a motorcyclist on Sunday night in Indrajaya district, east of Banda Aceh, witnesses said.
But Superintendent Kusbini, of the joint police-military taskforce, blamed rebels of the Free Aceh Movement for the man's death, saying they had attacked three military outposts during the night. The exiled leader of the separatist movement, Hasan di Tiro, marked his anniversary by urging followers to keep up the fight for independence. In a message from his base in Sweden, "supreme commander" Tiro, of the Free Aceh Movement, urged rebels not to yield to "colonialist" Indonesia. He said Jakarta was in "political, economic and moral bankruptcy". Authorities warned they would crack down on any public celebrations marking December 4, 1976, the day when separatists unilaterally declared the province's independence from Indonesia. Since then, efforts by security forces to suppress the insurgents have largely backfired.
Although at least 5,500 people have died as a result of the conflict during the past decade, the separatists have managed to attract wide public support in the province of 4.1 million people. Rebels maintain that the region on the northern tip of Sumatra island has become a virtual colony of Indonesia's dominant island of Java. They claim Aceh's substantial oil and natural gas reserves have been exploited by Jakarta's political and military elite and that few benefits have returned to the region.
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15 People killed During Aceh Rebel Anniversary
AFP ~ December 5
At least 15 people, including an Indonesian marine, were killed during celebrations for the birth of the separatist movement in the Indonesian province of Aceh, police and residents said Tuesday. Monday marked the 24th anniversary of a declaration of nationhood by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), marked by residents in this oil and gas rich province with prayers and the raising of thousands of rebel flags. But celebrations -- during which police said they confiscated 3,000 banned GAM flags provincewide -- led to the deaths of 15 people, police and residents told AFP on Tuesday. Six rebels died in a firefight with a joint police-military patrol in Keunareuh, West Aceh, a source at the district police station there said late Monday. However GAM sources said the six were "ordinary citizens who were shot dead" because troops mistakenly thought they had just returned from raising the banned separatist flag at a ceremony in the area.
In North Aceh, a total of four people were killed in three separate incidents on Monday, police spokesman Superintendent Yatim Suyatmo told AFP on Tuesday. Suyatmo said the four included a marine killed in an ambush in the Cot Ngabeng area, a GAM stronghold.A local journalist said the patrol was attacked as it headed towards a rebel jungle camp where guerrillas were marking the anniversary with a military ceremony. In East Aceh, a suspected rebel was shot dead by security personnel in the town of Bagok, while two men were killed after attending a flag-raising ceremony in Thom village, police and a journalist in the main regional city of Langsa told AFP. And in South Aceh on Monday, a local journalist said troops from a joint patrol killed two males in Samadua when they tried to flee as troops approached the area.
In Jakarta Tuesday, Defence Minister Muhammad Mahfud called the shootings a "reaction" by troops to illegal flag flying. "It was clearly not a repressive action, but a reaction to their actions," Mahfud told journalists after meeting with President Abdurrahman Wahid at the State Palace early Tuesday. "We told them (GAM) not to do anything leading to subversion and independence, or to force people to do those actions. He added troops had a duty to "secure the territorial integrity (of Indonesia) as instructed by the government." Jakarta previously warned it would crack down on separatists during the anniversary.
More than a decade of syphoning off of staunchly-Muslim Aceh's natural resources by the central government and nine years of harsh anti-rebel military operations has fuelled deep anti-Jakarta sentiment.Wahid is scheduled to visit Aceh on December 15 to inaugurate the imposition of Islamic sharia law there and to hand over a humanitarian aid package worth 100 billion rupiah (10.5 million dollars). But Wahid has insisted that the aid package, announced just two days before Monday's celebration, had "nothing to do" with Sweden-based GAM's anniversary.
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GAM Vows to Continue Fight For Freedom
The Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 5
Free Aceh Movement (GAM) commander Abdulah Syafi'iled a military ceremony to commemorate the movement's 24th anniversary in Batee Iliek in the regency of Bireuen, Aceh, and pledged to continue the struggle for freedom. Around 500 people, including members of the GAM female force Inong Balee,attended the peaceful ceremony which included a written address from the exiled Acehnese leader, Hasan di Tiro, read by, among others, Abdullah Syafi'i. The address was translated into Bahasa Indonesia and Acehnese.
A huge GAM flag was displayed at the ceremony, which was tightly guarded by armed GAM militia members. The ceremony started at 7:30 a.m. local time. In his statement, Hasan di Tiro, who has been in Sweden since the 1980s, called on the Acehnese people to continue the fight for an independent Aceh, and not submit to colonialist Indonesia. "I call on you to prepare both material and moral strength so that we can defend the honor of our nation," he said. "The Acehnese people are obliged to wage war against this terrorist state." Di Tiro's statements defy the Indonesian government and military's pledge to prevent any separatist moves.
Indonesia's government has warned that the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia is final and that there is no possibility for Aceh or Irian Jaya to become independent. The government has ruled out Aceh's demand for independence and, instead,offered wide ranging autonomy to the province. Reports indicated that anniversary ceremonies were held almost simultaneously in 30 areas throughout the province on Monday. In the capital of Banda Aceh, hundreds of people congregated at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh to attend a mass prayer marking the GAM anniversary. GAM members in the Joint Committee on Security Modality and members of the Joint Committee for Humanitarian Actions Cut Nur Asikin and Kamaruzzaman attended the ceremony at the grand mosque.
In his oration, Teungku Amni bin Marzuki, a member of GAM, reiterated thedemand for Aceh's separation from Indonesia. The most emotional moment at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque was when the GAM flag was showered with white flour before being carried from the left to right corners of the mosque. Many people burst into tears during this event. "The scattering of white flour is called besiju. It expresses our hope that everything will end in a cool situation," a local said. The ceremony at the grand mosque was said to be much 'cooler' than that in Bireuen.
Despite the military and police high alert, Banda Aceh was totally calm on Monday. Daily life remained normal as shops and markets all opened as usual, and public transport operated normally. Later in the afternoon two armored vehicles and two trucks, carrying armyand police officers, roamed the city. Other security force personnel were seen lowering the GAM flag hoisted at the Syah Kuala University campus.
The flag
Unlike last year's festivity, there was no GAM flags waving along the Banda Aceh-Medan highway on Monday, however, the flags were seen flying in public buildings and streets in several regencies, namely Bireuen, Pidie, Aceh Besar, North and West Aceh. Residents said they had been secretly helping GAM rebels raise the flags in their districts since late Sunday evening. Police Special Operation Cinta Meunasah deputy chief Supt. Yatim Suyatmo had earlier warned that stern action would be taken against those who attempted to raise flags other than the Indonesian red-and-white flag.
The North Aceh capital of Lhokseumawe, 270 kilometers away from Banda Aceh, was calm on Monday with scores of security officers on alert since Sunday night. There was no impression that the people were intending to celebrate the anniversary of GAM. Not a single shop was opened down town making the business districts, including those along Jl. Merdeka, Jl. Periniagaan and Jl. Perdagangan, look lazy and idle, Antara reported. Periodically, private vehicles would cruise through those roads, which are usually busy. The roads looked abandoned without the operation of localtransit vehicles. A local said that this year's situation was much better than that of lastyear, judging from the fact that no gunshots were heard until 3:15 p.m. local time.
The bloody fighting in the province remains unabated despite Indonesian government and GAM representatives having signed an agreement, called the Humanitarian Pause, to ease tension in the disputed territory last May in Switzerland. The pause was later extended in September but failed to end the violence with GAM continuing its struggle for independence and the Indonesian government vowing to quell any separatist activities in the territory. Further talks were scheduled to take place on Dec. 5 and Dec. 6, however,GAM has asked for a delay until a date between Dec. 10 and Dec. 15, on the grounds that they were busy with the anniversary festivities in Aceh on Monday Dec. 4.
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GAM Commemoration, A Peaceful Event
Banda Aceh, Kompas Online ~ December 5
The 24th Commemoration of the Independent Aceh Movement (GAM), Monday morning (4/12), went on, despite general expectations of new unrest in Aceh, quite peaceful.The event was held in the Bateilek area, Bireuen District, a 4-hourly overland trip from Banda Aceh, where Teungku Abdullah Syafi'I, Commander of the Independent Aceh Movement Troops (AGAM), addressed about 1.000 men and people who had assembled since dawn. At the same time, similar ceremonies were conducted at the respective GAM Commands in Aceh. Reporters only noticed one sweeping by joint TNI and Police troops on the highway near the Bateilek market.
In Lhokseumawe, Bireun, and Sigli, a quiet and serene atmosphere and very little movements from citizens and transportation was noted. The trading center and the Lhokseumawe market were once again closed, similar conditions were observed at every town market along the Banda Aceh-Medan highway which only emphasized the fearful silence.All throughout Sunday evening till Monday morn, Lhokseumawe citizens heard loud explosions in the direction of the center area. But, no casualties were reported.
Right before the GAM Commemoration throughout Monday, no crowds were seen gathering. Some people crowded in small and larger mosques to pray for peace in Aceh.Very few traffic could be noted in the morning on the highway of the regencies, Bireuen, Pidie, Aceh Besar, and Banda Aceh. At the mosque of Baiturrahman Banda Aceh, people held a ceremony in which a GAM flag measuring 2,5 x 1,5 meter played a role. The red colored flag displaying a moon and star in the center, was not hoisted, however.
The Banda Aceh police were kept busy plucking numerous GAM flags from telephone and power poles and other buildings all day long yesterday. The police did not find any flag in private homes. Security troops used poles and other instruments to lower the flags without experiencing any opposition from the public."Let's hope it stays peaceful," Superintendent Yatim Suyatno, Deputy Chief Task Force Enlightening Operation Love Meunasah said.
Hasan Trio Mandate
Hasan Tiro, GAM Leader, also known as the Guardian of Aceh Land, encouraged the military and the Aceh people in his mandate, read by Abdullah Syafi'I, to go on fighting for independence, an independence in accordance with everyone's desires. He asked the people and the GAM military to nourish their power to defend their families and the Aceh nation.Abdullah Syafi'I also delivered an impromptu mandate after Hasan Tiro's written mandate. "We have since long been a noble nation, but, our values and respect are being suppressed. Many have been killed without legal processing. For these reasons, it is our legal duty to demand our freedom," he said. After that he broke in a shout, God is Great, after the troops confirmed their intention to be ready to die for the cause. Besides male troops, the ceremony was also attended by hundreds of female troops.
Dialogues
Abdullah Syafi'i told the press after the ceremony that GAM still prefers settling the problem through dialogues. No one in this world, he reasoned, desires war as it will only result in destruction, in loss of lives even.GAM has a history of good dialogues with the government behind it which resulted in the "humanitarian interval." He admitted, however, that the interval was richly specked with violence. GAM claims that they would not have attacked the security troops if the other party had not started first. In most cases, he said, security troops started shooting first, they even fired at innocent people. GAM was forced to defend themselves.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister of Political, Social and Security Affairs, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said, government has opted dialogue and consultations as the best choices instead of choosing the heavy security approach.Government has, therefore, appealed to GAM to join in the search for substantial and concrete politics after the second humanitarian interval ends on January 15 2001."We will leave it to the Aceh people, they have to determine if the position and present GAM attitude, by rejecting peace talks in Geneve (Switzerland), is really part of a solution or the other way around," Yudhoyono said.
If there is no reason to extend the interval, it will not be extended. The humanitarian interval is not the objective to end the trouble in Aceh. The aim is to find a substantive solution that might be followed up in the process of the humanitarian interval."For these reasons, we will review within 1,5 month the humanitarian interval, if it is still worth extending. Is GAM really working towards a constructive solution in this humanitarian period," he said. Yudhoyono said that he is in communication with functionaries in Aceh and one or two elements in the region, and that prospects were promising.
The situation is safe and under control, despite of certain activities as, collective prayer sessions in the Masjid Raya mosque, or activities in Pidie and weekly activities of human rights groups communicated by the Aceh Central Information Referendum (SIRA) and other activities in connection with GAM commemoration celebrations."But, everything went by in orderly fashion. Government hopes in particular that all parties will keep up peace, order and stability in Aceh in the month of Ramadhan," he said. Government is momentarily busy with relief work in flood stricken areas in that region. Under coordination of Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs, Rizal Ramli, government is involved in a humanitarian program, or social action to reach a helping hand to victims in disaster areas.
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Tempo Magazine (27 November - 3 December) ~ Dec. 5
Chaos has gradually become the normal state of affairs in Aceh. The so-called Mecca's veranda continues to wallow in blood. Muksalmina was in the chili garden with his father when a bullet pierced her left chest. On that fine Saturday morning, on October 21 this year, the five-year-old girl barely had time to scream out before death arrived. Her father, Syamsul Bahri, 35, was badly injured, while his nephew, Zulkarnain, 18, was shot in the neck. On the same day, a bullet also hit a boy who had just left school for the day. And a man died from gunshot wounds that pockmarked his body. The tragedy between the villages of Geumpong and Ujongrimba, Mutiara district, in Pidie happened in a shoot-out between security forces and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). As usual, it is not clear whose bullets were responsible for the death of innocent civilians.
In Aceh, scenes such as these have become all too commonplace. Civilian casualties mount each day. Thousands of lives have been lost since troops in the military operation areas (DOM) were withdrawn leading up to the recent Aceh People's Congress. Of course, there have also been casualties on the police and GAM sides, the main players in a never-ending, badly scripted screenplay. Data should have pointed out a lot of things. For example, on the prolonged conflict due to the central government's sluggishness in settling the issue of Aceh, on the breakdown in the chain of command and lack of control in the ranks of the police and on `unidentified people' that also killed and terrorized, and many more.
Net Becomes Redder
In the beginning, there was a sporadic movement of terrorists in East Aceh, North Aceh and Pidie regencies, where many important industries operate. The central government then decided to carry out a domestic security campaign, code named Operation Red Net. But disaster crept into Aceh. The net became redder with the blood of the people who were caught in the middle of the two fighting forces. If somebody was assumed to be close to or became a member or spy of the Free Aceh Movement, they would face the security forces. Usually, the result was death. On the contrary, if someone was assumed to be supportive or accused of being a security force spy, they would risk death at the hands of GAM. It is a usual pattern in similar conflicts everywhere.
Military operations always have excesses that frequently spill over into civilian households. In the beginning, there might be erroneous arrests, sporadic shooting or ruthless interrogations. In Aceh, all of the above became protracted and spread out. Excesses increased, as though they were something normal, turning into arbitrary arrests, barbaric torture, disappearances, ilegal executions, sexual violence and other violent acts that degrade humanity. From 1989 to 1998, at least 7,000 cases of human rights violations occurred. The nation slept peacefully until the fall of Suharto in May 1998, which woke us up to the humanitarian crimes that were happening on our front porch. While other countries faced the dawn of the new millenium with excitement, we were presented with blood and tears.
During a decade of Operation Red Net, in the three regencies, 1,321 lives were lost, 1,958 people disappeared by force and 3,430 were disabled for life due to torture. The disabled can still be seen today. Women were not the sole victims of sexual violence. Men also suffered, 209 of them. Confiscation of property numbered 160 cases. The North Aceh regency suffered the most during the DOM period, followed by Pidie. Unfortunately, there are no data for East Aceh.
(Note: please check the links directly to View the Tables)
Violent Acts North Aceh
* Aceh Pidie**
Deaths 344 378
Missing persons 475 168
Torture victims 1,010 403
Rape victims 18 14
Widowed women 618 436
Orphans 1,840 1,298
Destruction and Arson 259 houses Not available
* Data from the North Aceh Regional government fact-finding team
**Data from the Pidie regional government fact-finding team
After Wiranto's Apology
In August 1998, ABRI (now the Indonesian Military (TNI)) commander Gen. Wiranto apologized to the people of Aceh for the violence of the security forces, and simultaneously withdrew the DOM status in the Aceh special province. The Aceh people responded with a demand for a referendum, with options of staying or breaking away from Indonesia. GAM used the occasion to launch propaganda, terror, occupy a number of village leaders' offices and harass security forces still remaining in Aceh.
In Lhoknibong, on December 28, 1998, eight TNI members were kidnapped by GAM, killed, and their bodies thrown into the Arakundo River. Troops took revenge by killing seven civilians in Idicut, flinging their bodies into the same river on February 2, 1999. From then on, the people of Aceh entered a new phase of violence. President Habibie's promise to end the bloodshed in Aceh did not see the light of day. On May 3, 1999, 39 civilians were killed and 125 wounded in a shooting incident at the KKA junction. This tragedy was triggered by the kidnapping of an Army Missile Detachment Unit officer by GAM, responded to by the Army with sweeps and house searches.
The next controversial case was an attack on Teungku Bantaqiah's pesantren (religious school) in Beutongateuh on July 23, 1999, which killed Bantaqiah and 55 of his students. During 1999, violence and human rights violations abounded throughout Aceh. The majority of victims continued to be civilians, while the perpetrators were from the security forces, GAM and 'unidentified groups.'
Violence, Victims and Human Rights Violations, January-December 1999
Regencies Murders Arrests/Detentions Forced Disappearances Torture
Total
East Aceh 40 13 6 18 77
North Aceh-Aceh Jeumpa 172 220 65 336 793
West Aceh 103 27 15 13 158
Central Aceh 29 0 0 13 42
South Aceh 34 6 7 259 306
Aceh Pidie 29 25 5 30 89
Aceh Besar-Banda Aceh 9 2 3 132 146
Total 416 293 101 801 1,611
Source: Commission for Missing Persons & Victims of Violence (Kontras)
TNI-Police and GAM Casualties in 1999
Regency TNI-Police GAM Members
Dead Injured Missing Dead Injured
East Aceh 0 0 2 1 1
North Aceh-Aceh Jeumpa 6 40 4 4 0
West Aceh 16 13 2 0 0
Central Aceh 0 0 0 3 0
South Aceh-Singkil 0 0 8 0 0
Aceh Pidie 11 9 6 3 0
Aceh Besar-Banda Aceh 0 0 2 0 0
Total 33 62 24 11 1
Source: Kontras
Humanitarian Pause
From January-May 2000, prior to the signing of the Humanitarian Pause, 337 cases of violence and violations of human rights occurred.
Type of Violation Month Total
January Feb March April May 12
Forced Disappearance 40 34 18 0 9 101
Death without Due Process 35 7 4 11 7 64
Arbitrary Arrest/Detention 67 3 0 0 0 70
Torture 68 0 21 0 13 102
Total Victims 210 44 43 11 29 337 * Data from Kontras
In the 12 days after the signing of the Humanitarian Pause on 12 May to its effective implementation on June 2, Kontras recorded 27 cases of violence. The details: eight armed conflicts, nine attacks by security forces on civilians, four attacks by civilians on security forces, two sweeps and four acts of destruction on buildings. The result: seven dead, nine forced disappearances and 26 people tortured. It is too early to expect violence concerning the 25-year conflict to disappear with the first Humanitarian Pause. Armed conflicts between GAM and the security forces have stopped, but there continue to be civilian victims. Under the pretext of recovering security, the forces are still carrying out acts of repression.
Even a number of important figures have become mysterious murder victims, among others Harun Aldy (South Aceh Council member), Djafar Sidiq Hamzah (Aceh International Forum Activist) and Teungku Safwan Idris (Dean of Ar Raniry State Islamic Institute). The security forces blame GAM, while the movement says otherwise. There are reports from the Monitoring Team for Security Modality (TMMK) on the violent acts and other violations during the first stage of the Humanitarian Pause, but there is no information on the perpetrators.
Incident Month September 1-13 Total
June July August
Armed Contact 1 3 2 1 7
Attacks 2 9 13 13 37
Bombing 0 6 2 1 9
Arson 0 8 4 4 16
Destruction 0 2 1 1 4
Extortion 23 45 18 7 93
Assault 11 33 17 7 68
Detention 0 1 0 0 1
Kidnapping 12 22 29 17 80
Murder 15 21 2 5 43
Provocation 3 6 8 2 19
Rape 6 0 3 0 9
Eviction 3 3 1 1 8
Shooting 3 7 23 5 38
Stabbing 0 1 0 0 1
Sweeps 29 64 54 26 173
Threats 5 17 13 1 36
Torture 6 13 2 2 23
Total 119 261 192 93 665
During the 104 days after the implementation of the Humanitarian Pause, 43 lives were lost, (the report did not mention whether they were civilians, security forces or GAM members) 80 people were kidnapped, 38 were shot (or shot at), 23 tortured and nine raped. Security forces held sweeps almost every day, 173 times in total. What about the suffering of thousands of refugees scattered in a number of camps? This is another sad story.
Extended Anguish
There are no signs the violence is abating, even with an extension of the Humanitarian Pause. In the 24 days since it was extended (September 3-27), the Human Rights Awareness Forum (FP HAM) in Aceh said at least 68 civilians died and 20 TNI-Police officers had been killed. GAM admitted that seven of its members, including Nasruddin Daud and Ismail Syahputra (GAM spokesman), had died. During October 2000, arson attacks occurred at a number of markets, the first of which was at the junction of Pasirputih village, Rantopeurelak, East Aceh. Subsequently, on October 12, at the Uleeglee market, Bandardua district, Pidie regency, fire destroyed 98 shophouses and 128 semi-permanent kiosks.
Two days later, it was the turn of shops in Tiro regency, Pidie. Eighty-five shops, some also used as homes, were destroyed. On October 25, in Simpangtiteue market, Titeuekeumala district, Pidie, 26 shops, a number of shophouses and four houses were burned to the ground. Who were the arsonists that threw the locals into yet more misery? TNI-Police and GAM again fought over words. On the eve of the Aceh People's Congress for Peace in Banda Aceh, November 11, the number of deaths following the extension of the Humanitarian Pause increased by at least 50, while 100 were injured by security forces' gunfire. When will the history of Mecca's veranda be written in ink, not blood and tears? Ines Handayani and Hamid Basyaib /AK
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The South China Morning Post ~ December 4
From Irian Jaya, or West Papua as its inhabitants call it, to Aceh, the challenges to Indonesia's unity have never been so grave as at present. Increasingly powerful separatist struggles are tearing at the five-decade-long attempt by Jakarta to create a unified nation out of the diverse peoples of the former Dutch East Indies. At the root of Indonesia's problems lies the resentment minorities feel about the political and economic influence of the Javanese.
During the 32-year rule of former president Suharto, military power and the fruits of a growing economy helped to mute the discontent in far-flung provinces. But East Timor's successful bid for independence and the political uncertainty in national politics have given a new lease of life to separatist movements across the archipelago. It has also stoked ugly ethno-nationalist clashes in the Malukus and west Kalimantan. President Abdurrahman Wahid, who in the midst of these troubles has found time to tilt at a windmill in criticising Singapore, seems to have no coherent policy responses to the forces pulling his nation apart. After first making a conciliatory gesture to the West Papuans by apologising to them for human rights abuses by the armed forces, he has gone on to use those forces to quell demonstrations of separatism, leaving a simmering resentment.
The Indonesian President has also proposed autonomy for the country's restive outlying provinces. But this appears to be too little, too late. What is clearly needed is to demonstrate to the outlying areas the economic benefits of remaining part of a larger whole. Both West Papua and Aceh are rich in resources such as copper and natural gas. But neither province has benefited to the extent it ought to have from these riches. A far greater proportion of the revenues from this natural wealth should be ploughed into developing these provinces.
Besides greater resource sharing, serious thought needs to be given to evolving a wider Indonesian identity which will encompass the diversity of the world's fourth-largest nation. The idea of a unified, homogenous nation, speaking one common language was the basis for the Indonesian movement for independence led by the country's founding father, Sukarno. But if the country is to survive as a single entity, it will need to build a looser political structure which will draw strength from Indonesia's diversity, rather than attempting to crush it.
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Aceh Peaceful Ahead of GAM Anniversary
The Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 4
While tension was mounting in Irian Jaya following the celebration of the unsuccessful 1961 declaration of independence, there was a semblance of peace at the opposite end of the archipelago on Sunday. In Aceh on the eve of the 24th anniversary of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the police reiterated a warning against attempts to hoist the separatist flag. "We will take stern action against people who attempt to raise flags other than national red-and-white flags in the territory," Police Special Operation Cinta Meunasah deputy chief Supt. Yatim Suyatmo said. In response to the warning, GAM military wing (AGAM) commander Sofyan Daud indicated on Sunday compliance with the police ban. "If hoisting GAM flags will endanger people's lives, we advise them not to do it," he said.
Separately, the GAM spokesman for Pidie regency, Abu Razak, said the commemoration of the movement's anniversary would be low key since it coincides with the Islamic fasting month. There will no official program to mark Monday's anniversary, but GAM governor for North Aceh Sayed Adnan said some 30 GAM commanders in their respective areas were expected to read out a written statement from Aceh rebel leader Hasan Tiro, who is living in self-exile in Sweden. Sayed said Aceh GAM chief commander Abdullah Syafei was expected to preside over the ceremony to be held in Batee Iliek area, Bireuen regency. Sayed added that the contents of Tiro's speech was mainly to call on Acehnese to continue fighting for independence. Local reporters who wish to cover the event were told to leave for Batee Iliek a day earlier, for fears that security personnel would step up measures to prevent them reaching the area.
Democracy
In Yogyakarta, People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais insisted on Sunday that commitment to democracy would help the government deal with disintegration threats facing the nation. Speaking at a discussion with Muslim followers packing the mosque in the compound of Gadjah Mada University here, Amien said the country was facing the most serious threats ever compared to regional rebellions in the past. He said the use of force would be dangerous, if not fail to address the separatist movement in the restive provinces of Aceh and Irian
Jaya, also known as West Papua, which mostly stemmed from socioeconomic injustices andthe central government's failure to meet aspirations of people there. "I have observed with anxiety people beginning to think that an authoritarian government is more workable (in coping with the disintegration threats) than a democratic one. This is of course very dangerous," he said. He admitted, however, the separatist movement was "an unimaginable outcome" of the reform movement that showed long-time ruler Soeharto the door in May 1998. "It is only a matter of time before separatism in Aceh and Papua explodes," Amien, who visited Aceh as part of his tour of Sumatra recently, warned.
Amien, who played a leading role in the reform movement, also proposed that the government uphold justice, regain the trust of both people in the country and international community and ensure clean governance to bring the country's multifold problems under control. A military source, meanwhile, told The Jakarta Post that three battalions of Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) had been sent to both Irian Jaya and Aceh to back up police to maintain order in the two provinces. He said the move was in line with President Abdurrahman Wahid's pledge not to let go of the two natural resource-rich territories.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto has said that the troops have donned police uniforms. The source said the decision to use police uniforms was made because "thegovernment's stance to use dialog has presented us with a serious problem and provides us with no legal basis to launch operations". To anticipate possible disturbances in Aceh on Monday, the military says it will take stern action if necessary, he said. "Once they (the Acehnese) declare independence, the military will have nochoice but to crush them," the source said.
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Security Forces Seize Thousands of Bullets in North Aceh
The Jakarta Post ~ Dec 4
Security forces have seized a total of 3.109 pieces of ammunition belonging to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) forces in a mosque in Lhok Sibadeung village, Seunedon district, North Aceh. The security forces also confiscated a number of military equipment and documents during the raid on Saturday, spokesman of the North Aceh Police, Senior Inspector Abdi Darmawan, told reporters in Lhokseumawe Sunday. Abdi said the raid was conducted following a report from area residents. Also on Saturday, a group of GAM rebels attacked a traffic police post in Panton Labu, North Aceh. No casualties were reported during the attack, he said.
The mortars fired by the attackers missed the post by 50 meters. The police fired back and both sides were soon engaged in a fire fight that lasted about 15 minutes when the attackers fled to a nearby village. "We don't know yet if there were casualties among the attackers," Abdi said as quoted by Antara. Despite the incident, Abdi said the situation in North Aceh remained calm ahead of GAM's anniversary on Dec. 4.
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Aceh Quiet, Tense on Rebel Anniversary
The Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 4
The restive province of Aceh was calm but tense on Monday as it celebrated the anniversary of the founding of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), residents and police said. In Lhokseumawe, a rebel stronghold and the site of huge natural gas wells that account for much of the province's wealth, the situation was peaceful. Unlike last year when the territory was overwhelmed with a festive atmosphere, the mood on Monday was largely subdued and no one hoisted GAM flag, marking its 24th anniversary. Residents of the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, said the independence flag was hoisted in some areas of the city, but there were no reports of trouble.
A small group of people prayed at the city's mosque to mark the anniversary. "They are allowed to pray as long as they are not provoking people," police spokesman Kusbini Imbar told Reuters from Banda Aceh. Imbar added three people suffered minor injuries on Sunday when two police stations were attacked. "It is possible those attacks are related to the GAM anniversary. They are probably unhappy because as we patrol we also encourage people not to hoist the flag," Imbar added.
GAM's exiled leader Hasan di Tiro, called on followers to press on with the fight for independence. In a written message, Sweden-based Tiro urged rebels not to yield to "colonialist" Indonesia. He said Jakarta was in "political, economic and moral bankruptcy." "I call on you to prepare all material and moral strengths we have so that we can defend the honor of our nation," said Tiro was quoted by AFP as saying. "Keep fighting for the freedom and sovereignty of the land our beloved ancestors have handed down to us." Tiro called Indonesia a terrorist state where the rule of law was non-existent.
The armed separatist group has been waging a long guerrilla war against Indonesian rule of the restive province on the northwest tip of Sumatra. Indonesia said last week that it would crack down on the rebels and refuse to extend a troubled ceasefire if they did not resume peace talks within seven weeks.
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By Hilde May, The Jakarta Post ~ Dec. 4
After his recent visit to Aceh, People's Consultative Assembly SpeakerAmien Rais said: "If the autonomy law is unsatisfactory and the security situation in Aceh is not improved and the people's suffering continues to worsen, anyone with a healthy brain can predict there will be a referendum.Therefore it's not now, but later." (The Indonesian Observer, Nov. 16, 2000). This statement raises some questions. A referendum requires at least two clear options, but so far neither the government nor the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leaders seem to be in a position to formulate their respective offers to the people of Aceh.
First, whether the special autonomy status will meet the expectations of the Acehnese will only be known after the respective law has been introduced to them. Once the law has been formulated, the government must make sure that every single voter is given the chance to understand the implications of the special autonomy status. Second, the separatist rebels have been fighting for decades for independence, but have failed to provide their fellow Acehnese with a clearpolitical program.
The separatist leaders want to establish an Islamic state ruled by the supremacy of syariah (Islamic law), but they did not make any commitment concerning fundamental human rights and the concept of democracy, including freedom of the press, freedom of expression, freedom of science and teaching, equal rights for women and the right to free and democratic elections. How can the Acehnese voters be sure that the impact of independence will serve their interests and welfare? As Aceh is rich in natural resources, how can the Acehnese be sure that certain elements are not using religion as a tool for their own political and economic interests?
President Abdurrahman Wahid once said "... to become a good Muslim one need not set up an Islamic state". If Amien Rais' prophecy should ever come true and a referendum prove unavoidable, one can only hope that by that time the government and the separatist movement will have already revealed their respective proposals in order to give the Acehnese the opportunity to chose between two clear and credible options.
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Aceh Anniversary Mood Sombre as Promises Go Unfulfilled
The South China Morning Post ~ Dec. 4
The Indonesian Government has tried to buy hearts and minds in the troubled province of Aceh ahead of the separatists' declaration of independence anniversary today, but few believe the promises anymore. The Acehnese plan to hold peaceful prayer meetings and quiet celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the declaration of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in the village of Banda. Similar gatherings will be held in other villages.Organisers say the security and logistics situation makes the mass transport of people unlikely.
In the absence of viable peace talks and the failure of a Humanitarian Pause agreement to bring even a break in hostilities, the atmosphere in the village is heavy with foreboding. More than 160 people have been killed since the renewal of the truce in September, and negligible aid has arrived for victims of violence as pledged in the agreement. As with Irian Jaya, which celebrated its own failed independence anniversary on Friday, government forces appear to be pursuing various policies at the same time. Promising money and wide-ranging autonomy with one hand, it threatens heavy crackdowns and the impossibility of independence with the other.
Last month police arrested a leading student activist, Mohamad Nazar, who heads the Sira Centre for a Referendum for Aceh. Senior ministers have also warned GAM rebels that if they refuse to come to the negotiating table they will pursue plans to impose a civil emergencystatus on Aceh. Alleged GAM bases have been raided and every few days police or troops are blamed for burning houses or market places in their search for presumed rebels. Heavy rains and severe flooding have swept across parts of Aceh and West Sumatra, impeding free movement and dampening demonstration plans.
Indonesia President Abdurrahman Wahid claimed the new aid, worth US$10.5 million (HK$81 million), had been planned for some time, and that its announcement just before the anniversary was coincidental. But it will be spent on battling the impact of the recent floods across Aceh. Successive Jakarta governments have promised many things to Aceh, such as the mythical North Sumatra railway and the creation of a free port in Sabang. Nothing has been forthcoming. If anything, clashes between security forces and GAM rebels have increased, with more lives lost each day than before the truce. GAM representatives have also refused to open a new session of talks on ways to calm the province.
Last year's celebrations were in the flush of euphoria following Mr Wahid's election, with his broad promises ringing in Acehnese ears. There were mass displays of GAM flags and slogans calling for a referendum rang out. But a year later the mood is more sombre - few of the promises have been fulfilled, fighting continues and the display of separatist symbols will be likely to attract punishment. "The celebrations will go ahead but of course not like last year because the security situation is not as conducive as last year," said Abu Sofyan Daud, the GAM commander of the Pasee, or north Aceh, region.
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Postcards GAM 24th Anniversary
Detikworld ~ Dec. 4
Four pictures on Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM, Free Aceh Movement) anniversary at Dec. 4 are available at Detikworld.com at the following links:
1. Flag raising ceremony to commemorate GAM's 24th Anniversary
2. GAM's Commander Tengku Abdulah Syafi'i to inspect his female freedom fighters. Commonly known as Inong Bale they originally comprised of widows whose husband had been killed in action. However it's a different matter today, many single Acehnese females are too willing to lend their support fort independence Aceh.
3. Flag Raiser Troops to hand in GAM's flag to Commander Syafi'i
4. Local villagers from Jeunib, Aceh Biruen listening to a written message from GAM founder and leader in exile Hasan Muhammad Di Tiro. Despite Jakarta's threat to clamp down on such activities, similar ceremony was held in other regions in Aceh.
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Under Threat, Indonesian Migrants Flee Adopted Hometowns
By Kafil Yamin, Inter Press Service ~ Dec. 2
At 53 years of age, Murad is about to start a new life. After almost two decades of living and working in Aceh, Murad has been forced to return to his hometown in Java, with just the clothes on his back and the few items he and his family could carry. In 1983, Murad and his wife moved to Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, where they and some 300 other Javanese were each given one and a half hectares of land and a modest house. Murad says the land he was given was only "half-ready." "The government only cut big trees, it was still jungle," he said. "So we had to cut smaller trees, hoe the ground. (We) cleared the land from bushes and rocks with only hoes and blades." But Murad and the other transferees to Aceh were in no position to complain. Their move had been instigated by the government of then-president Suharto,which had formulated a transmigration program aimed largely at easing the congestion on Java and encouraging development elsewhere.
Since the program began in the early 1980s, millions of Javanese have transmigrated to some of the least populated areas in Indonesia. Many of these places, however, are now being torn apart by communal conflict,and Javanese transmigrants like Murad have found themselves targets of violence. The transmigrants are now leaving their adopted hometowns in droves. In the last three months alone, at least 152,039 transmigrants have left their homes in Aceh, Kalimantan in Borneo, Maluku and Papua. Local administrations in Java have been scrambling to find resettlement sites for the "returnees." But their efforts are being complicated by the fact that Java is getting a smaller share than ever from the national coffers, as the central government tries to strike a fairer distribution of funds among the regions.
To some observers, the surge in the number of returnees to Java only proves that the transmigration policy was a huge mistake. Says Paulus Londo, a researcher at the LS2LP Population Research Center: "The present exodus of transmigration to their places of origin is a showcase of the failure of an ideological-political project that was called transmigration." He adds, "It is evidence that they (transmigrants) had never been accepted, and the idea of building socio-cultural cohesion was never really practiced."
To people like Londo, transmigration merely exacerbated old resentments against the central government in Jakarta and the Javanese. The violence breaking out in so many places, they say, shows that what was supposed to bring about national unity seems instead to have sped Indonesia toward national disintegration. To be sure, few had questioned the Suharto government's claims that the program was aimed primarily at balancing the population distribution between Java and Indonesia's other islands. Even now, Java, which is a mere one-fourth of Sumatra island in land area, is host to 119.6 million people, or 58.6 percent of the Indonesian population.
Another argument for transmigration was that it would resolve the shortage of arable land in Java. The theory was that increased productivity -- and therefore prosperity -- would be enjoyed by those left behind in Java, who would have larger plots to till. But the program's proponents said the transmigration sites would also benefit from playing host to a huge number of newcomers. After all, they said, getting skilled Javanese peasants to move to the least developed areas across the country would result in a transfer of knowledge. In addition, said officials, the introduction of another group of people in such places could only promote tolerance, and later bring about social and cultural cohesion.
Many observers, however, saw other political objectives. They noted that a large number of the transmigrants were sent to places with potential for separatism, such as Aceh, Papua (then Irian Jaya) and Riau. Now that separatist sentiments are again on the rise in these areas, the transmigrants are being seen as symbols of the central power that the locals are fighting against, as well as "usurpers" of local lands.
The recent Papua People's Congress (KRP), for instance, declared that transmigration had taken away the Papuans' "traditional rights," which now must be returned to them.Critics of transmigration say it has not even led to a population balance between Java and the other islands. This is because while many Javanese were being moved to the transmigration sites, Java itself continued to attract more migrants. Points out Londo: "The government encouraged people to move to other islands, but it built good infrastructure and centralized the national development on Java island. So people went to Java. Life is much better in Java." He also says the Suharto government's economic policy all but made a mess of the objective of improving the lives of the farmers left in Java. Londo explains that hectares upon hectares of agricultural lands were converted to industrial estates, housing and other non-agricultural sites.As this went on, says Londo, "more farmers became landless and were getting poorer."
But there are those like Harto Nurdin, a deputy at the Transmigration Ministry, who insist that the growing number of returnees to Java does not necessarily mean the transmigration program has been a total failure.To Nurdin, what is happening now is "a result of an oppressive and unjust political system. Transmigration is only an innocent victim." He insists that despite the current turmoil in many transmigration sites, the program itself has brought some positive results."A number of isolated places (were) opened up," says Nurdin. "Some people of Kalimantan had switched from their traditional nomadic lives to settled agricultural pattern There has been a transfer of knowledge on agriculture, thanks to the transmigration."
But he concedes that the government may have been ill-advised to relocate people by force. He says that in the future, it would be better if people "moved to other places because they want to. It should be more on a self-initiative and demand basis." Yet even that may take some doing, now that Pres. Abdurrahman Wahid has decided to close down the Transmigration Ministry as part of efforts to streamline the bureaucracy and make the Cabinet more efficient. Says Sukarto Karnen, head of the West Java Transmigration Office: "We have considerably big jobs now -- but with no funds and an unclear (future)."
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Aceh Separatist Still Insist On Their Independence
By Rayhan Anas Lubis, BI, Detikworld ~ Dec. 4
In a solemn but determined ceremony, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) commander announced that they were still adamant about achieving independence for Aceh. The separatist group chose Bireun village as its venue to commemorate GAM's 24th anniversary. For security reasons, the location and whereabouts of this ceremony remained secret until this morning. The ceremony was presided over by GAM's commander Tengku Abdullah Syafii. He was wearing his military outfit and was heavily surrounded by his bodyguards. At exactly 7.30-a.m. local time on Monday (4/12/2000), Syafii began the ceremony.
The ceremony opened with a reading from Koran and the hoisting of GAM's flag. At the ceremony, Syafii read a message from its group founder Tengku Hasan Di Tiro who has been in exile in Sweden since 1976. Di Tiro's written speech urged all GAM members to prepare themselves morally and materially in order to build strength to maintain the Acehnese honor and region. "Continue your struggle until your victorious, do this for the independence of our beloved land and the integrity of our beloved land," Di Tiro speech announced. Syafii told a group of journalists that GAM still "insists on Aceh's independence, nothing else". The secrecy of this ceremony was so great that the 700 people attending the event arrived at the village only minutes before. Also, present at the ceremony were GAM's female fighters known as Inong Bale.
Meanwhile, police and military activity continues unabated in the troubled province where a coalition of pro-independence groups are currently combining forces to push for full independence. The have petitioned the United Nations and appear to be stepping up their efforts in reaction to recent crackdowns. The top leader of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) was arrested last week on charges of stirring up hate against the state in a police/bureaucratic clampdown which mirrors that being undertaken on Indonesia's other tip in West Papua, or the province of Irian Jaya.
