Aceh atrocities boost people's demand for autonomy<\/p>\n
By Pandaya<\/p>\n
BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): The fragile-looking Baharuddin Lopa
\nstood in a crowd of 1,000 people surrounding an excavated
\nhillside mass grave under a scalding sun, alternately acting like
\na fossil auctioneer and a fiery orator.<\/p>\n
\"So far we have taken out 24 pairs of thigh bones, six
\nblindfolds, eight pairs of arm bones tangled in plastic string,
\nfive skulls, four pairs of pants and four pairs of underpants,\"
\nthe secretary general of the National Commission on Human Rights
\nannounced what the body exhumers had found on Sentang hill in
\nNorth Aceh on Aug. 21.<\/p>\n
Amid emotional screams of condemnation against the Soeharto
\nadministration, the leader of the commission team probing the
\natrocities paused, rebuttoned his shirt and adjusted his pants.<\/p>\n
He continued, \"We are certain that 12 bodies were buried in
\nthis single grave. This strengthens our belief that massacres
\ntook place in Aceh.\"<\/p>\n
A dark-skinned man with a light mustache on the other side of
\nthe pit stood up and shouted, \"On behalf of the people of Aceh, I
\ndemand that the commission should not just talk but do something
\nto help us seek justice.\" Others yelled in support of him.<\/p>\n
The emotional man certainly did not have any mandate to voice
\nthe Acehnese's demands but the essence of his demand for justice
\nclosely reflects local people's views.<\/p>\n
Although the operations are believed to have claimed thousands
\nof lives and caused untold suffering, it was only last month that
\nthe victims spoke out, when an investigation team from the House
\nof Representatives led by Maj. Gen. Hari Sabarno visited them.<\/p>\n
The subsequent stories of horror, such as massacres, rapes,
\nlootings and house burnings prompted the government on Aug. 7 to
\nstop the operations targeting the Free Aceh Movement's low-level
\nuprising that began in 1989.<\/p>\n
Spearheaded by human rights campaigners, people are increasing
\nthe pressure for legal solutions to the numerous crimes. Former
\npresident Soeharto, who was also ABRI (the Armed Forces) supreme
\ncommander, is their end target.<\/p>\n
Activists who doubt the independence of the Indonesian legal
\nsystem to try the crimes against humanity have been pondering
\nabout taking the cases to The Hague-based International Court of
\nJustice once the independent probe is completed.<\/p>\n
\"The government should offer compensation to relatives of
\nthose killed during the operations and restore the respectability
\nof their names,\" Amran Zamzami, chairman of the Solidarity
\nCommittee for the Respect of Human Rights in Aceh, says.<\/p>\n
The combat troops' withdrawal, which began on Aug. 20, and
\nPresident B.J. Habibie's apology to the Aceh people for the
\natrocities have been most welcomed but are considered
\n\"inadequate\" unless justice is upheld.<\/p>\n
The people of Aceh, who take pride in their Islamic tradition,
\nuse religious jargon to attract the Habibie administration's
\nattention to their plight.<\/p>\n
\"Aceh people are very forgiving but they will revolt when
\ntheir dignity is harmed,\" says Humam Hamid, a lecturer at Banda
\nAceh's Syah Kuala University.<\/p>\n
The extreme fear that the military created by use of excessive
\nforce proved to be an effective way to silence people so that the
\natrocities continued unchecked for nine years, he says.<\/p>\n
Now that the military has loosened its grip on Aceh, common
\npeople are mustering the courage to voice their demand: autonomy.
\nUnlike previous generations, some intellectuals have gone as far
\nas openly supporting the idea of making Indonesia a federal
\nstate.<\/p>\n
\"We imagine that in the future, each state will be free to
\nmanage their resources and run their own government,\" says Humam.
\n\"They will offer a kind of fee to the central government for
\nservices such as defense and foreign diplomacy.\"<\/p>\n
It is understood that the secessionist problem in Aceh that
\nbegan in the 1970s stemmed from the small share it obtained of
\nthe exploitation of the province's rich natural resources.<\/p>\n
Critics say that Jakarta plunders the westernmost territory's
\nwealth and leaves it impoverished.<\/p>\n
Sayed Mudhahar Ahmad, a respected informal figure who helped
\nfound the Care Human Rights Forum for Aceh, reckons that since it
\nbegan operating in 1977, the Arun gas refinery in Lhokseumawe,
\nNorth Aceh, has generated Rp 30 trillion (US$2.6 billion) a year.<\/p>\n
If income from the giant industries like fertilizer, paper and
\ntimber are added, Aceh contributed an estimated Rp 31 trillion a
\nyear from Lhokseumawe alone to the state coffers.<\/p>\n
\"As a comparison, Aceh's 1997\/1998 provincial budget was only
\nRp 102 billion or less than 0.35 percent of the value of its
\nnatural wealth exploited and handed over to the central
\ngovernment,\" Sayed says.<\/p>\n
Aceh, which has a population of about 3.5 million, boasts
\nmore than four million hectares of forest but all of it is
\ncontrolled by people Sayed calls \"friends from Jakarta\" who
\ndivided it into 19 concessions.<\/p>\n
\"Armed only with a piece of paper, Bob Hasan's PT Alas Heleu
\nwon a concession to control 160,000 hectares of pine forests in
\nthe Central Aceh district of Gayo,\" he says.<\/p>\n
Demands for greater autonomy have also been voiced by Ismail
\nSuny, a well-known Acehnese constitutional law expert.<\/p>\n
Suny says that if a federal state is ruled out, greater
\nautonomy should be given to Aceh and other provinces.<\/p>\n
\"Aceh should be governed like a federal state,\" he says.
\n\"Autonomy would strengthen the nation's integration and speed up
\nthe achievement of justice and prosperity.\"<\/p>\n
The National Commission on Human Rights has found repeated
\nevidence of human rights abuses during the Red Net Operations led
\nby the Army's Special Force (Kopassus).<\/p>\n
Lopa, a one time chief of the Aceh Prosecutor's Office, says
\nhe does not want to hear officials claim that the Aceh affair has
\nbeen dramatized with the intention of discrediting the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
\"The people can no longer be silenced,\" says Sayed.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/aceh-atrocities-boost-peoples-demand-for-autonomy-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }