Aceh peace agreement is at risk<\/p>\n
The Straits Times, Asia News Network, Singapore<\/p>\n
The two-month-old ceasefire pact between the Indonesian
\nsecurity forces and Aceh's separatist rebels is in danger of
\ncollapse. A new round of violence in the 27-year-old conflict is
\ninevitable unless the two sides find the resolve to hold it up.
\nWith both parties accusing each other of ceasefire violations and
\nbad faith, this is asking a lot.<\/p>\n
Instead of implementing the peace deal they signed in Geneva
\non Dec. 9, they are showing the mutual distrust and antipathy
\nthat have torpedoed previous ceasefire pacts. Old habits die
\nhard. The lack of trust and good faith shows that there has been
\nno real change of heart on either side. The Free Aceh Movement
\n(GAM) is still fighting for an independent Islamic state in the
\nresource-rich North Sumatra province, while the Indonesian
\nmilitary is doing its damnedest to decimate the separatists.<\/p>\n
As long as the rebels do not forswear independence, there will
\nbe no peace in Aceh. Indonesian military leaders have warned that
\nthey will go back on the offensive if the peace talks are
\nderailed. They are making contingency plans to maintain national
\nunity. Any fresh outbreak in fighting will spell the end of the
\nDec. 9 accord, which provides a workable basis to bring peace to
\nAceh. The only way to make this happen is to keep the peace talks
\ngoing. This demands commitment from both sides. In an insurgency
\nthat has left more than 12,000 people -- mostly civilians -- dead
\nsince 1976, the daily death toll has fallen to an all-time low
\nsince last December.<\/p>\n
Clearly, the ceasefire can be turned into a permanent peace if
\nthere is enough political will. The Acehnese, above all, must
\naccept that special autonomy for them is the starting point for
\nnegotiations. Over the next five months, the rebels should lay
\ndown some of their weapons after the demarcation of no-combat
\nzones where rebels and government forces are prohibited from
\ncarrying guns. The demilitarization phase is to be supervised by
\na committee of representatives from the Indonesian government,
\nGAM and foreign monitors from the Geneva-based Henry Dunant
\nCentre.<\/p>\n
Both the military and the rebels have agreed that \"no
\npolitical or clandestine activities will take place within the
\npeace zones\" and they will refrain from \"provocative acts\".
\nDuring this phase, government troops will move out of the
\nvillages and the paramilitary police will give up their offensive
\nrole and be reassigned as a defensive force. To be sure, the
\nentire exercise is fraught with difficulties. How the
\ndemilitarization will be carried out is not clear yet. Exactly
\nhow many weapons the rebels have and what they will set aside are
\nstill unanswered questions. The details have yet to be
\nnegotiated. The guerrillas said their actions would match the
\nmilitary's withdrawal from combat areas.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's military chief Endriartono Sutarto had emphasized
\nthat \"the basic idea of the peace deal was the acceptance of the
\nspecial autonomy law as a starting point in the province and not
\nindependence\". GAM should declare this openly to make good its
\npart of the deal. Jakarta is warning that the Dec. 9 pact is in
\ndanger of breaking down because the separatists have been telling
\nthe Acehnese people that the peace process would lead to their
\nindependence from Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Clearly, any campaign for statehood by GAM is intolerable for
\nJakarta. The conflict can end only when the Acehnese seek redress
\nand reparations for past injustices rather than independence. If
\nthe ceasefire collapses, it will give the military a free hand to
\nrenew its hardline policy against the separatists.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/aceh-peace-agreement-is-at-risk-1447893297",
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