The commemoration of the anniversary Papua and its declaration of independence on December 1 resulted in at least 8 deaths after police removed the 'Morning Star' flag from a public building that the major pro- independence group had occupied for months. Many were concerned that the death toll would be higher. Leaders in both Aceh and West Papua previously pledged to tone-down their celebrations this year. Many are now wondering if the anniversary in Aceh will pass without a one of the bloodbaths that have been seen with distressing regularity in the province known as the 'Gateway to Mecca'.
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Aceh Rebel Leader Vows to Press on For Independence From Indonesia
AFP ~ Dec. 4
The exiled leader of the separatist movement in the Indonesian province of Aceh on Monday called on followers to press on with the fight for independence. In a written message marking the 24th anniversary of a declaration of nationhood, Hasan di Tiro, the Sweden-based supreme commander of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), urged rebels not to yield to "colonialist" Indonesia.He said Jakarta was in "political, economic and moral bankruptcy."
"I call on you to prepare all material and moral strengths we have so that we can defend the honor of our nation," said Tiro in a message faxed to the Banda Aceh-based Serambi daily newspaper. "Keep fighting for the freedom and sovereignty of the land our beloved ancestors have handed down to us." Tiro called Indonesia a terrorist state where the rule of law was non-existent."If a government committed a crime and the perpetrators are protected, that country is called a terrorist state," he said.
Aceh was calm on Monday as separatist flags flew at the state-run Syiah Kuala University, an office of the justice and human rights ministry and several schools in the city of Banda Aceh despite police warnings that such symbols would not be tolerated.Witnesses said the flags were hoisted Sunday night by residents and guerrilla members.Residents assembled in mosques to pray for peace while hundreds of riot police were on standby at their headquarters in the Jeulingge area of the city.
On Sunday Aceh police spokesman, Superintendent Kusbini Imbar, warned anyone caught raising separatist emblems would be dealt with harshly."There will be no tolerance, even for a second," Imbar said. On Sunday a GAM spokesman, Abu Razak, said the movement intended to mark the day in a "simple way" because the anniversary this year coincided with the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.Razak said the GAM, set up in 1976 to fight for an independent Islamic sultanate, was leaving any activities marking the anniversary to the people of Aceh."If conditions are not conducive, better not fly the flag but instead, the people of Aceh should pray for the prosperity and the victory of Aceh," Razak said.
The Indonesian government has warned it will crack down on Aceh's separatists, with Coordinating Minister for Security and Political Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warning the GAM against mobilizing activists against the government. More than a decade of syphoning off Aceh's natural resources by the central government and harsh anti-rebel military operations has fuelled deep anti-Jakarta sentiment in Aceh.President Abdurrahman Wahid has flatly ruled out independence but has instead promised broad autonomy by next year.
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December 4 Anniversary Looms Large
By Rayhan Anas Lubis, GB, Detikworld ~ Dec. 2
Banda Aceh,Last year before the December 4 anniversary of the establishment of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra was strewn with GAM flags and painted in their colours. This year, the separatist guerilla organisation is planning to mark the occasion but on a much smaller scale It is difficult to tell what will happen on the anniversary. The atmosphere in Aceh and particularly in GAM strongholds like around Pidie in North Aceh is tens. The red-white-black of the GAM flag is conspicuously absent.
This doesn't mean anyone has forgotten the occasion. "The celebrations will go ahead but of course not like last year because the security situation is not as conducive as last year," said Abu Sofyan Daud, the commander of the Pasee or north Aceh region when contacted by detikworld Saturday (2/12/2000). The location of the main celebrations is also not being released for security reasons. "We are very careful this year. We don't want this (the location) to leak out," Daud added. Meanwhile, police and military activities continue unabated in the troubled province where a coalition of pro-independence groups are currently combining forces to push for full independence. They have petitioned the United Nations and appear to be stepping up efforts in reaction to recent crackdowns.
The top leader of the Aceh Referendum Information Centre (SIRA) was arrested last week on charges of spreading hate against the state in a police/bureaucratic clampdown mirroring that undertaken on Indonesia's other tip in West Papua, or Irian Jaya province. Their anniversary of the declaration of independence on December 1 passed with at least 8 deaths after police removed the 'Morning Star' flag from a public building the major pro- independence group had occupied for months. Many were concerned that the death toll would be higher. Leaders in both Aceh and West Papua previously pledged to tone-down their celebrations this year and many are now wondering if the anniversary in Aceh will pass without a bloodbath like those seen with distressing regularity from the province known as the 'Gateway to Mecca'.
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Govt. To Inject Rp100 Billion Into Aceh
By D Sangga Buwana, GB, Detikworld ~ Dec. 2
After recently concluding that Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh does not want to succeed, the government has announced that it plans to inject Rp 100 billion (US$ 10.5 million at latest rates) to develop the economy and alleviate the suffering of the victims of recent floods and landslides.
President Abdurrahman Wahid announced the plan at the Istana Merdeka Presidential Palace in central Jakarta on Saturday (2/12/2000). He said the money would be made available in the next three months and would go into projects for rehabilitating industry and trade and developing the local economy. The port of Sabang on the Malacca Straights is to be rehabilitated and become a free port and the media centre is to reopen. Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Rizal Ramli, who accompanied the President said the decision had been made after meeting with Acehnese representatives and concluding that the people of Aceh did not want independence but special autonomy within Indonesia.
The government last week decided against ending the `humanitarian pause' brokered with separatist rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) or instating a civil emergency. They opted to develop dialogue and implement the recommendations of a special committee formed by the House of Representatives in 1999. Besides special autonomy, the committee also suggested economic development as a means to tackle rising independence aspirations. Ramli added that the money had been obtained from special reserve funds and would immediately concentrate on repairing the damage done by recent flooding which left tens dead and injured.
The President also took the opportunity to explain that he would personally be visiting Aceh twice in coming weeks. The first visit relates to the flood- disaster in Aceh and neighbouring West Sumatra province. The second visit is to attend Nuzurul Koran celebrations with fellow Muslims in the staunchly Islamic province.
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Source of Terror is 'From State, Not Rebels'
The Jakarta Post ~ November 27
Human rights violations by security officers is a source of terror in the restive province of Aceh, rather than separatist rebels who the government tends to blame for all the trouble, a rights advocate said on Saturday. The Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) chairman, Hendardi, said the government continually claims that the enemy of the Acehnese is the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). "Ironically, the Acehnese are more afraid of the military and police than they are of GAM rebels," he said in a one-day talk on terrorism and democracy held by the Poros Indonesia Group.
Violence committed by security personnel, mainly by the military, he said, in their role "as agents of Indonesian unity", had led to the belief that the idea of "a united Indonesia was terrifying in itself". The military and police have, however, defended their actions in violating all international norms and conventions on human rights on the grounds of self-defense, he alleged. "This has only resulted in the continuing resistance of the Acehnese and a circle of impunity."
An Aceh provincial legislator of the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) Teungku Bachrum Manyak shared his opinion on the prolonged conflict in Aceh, claiming it was orchestrated by the central government. "Only well-trained people could kill many public figures, such as ulemas, in Aceh. The killers must be professional," Bachrum said, adding that GAM, however, had been blamed for the murders. He did not explain what he meant by professional, but said that the killers were all well-trained in military techniques and self-defense.
Bachrum acknowledged that GAM members were also part of the violence, which should be dealt with by the police, not by the military. The unrest in Aceh has been provoked by injustice and the fact that the government has yet to implement any (positive) political decision on Aceh, he said. "The government has proposed giving special autonomy to Aceh. President Abdurrahman Wahid has also said the concept of the special autonomy would be finalized in January 2000. The promise has yet to be fulfilled. "Just stop disappointing and humiliating us. We have suffered a lot," Bachrum said, referring to the government's latest plan to impose a state of civil emergency in Aceh. According to Hendardi, fulfilling the Acehnese people's aspirations to have their rights protected and their basic freedoms upheld were the key to a peaceful settlement. "The police are in the forefront of the government's will to seek a peaceful way out of the conflict."
Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said in Jakarta on Friday that his office was still awaiting the result of further investigation into alleged human rights abuses in Aceh. "We expect the probe to be completed soon. The sluggish efforts made by the government in handling the rights violations has become one of the concerns exacerbating the crisis in Aceh," he said. "There is one condition under which the efforts can restore the Acehnese people's faith in the law," he added. Marzuki further said that the joint team of investigators was currently probing the possibility of the involvement of high-ranking military officers in the murder of Muslim preacher Tengku Bantaqiah and his students.
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Proud Acehnese Have Little Faith in Jakarta's Autonomy Offer
AFP ~ Nov. 26
A long history of treachery by Jakarta is the main stumbling block to talks on autonomy to end the separatist movement in Indonesia's rebellious Aceh province, locals say. As Indonesia was struggling for independence from the Dutch in 1948, Sukarno, Indonesia's founding president, begged Aceh's leader Daud Beureueh for support. In return, military governor Beureueh demanded that the staunchly Muslim and resource-rich province on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra be allowed to impose Islamic sharia law and obtain special autonomy. Sukarno, swearing by God, agreed.
The Acehenese, following a long history of fighting the Dutch, donated rice, money and gold to buy Indonesia's first airplane, which became the embryo of the national carrier, Garuda Indonesia. But Sukarno broke his promise and instead of granting a special status to the region in 1950 after the Dutch left and Indonesia gained its full independence, he incorporated Aceh into North Sumatra province, igniting anger among the population. In 1953, a disillusioned Beureueh led a rebellion against Jakarta aimed at setting up an Islamic state in Aceh. Massive military operations were launched to quash the rebellion. The country's second president, Suharto -- who stepped down in 1998 -- declared Aceh a special province and also promised autonomy. But the special province existed only in name and autonomy was never given.
Under Suharto more than 5,000 people were killed in a decade of harsh military crackdowns on the seperatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) -- set up in 1976 by Hasan di Tiro, now in exile in Sweden, to fight for an independent Aceh sultanate. Military operations were lifted in 1998 but violence involving government troops and GAM guerillas has continued unabated. "The central government makes promises when it's in a weak position. But it backtracks once it gains strength," political observer Nazaruddin Syamsuddin said. Suharto's successor, B.J. Habibie, vowed in March 1999 to end state violence in the province, also promising to build a longer runway for its airport and re-open the port on Sabang island. They too turned into empty promises. "So far I haven't seen any concrete action taken by Jakarta to appease the Acehnese," said Imam Suja, the head of Aceh's branch of the Council of Indonesian Muslim Scholars.
National Assembly Vice Chairman Hari Sabarno, himself a military general, said Acehnese resentment toward the central government was justified. "The Acehnese rebellion stems from injustices committed by the central government since the era of president Sukarno until now," Sabarno said. "They are disappointed, despite being named a special province, government's intervention in Aceh is very dominant," he added. The draining of the region's oil and gas resources and the rape of its forests, with almost no revenue funneled back, has added insult to injury.
In November last year almost a million people rallied in the provincial capital of Aceh to demand a referendum similar to the one held in East Timor last year. This month the calls were repeated, despite province-wide military road blocks to try to prevent Acehnese from marking the anniversary of the massive 1999 rally. A recent poll conducted among just over two million Acehnese out of the country's 2.7 million eligible voters showed that the majority wanted independence from Indonesia. The poll, taken by the Information Center for an Aceh Referendum across Aceh on November 2-11, showed that 92.02 percent of the 2,062,398 people questioned wanted independence for Aceh, compared to just 0.13 percent who wanted the province to remain part of Indonesia.
In Jakarta last week the country's top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned Acehnese that Jakarta would not tolerate independence, and repeated the autonomy offer. Come to autonomy talks or face the possibility of the declaration of a state of emergency -- in other words yet another crackdown, Yudhoyono said. Former human rights minister Hasballah Saad shot back from the sidelines with his own warning. Imposing a state of civil emergency, Saad said, would only worsen the problem. "In a civil emergency, hundreds of people could get killed and still there would be no solution to the problem," he said. "A wrong policy might prompt the emergence of new supporters of GAM," he said, recalling the Suharto-era crackdown, and urged both sides to come to the negotiating table during a shaky truce. The truce between the GAM and Jakarta took effect in June for three months and has been extended until January 15.
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Frustrated, Aceh Fighters Seek Foreign Role
By Andi Asrun, Inter Press Service ~ November 23
Frustrated by slow progress in solving killings and human rights abuses in Indonesia's Aceh province, separatist supporters there are stepping up calls for international support to pressure Jakarta to stop such atrocities. "There are no other choices apart from seeking international support. The Acehnese has lost confidence in Jakarta," Arbi Sanit, professor of political science at University of Indonesia, said of the sentiments of angry, disappointed residents of the country's northernmost province. "The central government made promises to the Acehnese, but in fact they were never realized, especially in the prosecution of soldiers who allegedly kille dpeople there," he said. "Should an Acehnese wait for another member of the family or relative to be killed?" According to Sanit, continuing protests by the Acehnese have prompted discussion of the United Nations opening a representative office there.
Residents of Aceh hope the United Nations can force Jakarta to speed up getting accountability by those responsible for right abuses in the past, especially during the military operation from 1989 to 1998 when human rights abuses peaked. But he doubts if the government would voluntarily permit the United Nations to open an office in the troubled province, which lies at the northern tip of Sumatra, an island northwest of Jakarta. Many army generals and civilian bureaucrats have strongly rejected the proposal for a U.N. office, saying "conflict in Aceh is Indonesia's internal affairs and there is no need for international interference." But "the U.N. representative can speed up settling the conflict, and hopefully Aceh will remain our province," Sanit said.
Nazaruddin Syamsuddin, an Acehnese professor of political science at the University of Indonesia, calls the international community's interference a necessity. "Only U.N. and big donor countries (to Indonesia) can stop the military violence there," he insisted. The chances of the Indonesian government listening to foreign views are good, he says, because Indonesia badly needs economic assistance to overcome economic problems from the 1997 crisis. He argued, "The government will listen what ever the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and donor countries said." Still, an international role of this sort is a touchy issue for Indonesians who already see foreign, especially Western, interference in the case of the referendum in East Timor last year.
