Aceh talks to be still-born<\/p>\n
Damien Kingsbury
\nHead, Philosophical, Political
\nand International Studies
\nDeakin University
\nMelbourne
\nAustralia<\/p>\n
Negotiations between the government and the Free Aceh Movement
\n(GAM), which are aimed at ending the northern province's
\nprotracted conflict, look set to fail, with both the government
\nand GAM locked into separate final positions before the talks
\neven begin. The talks, to be held in Geneva under the
\nfacilitation of the Henry Dunant Centre (including U.S. Gen.
\n(ret) Anthony Zinni) aimed at ending the province's 26-year-old
\nwar for independence.<\/p>\n
The government has made GAM's acceptance of a special autonomy
\npackage for Aceh it announced early this year the starting point
\nfor negotiations.<\/p>\n
However, some observers in Jakarta say that acceptance of the
\nautonomy package should be the government's preferred outcome,
\nand not its starting point.<\/p>\n
However, speaking in Kuala Lumpur ahead of the talks, GAM
\nnegotiators say that the autonomy package is deeply flawed and,
\nbeing less than independence, would need to be voted on by the
\npeople of the province. The government has so far refused to
\naccept the idea of a ballot on the autonomy package, fearing its
\nrejection would be a clear sign that most Acehnese do in fact
\nwant independence.<\/p>\n
Refusal by the government to accept a popular vote on autonomy
\nfor Aceh has been paralleld by threats of full-scale military
\naction in the province, although most observers say that the
\nIndonesian Military (TNI) is already engaged in full-scale
\nmilitary action. There are currently some 22,000 TNI soldiers in
\nAceh, along with more than 12,000 paramilitary Mobile Brigade
\nnational police and some 10,000 militia, mostly in central Aceh.<\/p>\n
GAM has about 3,500 armed guerrillas in the hills and an
\nactive suport base of around 10,000. More than 2,500 people have
\nbeen killed in Aceh since the beginning 2001 -- GAM claims 6,000
\nin 2001 alone -- following on from the deaths of more than 10,000
\nin the period from 1989 to 1998, the military operations period.<\/p>\n
Also testing the government's possible acceptance of a popular
\nballot on autonomy, GAM says that for any such vote to be free,
\nfair and transparent, it would require the involvement of an
\nexternal organization, such as the UN or a UN-sanctioned body.<\/p>\n
The government and in particular the TNI has flatly refused to
\ncountenance the presence of a foreign organization to oversee any
\nfurther ballots, \"nationalist\" sensitivity to such issues being
\nhighlighted by the separation of East Timor after the UN-
\nsupervised ballot of 1999.<\/p>\n
The most recent phase of the conflict in the resource-rich
\nprovince began in 1999, after the outcome of the East Timor
\nballot. GAM successes in the field, including cutting the Trans-
\nSumatra Highway, despite an already high level of TNI activity,
\nled to an escalation of TNI and Brimob operations from mid-2001.<\/p>\n
Since then dozens of villages and small towns have been
\ndestroyed, there are now tens of thousands of internal refugees
\nand there have been well documented reports of numerous
\nmassacres, one of which occurred next to the giant Exxon-
\ncontrolled Arun LNG plant at Lhokseumawe, southeast of Banda
\nAceh.<\/p>\n
Conflict between the Acehnese and Jakarta began in 1953, after
\nJakarta scrapped Aceh's status as a quasi-independent province
\nfollowing the war of independence against the Dutch. Peace was
\nconcluded in 1963 on the basis that Aceh received 'special
\nautonomy' status. However, Jakarta continued to intervene in
\nAcehnese affairs, and dominated the economy, especially receipts
\nfrom the Aurn LNG plant, leading to an outbreak of hostilities
\nfrom 1976.<\/p>\n
Members of the GAM negotiating team say they believe there was
\na chance of reaching a compromise settlement with Jakarta up
\nuntil 1999. But since 1999, they say, there have been too many
\nhuman rights abuses in the province and the government has
\nrefused to guarantee that any negotiated settlement would include
\ncharges against TNI officers based on crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n
GAM negotiators now say that the only possible settlement must
\ninvolve a ballot on Jakarta's new autonomy package, with the
\nalternative being a vote for independence.<\/p>\n
Dr Damien Kingsbury is author of The Politics of Indonesia,
\nand a forthcoming book is Autonomy and Disintegration in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>",
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