Calls for independence have only grown louder since the end of the Suharto era. Wahid has since visited the area and allowed provinces more autonomy, and a court had earlier pinpointed soldiers responsible for one killing in Aceh. But violence continues, and the roots of Aceh's desire for independence run deep. Aceh's rich reserves of natural gas draws big foreign companies and helps boost the central government's earnings, but it remains a poor province. Likewise, the Acehnese feel they have duped by the Jakarta government before. They feel they helped the Indonesian republic push out Dutch colonizers, but did not get the autonomy that Jakarta, and the Suharto government, promised them.
At a mass rally two weeks ago attended by at least 100,000 people in the Acehnese capital of Banda Aceh, pro-independence activists vowed to fight for independence peacefully. The supporters unfurled banners saying "Independence of Aceh is the only choice for the Aceh people." At the end of the rally, Muhammad Nazar of the Information Center for Aceh Referendum read out a memorandum calling on the government to restore Aceh's sovereignty as a free and separate nation, to withdraw military forces, and to be held accountable for atrocities during past military operations.
The memorandum also called on the international community and the United Nations to intervene to help find a political, security and humanitarian solution to the problems in Aceh. Despite the end of military operations under Suharto, aimed at quelling demands for separatism and a festering insurgency in Aceh, Syamsuddin says the military remains a dominant actor in Aceh -- and in the country's political arena. Already, he notes, many elements in the armed forces have publicly called military intervention in Aceh a necessity. President Abdurrahman Wahid however disapproves of military intervention. The province was officially an area of military operation and was effectively under military rule from 1989-1998, and thousands of Acehnese died in those years.
Meantime however, Defense Minister Mohammad Mahfud does not rule out military intervention to solve the conflicts in Aceh, saying "it is one possible option." "The military operation is needed to defend the unity of the nation and national stability," Mahfud told legislators recently during a hearing of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Commission at the House of Representatives."Military intervention in the domestic affairs is not against international law," he said. "Military operations against separatism is supported by international law." If military intervention is approved, then the military will be fully in charge to control the territory and intensify its operations there.
Mahfud rejected international intervention in Aceh, saying the conflict there was an internal affair. He also ruled out the withdrawal of police and troops from Aceh, sought by local parliaments and the separatist movement led by the Free Aceh movement. "If military troops and police are withdrawn from the province, the situation will get worse. Who will take responsibility?" he asked. But Syamsuddin says new approaches are needed to avoid repeats of clashes like the Santa Cruz massacre that rocked the East Timor capital of Dili in 1991. In that bloody incident, Indonesia troops opened fire and killed some 100 people. "Such a Santa Cruz massacre will lead to deteriorating conflict, and finally will pave the way for Aceh's split from Indonesia," warned Syamsuddin.
Munir, chairman of the board of patrons of the Commission for Missing People and Victims of Violence (Kontras), blames the military for the worsening situation in Aceh. "The military is too dominant in determining the government policy for Aceh. So, military approach is more dominant than the persuasive approach in solving the problem in Aceh," he said. Quoting reports from the Information Center for Aceh Referendum (SIRA), Munir, winner of the Swedish Right Livehood Award 2000, said many military operations are carried out without permission from the provincial government. He called on Wahid to pull out special troops and elite police from all villages and small towns in Aceh.
Still, Syamsuddin says special autonomy for Aceh is still the best solution, and this would allow the local government to make its own decisions except in the area of foreign policy, external security and monetary affairs. This way "the Acehnese can still enjoy enough power to manage their territory," he added. But the separatist movement has repeatedly rejected autonomy and wants an "independent Islamic state" in Aceh.Gazi Yoesoef, an advisor to Wahid on Aceh, agrees: "The extension of the humanitarian pause (in operations) up to January proved that dialogue is still possible," Yoesoef said.
The Indonesian military and separatist rebels agreed to that truce, but this has so far failed to reduce tension and violence in Aceh. "Soldiers and police quite often organize military operations without permission from their supervisors to search for the rebels that attacked them first," he said. Added Yoesoef: "What in the mind of the soldiers is only go to war and arrest the rebels to get a medal or a promotion."
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Police Detain Aceh Separatism Activist
Indonesian Observer ~ Nov. 22
Police in the troubled province of Aceh yesterday said they had detained a pro-independence activist on charges of fomenting hostility against the state and disturbing public order. Muhammad Nazar, leader of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA), was officially arrested after being questioned by police in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh for more than 10 hours on Monday. Aceh Besar District Police Chief Superintendent Sayed Hoesainy said 28-year-old Nazar had been quizzed from 10:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. as a suspect. "He was questioned as a suspect and has met the requirements for arrest, so police deem it necessary to detain the SIRA chairman," Hoesainy was quoted as saying by Antara.
Nazar had been summoned three times before he finally decided to attend the latest one on Monday. He was the chief organizer of a massive two-day pro-independence rally on November 10 and 11 in Banda Aceh, which was attended by tens of thousands of people demanding a referendum on self-determination for their resource-rich province. The suspect is charged with spreading hostility against the state by circulating separatist posters and banners during a protest on August 17, Indonesian Independence Day, Hoesainy said. "Neo-colonialists must go out of Acehnese land," read one of the posters, referring to Indonesian rule.
Hoesainy said Nazar had also breached the law on public order when he organized the mass gathering "as if Aceh were not part of Indonesia". The police chief said Nazar's detention will be valid for 20 days and could be extended for another 40 days. Nazar's lawyers opposed the arrest of their client, claiming it was only a political move. They vowed to get him released."If seen from the investigation process, police have clearly directed it to being a political probe," said Johnson Panjaitan, one of Nazar's lawyers.
Abdurrahman Yakob, another lawyer, said they would argue that Nazar should be released because police are yet to question any witnesses."The arrest is premature because the investigation is not complete," Yakob was quoted by AFP as saying. Detikworld said Nazar was still seen at one of the rooms at the police office late yesterday without being accompanied by his lawyers. "Last [Monday] night he slept on a piece of straw mat," a SIRA staff member who came to visit him was quoted as saying. The November 10 and 11 rallies marked the anniversary of last year's first public call for a vote on the future of Aceh. Later on November 14, pro-independence supporters issued a declaration in favor of the strongly Muslim province breaking away from Jakarta through a UN-sponsored referendum. Rebels have planned to declare the independence of Aceh on December 4.
In Jakarta, Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) Chief of General Affairs Lieutenant General Djamari Chaniago yesterday said the military is prepared to send more troops to curb separatist movements in Aceh and Irian Jaya. However, he said the decision will depend entirely on the government and the people. "TNI acts on the people's order. If they want us to send [troops], we will do, or vice versa." Chaniago said an estimated 15,000 troops are in Aceh. Earlier this month, Army Chief General Endriartono Sutarto said the deployment of more troops in Aceh and Irian Jaya must be based on a political decision.
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By Yusuf Daud ~ Nov. 22
This is a personal view of the Secretary-general of the Free Acheh Movement in Europe. The all-of-sudden decision taken by the Acheh Sumatra National Liberation Front - ASNLF - to pull out the16-18 November talks in Geneva last week, has taken Jakarta aback. After a "conditional extension" of the so called "humanitarian pause" agreed by both parties on September 16th, Jakarta had been pre-occupied with its "trump card" - a well-designed autonomy for Acheh - to be discussed in that well-planned but suspended meeting. And Jakarta's first reaction toward this incident is threatening to impose "civil emergency" and more troops to Acheh.
Observing the latest development in the region and considering the Indonesia's incessant manhunt to eliminate "armed civilians operating in Acheh", which is clearly attributed to the armed forces of the ASNLF, and the brutal crack down on unarmed civilians seeking for an alternative, peaceful solution to the conflict, the decision to suspend the talks was correct and worth supporting. Not only has Indonesia mocked the "pause" by dispatching more and more troops to Acheh and intensifying its military operations, it has also betrayed the truce by declaring war on Achehnese civilians to whom this truce was supposed to belong.
However, the suspension of the talks is by no means the failure of the truce as some people might think and worry about, but should be regarded as a "time out" for the parties involved to reflect and introspect what has gone wrong since the first understanding reached in May. Thinking of the complexity of the conflict and the unremitting hostility between Acheh and Jakarta, the existing truce must not be galloped without having a very clear agenda or having found a common denominator as a good basis for continued negotiations.
For the people of Acheh it is very clear that the Indonesian rule in Acheh is illegal, often referred to as a perpetuation of the Dutch colonial empire of the East Indies, and its security forces in the region are seen as an occupational army that must be unconditionally withdrawn. The only solution to the conflict is the return of the status quo ante bellum - an ancient independent Acheh before the war with Holland- which has never been done properly. While Indonesia has adamantly insisted that the Acheh solution must be within the frame of the Unitary State of Indonesia (NKRI), and has instead offered a "wider autonomy" under the pseudo-name of "Negara Aceh Darussalam".
If the talks are to resume soon and these stark opposing views will be met, it is feared that this fragile truce will end in a "sudden death", because each party is moving toward a completely opposite direction. Moreover, the deteriorating situation in Acheh now is too unbearable even for the negotiating panels to look into each others' eyes - let alone to discuss such complex issues. Therefore, it was wise to postpone the talks for the time being, as to avoid this unnecessary debacle. But should a new schedule agreed, the political discussion for determining Acheh status must under no circumstances be raised, since both Indonesia and ASNLF have nothing new to put forward except this classic "autonomy versus independence".
If Indonesia is ever interested in resolving the conflict peacefully, which most people doubt, there is a recipe that might be workable for reducing tension and alleviating the sufferings of Achehnese civilians - that is a cease fire - involving all the warring parties in the field. This kind of efforts should be initiated in Acheh, signed by the Banda Aceh's based team of security modalities and the military in the field from both sides, and endorsed by the Joint Forum in Geneva. This idea, no matter how absurd it will look in the beginning, will pave the way to the unarmed people of Acheh to exercise their right to self-determination in a peaceful and democratic way and could be used as a pre-requisition before jumping into a more substantial issue, that is political discussions.
In grinding out a comprehensive political solution, it is imperative that all Achehnese components, regardless how weak and insignificant they seem at the moment, should take part in the dialogue, so that any possible agreement achieved would be respected and well-accepted by the entire people of Acheh. And this is also to avoid the model solution à la Bangsa Moro in the Southern Philipines where one party is negotiating, other parties are fighting against. Apart from Henry Dunant Center, other significant international bodies should also be encouraged to mediate in this bloodletting conflict: to strengthen the negotiation and to put pressure on Indonesia to honour its commitments.
And those who have blessed and supported the Geneva accord in May, such as the UN, the USA, the EU etc, should reiterate their support and play a more active role in these undertakings. In absence of all this, the existing "humanitarian pause" would certainly turn to be a "bloody truce"; Indonesia's trigger-happy soldiers in Acheh would continue to kill innocent civilians with impunity; and a much worse disaster on Achehnese civilians than during the era of DOM ( Military Operational Area, 1990-1998) would be inevitable.
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Women, Children and Activists Living in Fear of Violence in Aceh
Amnesty International ~ Nov. 22
"We are used to violence -- we have violence for breakfast" Ridwan*, who was 14-years old when his father was killed after being taken from his village by security forces in 1991. Civilians are suffering worsening human rights abuses at the hands of both the Indonesian security forces and the armed opposition group in Aceh, Amnesty International said today launching three reports on women, children and human rights activists. "While thousands of victims of the past still wait for justice, hundreds of others continue to be targets for "disappearances", killings and torture," the organization said. "People continue to live in fear of violence from both sides, not knowing what tragedy might impact their lives next."
Government initiatives to investigate past human rights violations have raised hopes that thousands of cases would be addressed yet the security forces are continuing their tactics of brutality and repression, adding yet more names to the list of victims. The cycle of violence has affected a whole generation of young Acehnese. Thousands of children whose parents have been killed or gone missing in the conflict continue to be obstructed when attempting to find out the fate of their loved ones and risk becoming victims themselves for their efforts.
Saiful* was just 13 years old when his father "disappeared" in 1991. Saiful's uncle tried to find him, but later the same year, he was arrested by the military and has been missing ever since. Eight years later, in November 1999, Saiful's older brother was arrested by members of the military and the police and remains missing. Saiful has tried desperately to discover the fate of his relatives, but has been accused of being a member of the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka - GAM) by military officials and threatened with death himself for his efforts. "The father I loved was taken from me and I have to do something about it. So many of us want to find out where our relatives are. I have to struggle - already we have three victims in my family", Saiful told Amnesty International.
Women in Aceh also continue to suffer serious violations, including rape and other forms of torture. Several women and up to seven young girls were reportedly raped or sexually assaulted when men in military uniforms entered their house in Matangkuli, North Aceh on 7 March 2000 during an operation by the security forces to track down suspected GAM members. Although investigations have been carried out into the incident, no one has yet been brought to justice. Humanitarian workers and human rights defenders are being targeted specifically because of their work. Activists have been killed, arrested, tortured and "disappeared". The level of intimidation is preventing activists from travelling to carry out their work and areas in which incidents were said to have taken place are sealed off by the security forces.
On 2 September 2000, the body of Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, a human rights activist with the US-based International Forum for Aceh (IFA) was discovered dumped in a ravine with four others, around one month after he had gone missing in Medan, North Sumatra. His body was reportedly bound in barbed wire and bore marks of torture. Both the security forces and GAM have denied responsibility for his death. A police investigation has so far failed to identify suspects.
During a stop and search operation in South Aceh on 5 September 2000, a 24-year-old volunteer for Save Emergency Aceh, Amrisaldin, was detained by the Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob). He was punched, kicked, slashed with a knife, and had his pubic, chest and armpit hair burnt with matches before being released the next day.GAM has also been responsible for intimidating and threatening activists. Groups have received death threats, and blacklists banning local communities from accepting assistance are said to be circulating."There can be no real peace in Aceh until human rights violations are addresssed. Both the security forces and GAM must end the violence against civilians and effective systems of accountability must urgently be set up," Amnesty International said.
Background
The province of Aceh is situated in the northernmost part of the island of Sumatra, about 1,000 miles from the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. Dissatisfaction with Indonesian rule in Aceh has been largely rooted in economic grievances and repressive policies employed by the Indonesian security forces in response to local demands for independence. Between 1989-98, it is estimated that several thousand civilians, including children and the very elderly, were unlawfully killed. Arbitrary detention, torture and "disappearances" were also widespread.
Serious and widespread human rights violations have continued over the last two years. In May 2000 an accord was signed under which both the Indonesian authorities and GAM agreed to halt offensive operations to allow the distribution of humanitarian aid and prepare the ground for further negotiations on ending the conflict. Known as the Joint Understanding on Humanitarian Pause for Aceh, it came in to force on 2 June 2000 for a period of three months and has recently been extended for a further three months until 15 January 2001. It is now in jeopardy because of abuses by both sides.
While the agreement initially appeared to result in a decrease in the level of human rights violations, within a matter of weeks reported incidents of abuses by both the security forces and GAM escalated once again. In a recent incident, on 10-11 November 2000, thousands of people attended a rally in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, to call for a referendum on independence for Aceh. However, the security forces blocked people from travelling to Banda Aceh to participate, including by opening fire on convoys of vehicles. The total number of people killed remains unconfirmed but reports from local NGOs indicate that it is over 20.
Mohammad Nazar, one of the organizers of the rally was arrested on 20 November. He is believed to be charged under articles of the criminal code banning the public expression of feelings of hostility, hatred or contempt towards the government. Amnesty International has called on the government to repeal these articles as they violate international human rights standards and have been used in the past to imprison individuals for their legitimate, peaceful activities. If Mohammad Nazar were to be imprisoned purely for exercising his rights to freedom of expression, association or assembly, Amnesty International would consider him to be a prisoner of conscience and call for his immediate and unconditional release.* Names have been changed for security.
For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK +44 20 7413 5566. Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW
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By Adam Bassine, Human Rights Watch ~ Nov. 21
For More Information Contact: Sidney Jones (w) +1 212 216 1228 (h) +1 718 788 2899
Human Rights Watch said today that the arrest of an Acehnese activist on charges of "spreading hatred" and incitement were a throwback to Indonesia's authoritarian past. The international monitoring group called for the immediate and unconditional release of Muhammad Nazar, head of SIRA, a student coalition in support of a referendum on Aceh's political status. Nazar, was arrested Monday night by police in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh. He is currently detained in the district police lock-up but has access to visits from family members. "Nazar and other SIRA activists are being punished for organizing a peaceful rally attended by hundreds of thousands of ordinary Acehnese," said Sidney Jones, Asia director of Human Rights Watch. "If this is incitement, Indonesian democracy is in serious trouble."
On November 11, SIRA organized a huge rally in Banda Aceh on the first anniversary of a similar demonstration last year that drew an even larger crowd. To prevent this year's gathering, Indonesian security forces fired on vehicles and boats trying to reach the capital, reportedly killing dozens of civilians. An investigation conducted by Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission concluded that police had often fired directly on individuals, without warning shots. On November 7, police had summoned Nazar for questioning, requesting him to report to the police station no later than November 9. On the advice of his lawyers, Nazar ignored the summons. On November 10, police raided the office of the steering committee for the rally and briefly detained three committee members. On Monday, November 20, Nazar decided to turn himself in. After hours of questioning, he was detained at the Aceh Besar district police station.
Nazar's arrest marks the first time that the government of Abdurrahman Wahid has used Articles 154 and 155, the so-called haatzai artikelen, or "spreading hatred" articles of the Indonesian Criminal Code, against a political activist. Left over from the Dutch colonial administration, these statutes were used by the Soeharto government to punish free expression, including criticism of Soeharto himself, and to discourage pro-independence activities in East Timor. Human rights lawyers had hoped that in a democratic Indonesia, these articles would be repealed. An active armed insurgency in Aceh has mounted numerous attacks on police and military personnel, leading government forces to step up counterinsurgency operations. Many unlawful killings and arbitrary arrests have taken place in the process.
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Thousands Seek Refuge as Indonesian Troops Hunt Aceh Rebels
AFP ~ Nov. 19
An Indonesian security operation to flush out a rebel base in the flash-point province of Aceh has forced thousands of villagers to flee their homes in fear, residents said Sunday. Some 2,200 residents said they had abandoned their homes in the Keumire area of the Indrapuri sub-district on Saturday, after soldiers and police moved in to hunt down separatists, alleged to have abducted several officials. "We are afraid of becoming the victims and therefore we are forced to flee and leave our homes, our fields and our livestock," an elderly refugee, declining to identify himself, told AFP.
The group which feared getting caught in the cross-fire between rebels and government troops, was sheltering in a large meeting hall in Banda Aceh, he said. Aceh police spokesman, senior Superintendent Kusbini Imbar, said it was the Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh) separatist movement (GAM) which had forced the villagers from their homes. "We are not disturbing the peace of the people. It is the GAM who are telling people to evacuate," Imran said, according to the Serambi daily. "The search for the base of the GAM is because they have abducted sub-district and district chiefs and members of the (district) parliament," Imbar said adding that the operation in Indrapuri was launched late on Friday evening.
He said that 14 officials, including subdistrict and district chiefs and legislators, had been abducted in recent weeks. All of them had been released unharmed after beng held for a few days. Imbar said the abduction was aimed at terrorizing the officials. The location is also used as the training ground for the Inong Balee force (the women's regiment of the separatist rebels), Imbar added. East Aceh district GAM commander, Ayah Muni told the Serambi daily that the officials were not abducted but "invited" to discussions at the rebel base. "They were only invited and they came in good form and returned home in good form too," Muni said. He also said that the officials were invited not in their official capacities but as "Acehnese intellectuals." "We sat together discussing the problems of Aceh," he said.
The GAM has been fighting for independence from Indonesia for the past 20 years in the staunchly Muslim province. The government and the GAM signed a three-month truce in May, which was extended for another three months in September, but it has so far failed to curb the violence. Separatism in oil and gas-rich Aceh -- a province of some 4.6 million people on the northern tip of Sumatra island -- has been fuelled by Jakarta's failure to ensure the province benefits from its natural wealth and by years of harsh military repression aimed at wiping out rebellion. Jakarta, still smarting over the loss of East Timor in a UN-supervised ballot last year, has ruled out independence for Aceh but has promised broad autonomy instead.
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UN To Open Representative Office In Aceh
By Rayhan Anas Lubis / Fitri & PT, Detikworld ~ Nov. 16
The United Nations has planned to open a representative office at Banda Aceh, Capital City of the strife-torn province of Aceh following demands from the Acehnese for UN intervention. The plan was revealed by the UN Security Field Office in its letter on Wednesday, 15/11/2000. Signed by the UN Field Security Officer in Indonesia, Christophe Boutonnier, the letter said the UN representative office would be open in a short while. However, as of Thursday (16/11/2000), there has been no definite information on when it would actually be opened.
Boutonnier said the UN representative office in Banda Aceh is to support the Humanitarian Pause 2 currently imposed in Aceh. Apart from that, the UN has accepted statements and demands from the Information Centre for Aceh Referendum (SIRA) dated 13 November and their (statements and demands) have been sent to UN headquarters in New York. SIRA has demanded for UN intervention in Aceh. If the UN did open an office in Aceh, it would be the second office in Indonesia. Currently, the UN has only one representative office which is in Jakarta.
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Urgent Invitation to Investigate Continuous Human Rights Violations in Aceh
By M. Nazar, Aceh Forum ~ November 16
* M. Nazar, the head of SIRA is currently being summon by Indonesian Police.
From: SIRARAKAN
Dear Friends:
The people of Aceh urgently need your help in a life-and-death matter. We would like to invite you and your organization to investigate human rights violations in Aceh, Indonesia, as well as to see the current suffering that we, the Acehnese, endure.Your presence will help us in implementing the rights and principles of democracy. The people of Aceh are working toward freedom; freedom from fear, intimidation, torture, rape, killing and subjugation under Indonesian rule. From November 7 - 9, 2000, the military and police apparatus of Indonesia has killed more one hundred unarmed Acehnese civilians who merely wanted to attend the first anniversary of the Million Acehnese March for Independence referendum. This march represents the aspiration of the Acehnese people for the right of self-determination via a democratic process.
In the last ten years, over ten thousand men, women and children have been killed by the police and military forces of Indonesia. These forces know that they will not be held accountable for their heinous actions no matter how inhuman, and consequently act with unrestrained violence and barbarity. Hundreds are missing and thousands have become refugees because of the political conflict and state violence against Acehnese civilians. Currently, the violence in Aceh has intensified. Gross human rights violations continue even though Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have signed a "Humanitarian Pause Agreement" mediated by the Henry Dunan Center, a Swiss based NGO six months ago in Geneva, Switzerland. Over four hundred people have been killed since the agreement was signed. In the last two years, over two hundred and fifty political leaders and human rights activists have been murdered or have disappeared.
Some of the leading figures, who have lost their lives, are Jafar S. Hamzah (Human rights activist based in New York), Nasruddin Daud (Political-Indonesia MP), Ismail Syahputra (GAM Spokesman), and recently is an American educated, Prof. Safwan Idris ( Rector of IAIN Ar-Raniry Institute), just to name of few. We already know that your organization cares about us and the type of abuses described in this letter and that you are trying. However, what we need, in addition to your present efforts, is a representative from you in Aceh to bring even greater realization of this reality to the world's attention.
When part of the human race suffers at the hands of predatory individuals and governments all of the human race suffers - even if most people are not overtly conscious of the suffering. For the sake of humanity, we urgently request your organization to directly and independently investigate the situation on the ground.We sincerely hope that you will come to Aceh as soon as you possibly can.
Sincerely Yours,
Nasruddin AB, SIRA Office, Jln.T.Panglima Polem No.62, Peunanyong Banda Aceh 23123, Tel: (0651) 24043 Fax: (0651) 23923, email: info_sirarakan@yahoo.com
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Aceh Referendum Must be Decided by Assembly
Indonesian Observer ~ Nov. 16
Rejecting mounting separatist demands in Aceh, the government yesterday said an independence referendum would have to be approved by the nation's top legislature, not only the people in the troubled province. Defense Minister Mohammad Mahfud said a referendum is related to the country's sovereignty which is the authority of the 700-member People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the nation's highest legislative body. "Therefore, all people who are part of only one region cannot unilaterally decide on a referendum without approval from the MPR," he told reporters after attending a hearing with parliament. He said the calls for a referendum cannot be accepted because they "are very far from the limits of tolerance" given by the government.
The central government has the legal right to take any measures to keep Aceh as part of Indonesia, the minister said. "We will never tolerate demands for independence or a referendum. Whatever the risks, the government will take all efforts to maintain Aceh." However, Mahfud said the government has not yet categorized the independence demands as a "treason" because it is continuing a "persuasive approach" to deal with separatism in Aceh. He said the government has no plans to take military action against the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM), but added that such a measure could be taken for the sake of maintaining the nation's territorial integrity.
Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said yesterday the government was being careful in dealing with the separatist movement. He insisted that the problem will be resolved by Indonesia, not the international community. The government will not allow a repeat of last year's secession of East Timor to occur in the country, he said. "Indonesia gained useful experience in the case of the East Timor ballot and does not want to repeat the mistakes that were made there."
On August 30 last year, the overwhelming majority of East Timorese voted to break away from Indonesia in a UN-sponsored referendum, sparking devastating violence across the territory, which was carried out by pro-Jakarta militias backed by the Indonesian military. East Timor's independence has emboldened Aceh and Irian Jaya to also demand secession. Hundreds of thousands of people recently rallied in the Aceh capital of Banda Aceh to demand an independence referendum.
Yudhoyono said the government will ask parliament and the MPR to consider three points of a seven-point list of demands issued by the Acehnese during the pro-independence rallies. The three demands are: the withdrawal of troops and police from Aceh; the intervention of the United Nations in overcoming the bloodshed; and restoring Aceh's sovereignty. All three are fundamental in nature, said the minister. "The problem of sovereignty is a problem for all of the people. The government will not deal with it unilaterally. We have to first consult the House, MPR and even the whole population of Indonesia," Yudhoyono said. He stressed that the demand for the withdrawal of the military and police from Aceh is contradictory to the principle of the promotion of security and order across all of the nation. The chief security minister said the UN and other members of the international community have acknowledged that the issues of Aceh, Maluku and Irian Jaya are Indonesia's internal affairs.
Peace
Separately yesterday, Foreign Affairs Ministry Director General for Political Affairs Hasan Wirayudha said the government hopes to resume peace talks with GAM leaders later this month. He said Aceh's separatist leaders have been exploring a new date to resume negotiations on a ceasefire in Aceh, which was signed in Switzerland in May and extended in September. He said both sides have agreed to meet before the end of November. He did not mention the date. "We expect it to start before the end of this month, or before the advent of the fasting month," Wirayudha said, pointing out that the government will remain consistent in negotiating with GAM through a joint forum. The rebels had said they would not attend another round of peace talks scheduled for today and Friday in Switzerland until the violence in Aceh is halted.
Wirayuda, head of the government's negotiating team in the talks, could not give details of the agenda to be discussed during the planned talks. "We are still exploring it...We continue contacting them [GAM leaders] through facilitator Henry Dunant in Switzerland. All the efforts are still in the first stage and have not touched upon the substantial problems yet," he said. Meanwhile, MPR Speaker Amien Rais arrived in Banda Aceh yesterday to meet with local government and military officials as well as community leaders.
After holding a closed-door meeting with Aceh's local government leaders, Rais said the separatists in the province should suspend their demand for a referendum and accept Jakarta's offer of wide-ranging autonomy. He said holding a referendum in Aceh would be the final option to finding a solution to the long-standing conflict, after the special autonomy is implemented comprehensively next year. "If the autonomy law is unsatisfactory and the security situation in Aceh is not restored and the people's sufferings continue to worsen, anyone with a healthy brain can predict there will be a referendum. Therefore, it's not now but later," Rais added. Rebels belonging to the Free Aceh Movement - who appear to enjoy sweeping public support in the province of 4.1 million people - have been fighting to break free from Indonesian rule since the mid-1970s.
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Police Demand Powers to Crack Down on Rebels
Indonesian Observer ~ Nov. 15
Police yesterday demanded they be given powers to crack down on separatists in Aceh and urged the government to review the ceasefire agreement it signed earlier this year with rebels in the troubled province. "The National Police urge President Abdurrahman Wahid to review the humanitarian pause currently in effect in Aceh," said police spokesman Brigadier General Saleh Saaf. The ceasefire is referred to locally as a "humanitarian pause" because the violence is supposed to be put on hold so that assistance can be handed out to the victims of the unrest.
Saaf said Free Aceh Movement (GAM) guerrillas have used the truce to consolidate their strength and launch attacks on security forces."They [GAM] are making use of the humanitarian pause at a time when police cannot do much because of constraints," Saaf told the press at National Police headquarters in South Jakarta.He said the rebels have intensified attacks on police and troops since the truce came into effect on June 2. The ceasefire agreement, initially applied for three months, was extended in September. Saaf seemed to be unaware that police and soldiers have killed dozens of people in Aceh during the alleged truce."GAM's acts have caused restlessness among the people. From the reality in the field, GAM is a separatist group that stern measures should be taken against because it has disadvantaged us," he said.
The spokesman said the rebels have become brutal, while state security forces have always abided by rules outlined in the truce. Rules in the truce say nothing about shooting innocent civilians or burning them to death, but that's what Indonesian security forces have reportedly been doing in Aceh. Saaf urged the government to empower the police to conduct operations to "weed out" GAM rebels. "We are running out of patience. We have done our part to obey the humanitarian pause, but they continue to attack police and soldiers, even when they were praying."
The police spokesman said the extension of the truce has claimed more lives than before it was prolonged. Human rights groups claim hundreds of people have died in violence in Aceh this year, mostly civilians. But Saaf said that since August 1998, only 60 civilians and 273 members of the security forces have been killed in Aceh.Hundreds of others have been wounded in separatist violence over the same period, he added. Of the 273 dead, 198 were from the police. At least 43 police and soldiers have been declared missing during that period, while the whereabouts of 159 civilians is still not clear, said Saaf.
He denied that police had repeatedly opened fire at civilians when trying to prevent Acehnese residents from traveling to a massive pro-independence rally in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh on Friday. At least 15 people were killed in incidents surrounding the mass rally. Of the dead, 10 were rebels and 5 were civilians killed by a grenade thrown by GAM members, he claimed.
In Banda Aceh, tens of thousands of people rallied again yesterday to step up pressure on the government to allow an independence vote on the future of their bloodied homeland. The protesters threatened to launch a campaign of civil disobedience to win independence, AFP reported. A declaration in favor of independence for the oil-rich, strongly Muslim province was approved by a meeting of leaders from across the province and received a rapturous welcome at the huge rally.
The mass gathering, the third of its kind since Friday, was informed of the leaders' declaration by Muhammad Nazar, head of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA). The declaration spelled out four other demands, including those for the withdrawal of all security forces from Aceh and the acceptance by Jakarta of responsibility for military atrocities in the province. The separatists also urged the United Nations to intervene and mediate in an independence referendum in Aceh.
They said foreign authorities must recognize the Netherlands' declaration of war against the Kingdom of Aceh on March 26, 1873. Separatists have argued this declaration of war is proof of Aceh's sovereignty. "If the five demands are not implemented by November 26, the nation of Aceh is called on to launch a peaceful mass strike starting from November 27 until December 3," said the leaders' declaration. "We want independence immediately and the fighting to stop," Nur Masyithah Ali, one of the speakers at the demonstration, was quoted by AP as telling a large crowd on the campus in the province's main city. The demonstrators had arrived aboard open trucks, buses, motorcycles, cars, pedicabs and on foot since around 9:00 a.m., and dispersed peacefully following Nazar's speech.
Police and security personnel were noticeably absent from the streets of the provincial capital, and traffic to and from the rally site was directed by students in university jackets and SIRA members. The rallies, which started Friday, mark the first anniversary of a similar gathering in Banda Aceh on November 8 last year which was attended by up to a million people. There were no immediate reports of incidents or violence in Banda Aceh yesterday. Government representatives had planned to meet with GAM leaders in Switzerland on Thursday and Friday. But the rebels have said they will not attend the new talks. The decision by the rebels to break off contact with the government is a severe blow to the peace process and a major setback for the reformist-minded Wahid, who is trying to find a political solution to the 25-year insurrection.
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MBGAM Eropa ~ November 14
FREE ACHEH MOVEMENT IN EUROPE
P.O. Box 2084, 145 02 Norsborg, Sweden Fax: 00-46-8-53188460
For Immediate Release,
Stockholm, 13 November 2000
While the world's eyes glued to the presidential election of America and the Middle East crisis, where up to two hundred Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army in the past month, a much larger genocide is in progress in far-away Acheh, on the Island of Sumatra, without being condemned. Only in one single day, on 8 November, at least one hundred innocent Achehnese were brutally killed - many more wounded and disappeared. Compared to the victims of the Israeli brutalities in Palestine which have been widely publicised and televised around the world, the wholesale killing of Achehnese civilians by the Indonesian security forces, which is more brutal and much larger in number, has been completely forgotten and desolate.
Another comparison is that the Israeli occupation troops are facing the stone-casting youths of Palestine, while its Indonesian counterpart are facing a peaceful mass rally striving to seek a peaceful way to resolve the long-drawn conflict between Acheh and Jakarta through a free and democratic referendum. Despite the extended truce signed between ASNLF and Indonesia a couple weeks ago, the situation in Acheh has practically gone from bad to worse. Every day that passes, there are civilians being killed, disappeared and arrested. And what has happened in Acheh in the past days was no coincidence, but a well-planned massacre by the Indonesian security forces.
Prior to the marking of the first anniversary of a peaceful rally for referendum on self-determination which took place on 11 November, the Acheh Police chief (Kapolda) had officially ordered all his troops throughout Acheh to (1) block people from going to Banda Aceh, (2) search all busses and other vehicles and passengers, (3) shoot at tyres as to immobilise the vehicles moving to Banda Acheh, and (4) intensify sweepings in all military and police posts in the entire Acheh.
The direct consequences of this instruction have so far resulted in at least two hundred deaths. This figure is likely to increase as the killing is still continuing unabated. Reports from reliable rights groups, such as Kontras ( a well-known rights group for the victims of torture and disappearance), put an estimation that 150 innocent civilians were shot dead and hundreds others wounded just between 7-10 November.
By now it is obvious that the Acheh solution can no longer be relied on either the murderous army of Indonesia or on the puppet provincial government of Acheh. Acheh is a lawless planet and ruled only by swords, and more tragedies are likely to come unless the international community such the UN, EU member-countries and the USA would immediately intervene to reverse the situation and to prevent further bloodshed. And the best way is to allow Achehnese themselves to decide their own future through a UN-supervised referendum.
At issue in Acheh is the inalienable rights of self-determination of the Achehnese people. Acheh was an internationally recognised sovereign state for hundreds of years before the Dutch invaded it in 1873. But after World War Two, Acheh was forced to become part of a newly fabricated Indonesia. By International Law and by the UN Body of Principles Acheh should have been restored to independence again similar to that of Holland after German occupation in 1945.
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Polling Held to Determine Aceh's future
Aceh Forum ~ November 14
From: SIRARAKAN
Polling to consult the people is the democratic way chosen by the people of Aceh to determine their own future. 2.769.856 polling slips were distributed throughout Aceh and the results show that the Acehnese people are ready for a legal and democratic referendum. The polling was held in villages throughout Aceh from 3 - 11 November 2000 and produced the following results:
1. 92,020 % were in favour of INDEPENDENCE
2. 0,133 % were in favour of continued association with Indonesia
3. 7,847 % ABSTAINED
The results of the polling show to the world that the Acehnese people's desire for 'Independence' is very powerful.We call on peoples throughout the world to give their support and recognition so that the people of Aceh can achieve 'Independence' and the creation of a new, peaceful Aceh.
Banda Aceh, 14 November 2000 Central Coordinator of Polling, RADHI DARMANSYAH, Nasruddin AB, Publication Team
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No Talks Until Killings Stop, Jakarta Told
By John Aglionby, The Guardian ~ Nov. 13
A British researcher, Lesley McCulloch, said she witnessed "uncontrolled police and army brutality" several times last week. "I saw people being shot at," she said. "I saw people being forced to sing Indonesian songs and pray to the police at gunpoint... All this was because they wanted to attend the rally in Banda Aceh." One day after tens of thousands of people rallied in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, in support of a referendum on the province's sovereignty, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) said it would not attend the talks in Switzerland until the police and army "stopped murdering civilians".
Human rights activists say the confirmed death toll since Wednesday in the province, on the northern tip of Sumatra, is 34 and that they are checking reports of other fatalities. More than 120 have been hurt. The leader of the GAM, Amni Marzuki said of the security forces: "They claim to be fighting GAM but the reality is they are just killing innocent people who want to exercise their right to demonstrate freely."
The crackdown was ordered to prevent hundreds of thousands arriving in Banda Aceh for the weekend rally - police had claimed there would be a huge riot if numbers were not limited. But with people pouring towards the city, officials had no idea how to respond, except with the deadly tactics used by the previous regime. A British researcher, Lesley McCulloch, said she witnessed "uncontrolled police and army brutality" several times last week. "I saw people being shot at," she said. "I saw people being forced to sing Indonesian songs and pray to the police at gunpoint...All this was because they wanted to attend the rally in Banda Aceh."
The tension is likely to remain high because organisers said the rally would continue until all those who wanted to attend could do so. "We are not going to give up," coordinator Muhammad Nazar said. "We owe it to all the people of Aceh to stay here so they can come and register their views." He said GAM had nothing to do with the rally but that the rebels would support it "because just about everyone here wants independence".
At least 50,000 people reached Banda Aceh's main mosque to mark the first anniversary of the referendum movement. The rally was peaceful but at least three incidents of police shooting at civilians were reported later in the day. Agus Suwandi, the leader of the Commission on Victims of Violence, said one person died in those attacks and that six bodies were found yesterday in the east of the province. "Local villagers suspect the bodies are those of people who were arrested earlier in the week while trying to reach Banda Aceh," he said. "If what we are hearing is correct, this is likely to be repeated many times over this week."
Armoured cars continued to patrol Banda Aceh yesterday and were blocking all main roads into the city. A police spokesman refused to comment on how long the operation would last. "It all depends on GAM," he said. "They are causing the trouble and we are just trying to maintain order." The Indonesian president, Abdurrahman Wahid, blamed the violence on rogue troops. Foreign witnesses and rights groups say it is a clearly orchestrated operation.
Sidney Jones, the Asia director of Human Rights Watch, fears a massive crackdown. "The Indonesian armed forces seem to be reverting to the worst days of the Suharto era," she said, referring to the former dictator. "In the misguided notion that the push for a referendum is led by GAM, the army and police are turning their guns on civilians." GAM was formed in 1976 and Jakarta began to crack down in earnest in 1990. About 6,000 have died since then, including more than 230 in the last five months, during which an informal truce has theoretically been in existence.
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Jakarta Post ~ Nov. 13
In Irian Jaya, people get shot at for raising the separatist flag. In Aceh, they get shot at for trying to join a rally calling for a referendum on self-determination. One would have thought that peaceful methods of political expression were part of the freedom of expression and speech which are guaranteed in a democracy. Welcome to Indonesia, where some things just don't change in spite of all the promises of reform, democracy and respect for human rights. Many of the people's inalienable rights which had been violated for 30 years by the Soeharto regime are still not being fully respected under President Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesia's first ever democratically elected president. Ask any Acehnese or Irianese who has been at the wrong end of the government's wrath. They will tell you that today, as in Soeharto's era, people are still being killed or harrassed for trying to express their political opinions peacefully.
In Wamena, a hillside town in Irian Jaya, six Papuans died last month in clashes with the police, who resorted to force in pulling down the Morning Star separatist flag. That event sparked bloody unrest targeted at migrants in Wamena, leaving 22 of them dead. Instead of mending its ways, the government has taken the shortcut of outlawing the separatist flag altogether. This gives police a legal cover to shoot Papuans trying to raise the flag. Brace for more violence when proindependence Papuans hold a major demonstration throughout the province on Dec. 1.
In Aceh, at least 22 people died in clashes with security forces last week in the run-up to Saturday's rally to call for a referendum of self-determination in the province. Police blocked all entrances to Banda Aceh to prevent people from other towns from joining the rally. In most instances, police shot and punctured tires of the buses and trucks transporting people from other towns. In other instances, however, confrontations turned into ugly and fatal clashes.
The referendum rally went ahead on Saturday, with a turnout of about 500,000 people, producing a loud enough message to Jakarta and the world of their aspirations for self-determination. Thanks to repressive measures by the police, however, the number was nowhere near the one million people who assembled in Aceh just over a year ago to press their demand for a referendum. The government, which has been waging a propaganda war against the proindependence movement in Aceh, may bask in glory for deflating the rally's turnout and its political significance. But if it is a victory, it will be a short-lived one. The death of the 22 Acehnese in clashes with police have further undermined whatever little trust and goodwill the Acehnese people had toward the government.
The police's use of force may even have driven more people to take up arms. After Saturday's rally, many Acehnese must feel that they can no longer express their aspirations by peaceful means without risking their lives. They may as well join the armed Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and press their demand by force.Whether in Aceh or Irian Jaya, the government seems to have returned to the old ways of dealing with regional independence aspirations: with force. Methods of the old "security approach" of the Soeharto era have crept back into government policies in dealing with Aceh and Irian Jaya.
This was the approach widely favored by the military during the Soeharto era, for it was quick and effective in ensuring national security -- the regime's overriding and probably only concern. But the "security approach" exacted a high political price on the government: its credibility. This approach, which put human lives and human rights subservient to national security concerns, cost Indonesia East Timor.
The government's credibility is not exactly high either in Aceh and Irian Jaya, two provinces which bore the brunt of the government's high-handed security approach of the past. Recent events in Irian Jaya and Aceh tell us that by resorting to the old repressive ways, the government has squandered whatever goodwill and trust it had regained from the people in these two provinces over the past year. One would have expected President Abdurrahman Wahid to show more wisdom than this. Looking at Aceh and Irian Jaya, that seems not to be the case.
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Security Forces at Fault in Aceh
Jakarta Post ~ Nov. 13
The people of the troubled northern Indonesian province of Aceh were on the move. Thousands of them faced an uncertain fate at the hands of the Indonesian security authorities as they made their way to Banda Aceh, the capital of the embattled province where a peaceful rally in support of a UN monitored referendum on the subject of independence was due to take place on Saturday, November 11. I was at the Syiah Kuala University campus in Banda Aceh on Thursday as hundreds arrived from the Pidie regency, joining the thousands who'd already gathered from around the province.
They arrived bringing rice and other food stuffs, tarpaulins to sleep under, cooking pots and stoves. These people have uprooted themselves from their homes to show support for a referendum to vote for independence from Indonesia. Having been turned back on the main roads by the police's elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) unit and the Indonesian Military (TNI), they had traveled in trucks, buses and cars on the little known back roads of this beautiful rainforested province. One man said: "It took us seven hours to travel the 80km from Saree. We tried to get through on the main road but Brimob turned us away and even shot the tires of some of the vehicles." The vehicles they had just disembarked from were turning around to go back to pick up more villagers.
A woman, two young children clinging to her, told me: "The military shot my husband in a rice field. Our convoy refused to go back and they (Brimob)started to shoot in the air. We all ran. "Then they began to shoot at us. Several were injured and my husband died. We have no weapons, we are only farmers. They have the guns. I came with the convoy because my husband is already dead, what could I do? He would have wished me to come." Reports have also come in claiming that two bridges, at Saree and Seulawak, have been blown up.
On Wednesday some 1,000 people, having been terrorized by the police and military on the road, had taken to the sea and arrived in local fishing boats from Sigli, the capital of Pidie. These men, women, and children were fired upon by the authorities as theyapproached the small fish market port. The official word is that the authorities shot into the water and over the heads of the people. This was obviously not the case, as two civilians -- one an elderly bystander -- were injured. Indeed, the death toll over the past five days has reached almost 200 according to reports from the villages, with many more injured. The number of deaths is difficult to verify due to the remoteness of many areas. Independent witnesses tell of Brimob taking away bodies to unknown destinations.
I myself witnessed people being shot at as they ran through rice paddies for cover, being made to sit in the blistering sun and ordered at gunpoint alternately to sing and pray, and tires of vehicles being shot out. This is the reality of democracy Indonesian style. Mohammed Nazar, leader of the Center for Information on a Referendum for Aceh (SIRA), the organizers of the rally, said: "We feel so bad. We organized a peaceful rally and it is resulting in the slaughter of innocentcivilians. "We have sent word to the villages. Please do not try to come to Banda Aceh. We know you want to be here with us and we know you support the referendum but please do not risk the lives of yourselves and your children. We cannot guarantee you safety as you travel here."
A senior Free Aceh Movement (GAM) representative in the humanitarian pause monitoring team said: "The 'pause' is not working. We are here to monitor its failure. We can see from the actions of the police and the military over the past few days that the Indonesian government is not committed to the internationally brokered pause." In the past, the issues of independence for Aceh and support for GAM were often separate. Due to the actions of theIndonesian security forces over the past months, these two issues have been gradually merging into one.
Generally distrustful of the government in Jakarta, the Acehnese want independence and many more of them believe that the only way to obtain this is by supporting GAM. It is difficult to see what progress could be made at the peace talks due to be held in Geneva on Nov. 16 and 17. The Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said that Indonesia will never grant independence to Aceh. The government is offering accelerated development for the province or special autonomy.
Nasrullah Dahlawy from the United Peoples of Aceh Movement and chief GAM representative on the humanitarian pause monitoring committee said in an interview earlier this week: "We do not trust the Indonesian government. We will never agree to anything less than full independence. "The people of Aceh are willing to make a very generous offer to the Indonesian people of sharing for a limited period the benefits of the wonderful natural resources that belong to the free people of Aceh."
In the meantime, although the government has not banned the referendum rally from taking place, a local police spokesman Colonel Kusbini Imbar told this author in a telephone interview on Thursday that "we will do all we can to prevent people reaching Banda Aceh. This includes the use of force if necessary." I have been witness to this use of force. In an apparent turnaround, President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Friday that the people of Aceh should be allowed to attend the rally.
Typical of Indonesian politics, while the President was making conciliatory noises, Susilo, who was in Central Java, has been quoted as saying that "firm actions" would be taken to prevent the mass rally from turning into a popular call for a referendum. The information I received from local organizers on the Saturday morning certainly confirms that the crackdown has continued overnight. Rahdi, one of the leaders of SIRA said: "The situation has been really terrible overnight. Despite the President's statement that the people should be allowed to attend the rally, there has been another six confirmed deaths and many more as yet unconfirmed. The numbers of those wounded is around 40. "Please help us. Let the international community know what is happening to the people of Aceh."
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By Lesley McCulloch, The Canberra Times ~ November 13
In Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia's northernmost province, the Aceh Referendum Information Centre (SIRA) is a hive of activity. The people of this province want independence from Jakarta, and are pushing for a referendum to confirm this. Indeed, with what in retrospect appears to have been a slip of the tongue, in November 1999 Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid did say that the people of Aceh should - as part of the process of increased democratisation in the Republic of Indonesia - be granted a referendum. Much has changed, and now the people are fighting for what they see as their right.
On November 8 last year more than a million people attended a rally in Banda Aceh to pledge support for calls for the referendum, and a similar gathering had been planned for this year. However, it seems the Indonesian Government has decided such a gathering should not take place. Earlier this month police raided the SIRA office, intimidating those gathered, who included members of the Humanitarian Pause Monitoring Committee. Documents relating to the gathering were seized last Wednesday and activists fled, fearing for their lives.
Their fear is not unfounded; the number of people missing in Aceh province this year has reached more than 300. The Government is on a search mission for those leading the campaign for independence. A crackdown is obviously under way. In late August Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, a New York-based human-rights worker was kidnapped from Medan in North Sumatra and murdered. There is strong evidence that the Indonesian military (TNI) and/or the police were - at least in part - responsible.
This city is effectively cut off from the rest of the province, very little traffic is moving in or out because of security-service roadblocks, as authorities try to stop people reaching Banda Aceh for the referendum rally. The police chief has said the roadblocks are to persuade people to turn back, but the reality very is different. On the gruelling six-hour road journey from here to Lhokseumawe on November 6, we encountered 12 roadblocks, and heard many exchanges of fire between the police and military and the armed Free Aceh Movement (GAM). People were being turned back in their hundreds. Never missing an opportunity to make some money, the TNI and police were extracting illegal road tolls from these already impoverished people. The fight for independence in this resource-rich province has left 113 civilians, 28 military and police, and 25 GAM supporters dead in the months of September and October this year, according to the Forum for Human Rights Concern (FPHAM).
It is quite obvious as one moves around the beleaguered city that support for independence, or at least a referendum to let the people choose, is extremely high. At newsstands, in shops and at market stalls, in the street, and in the coffee shops which are so much a part of the culture in Aceh, the talk is of the desire for independence. In hushed voices I am told by strangers, 'Please take the message to the international community. The people of Aceh suffer so much, we don't trust the Government in Jakarta. Please help us get our independence.'
The calls for independence and the increasing support for GAM have been strengthened by the repressive acts of the authorities. One gets the feeling that the Acehnese will now not be silenced. The calls for independence are becoming more defiant. The question is, how many more deaths, disappearances and tortures must the people of Aceh suffer at the hands of the security forces in the Government's attempt to keep the archipelago together? And for how much longer will the international community ignore the gross violations of human rights that are part of daily life here?
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Brutal Actions Prevent Thousands From Attending Peaceful Mass-Rally at Banda Acheh
By Musanna Tengku Abdul Wahab ~ November 13
The Indonesian joint forces brutal actions of preventing thousands of innocent Achehnese from attending a peacefulmass-rally at Banda Acheh on 10-11 November, calls for international intervention and condemnation. The number of innocent Achehnese casualties and victims are by the day. The excessive hard-handed actions of the Indonesian joint in preventing Achehnese civilians from congregating at the capital of Banda Acheh on 10-11 November, killing more that 200 peoples, call for immediate international intervention and condemnation. The body counting is increasing by the day. Besides blockading the key entry routes to Banda Acheh, the masses were intimidated and harassed by the Indonesian troops, who not seized their vehicles used for transportation an tyres flattened, but they deliberately opened fire upen the masses.
More than 200 innocent Achehnese civilians have reportedly been killed all over Acheh. Hundreds of peoples were abducted never to be seen again, properties robbed and several Achehnese women raped. Even SIRA and other local NGO`s officials were arrested and thousand of civilians tortured ? the numbers still yet to be verified. These atrocities are in violations of the customary international law of freedom of speech, expression and movement of the masses. We also regret that it is occurring during this extension of the second phase of the Joint Understanding for Humanitarian Pause concluded first, last June.
The ASNLF fully supports the mass actions of the Achehnese in the democratic and peaceful rally, and condemns strongly the atrocities perpetrated by the Indonesian troops who should be accounted for the barbarities they committed in Acheh. Simultaneously, we call upon the international community for their immediate intervention and condemnation to prevent further casualties of innocent civilians who are determine in exercising their rights of self-determination and independence for Acheh.Unless immediate and concrete actions are being taken by the international community "especially the United Nations and its organs, the US Government, the European Union and its member countries, governmental and non-governmental organizations, dignitaries and individuals" the plight and genocide of the Achehnese would never end.
Acheh/Sumatra National Liberation Front, P. O. BOX 130, S-145 01 Norsborg, Sweden, Tel/Fax: 08/531-91275
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2 Shot and 1 Burnt Alive in Banda Aceh
By Rayhan Anas Lubis, Detik ~ Nov. 12
Translated by TAPOL (e-mail: tapol@gn.apc.org)
There were more casualities today in Banda Aceh when a man and a woman were shot and wounded and one man was burnt alive in a vehicle on Jl Tengku Nyak Makam, Banda Aceh. The first incident happened on Saturday, 11 November at 9 pm. The two wounded people are now under intensive care in hospital. The first incident happened when a couple and their two children were returning home from visiting their parents. On the road where the incident happened they were stopped by members of Brimob.
'I was ordered to stop and turn off all the lights,' the father told journalists later in hospital. Then, all of a sudden the men opened fire on the car he, his wife and two children, aged 8 and 9, were travelling in. 'The children started screaming for help. When they heard this, the men stop firing. Seeing that his wife had been hit, the husband started up the engine and rushed his wife to hospital, three kms away. They were able to make it even though one of the tires had been flattened in the attack. His wife was operated on and is now making a recovery. 'I fail to understand why they started firing at my car. The attack has deepely shocked my two children who witnessed the attack.'
In another ward, Elviati (21) is also recovering from a similar incident at about the same tim and on the same stretch of road. He and a brother and some friends were driving in a Suzuki Jimny. As they were driving along Jl.T.Nyak Makam at the junction with Jl.Ie Masin, the car came under attack by security forces who opened fire. 'We knew that they were security people because they were there with an armoured personnel carrier,' one of the relatives of the wounded man said. The girlfriend of one of the men managed to escape but the car slipped down a bank on the side of the road. Her boyfriend had been hit in the leg and could not extricate himself from the car.
At this point the relative who was describing the incident broke down and was unable to continue. His mother, sitting on the bed, also broke down and started to weep. The man who had got trapped inside the car was burnt to death when members of the security forces set fire to the car. The morgue official refused to allow journalists to see the dead man's body because the family would not permit it, but he said that the body had arrived at the hospital in a seated position and had sustained very severe burns. The regional chief of police has announced that he will hold a press conference in the city Monday in connection with the incident.
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Ghazali Abbas Adan (MPR-Aceh): Why Don't Indonesian Muslims Act for Aceh?
By Koridor ~ Nov. 10
Translated by TAPOL (e-mail: tapol@gn.apc.org)
MPR member from Aceh, Ghazali Abbas Adan, said it was a matter for deep regret that Muslims in Indonesia have shown no interest in the fate of the Acehnese. 'They make so much fuss about the Palestinians but whenAcehnese are murdered, they say nothing. Why?' He said that even women and children were being murdered in Aceh. 'Are thy not Muslims? Why do organisations like KAMMI (Joint Action of Indonesian Muslim Students) close their eyes to this?'
'I fail to understand,' he went on, 'why the Indonesian govt goes on sending firearms to Aceh, treating Acehnese civil society like the enemy. This will only make the Aceh