Civil emergency status for Aceh<\/p>\n
Martial law in Indonesia's troubled province, Aceh, will be
\none year old in five days. The government has decided to end
\nmartial law in the country's westernmost province, changing it to
\na state of civil emergency.<\/p>\n
The imposition of martial law in Aceh has been considered a
\nlegitimate basis for the Indonesian Military (TNI) to wage war on
\nmembers of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM). The latter's
\n30-year-long attempt to secede from Indonesia paralyzed the
\nbureaucracy in Aceh until May last year.<\/p>\n
The imposition of martial law enabled us to see that the
\nmeasure was a bad decision, for it has claimed thousands of
\nlives.<\/p>\n
This daily hopes that whatever policy decisions the government
\ntakes on Aceh, they should be based on the state ideology, to
\ncreate a prosperous and peaceful Aceh. The new Aceh should have a
\ncivilized apparatus and military personnel who uphold civilian
\nsupremacy. Aceh should have a functioning bureaucracy to empower
\nits people's dynamism.<\/p>\n
We should not waste time on arguing whether or not the
\nmilitary should be withdrawn from Aceh totally once the proposed
\nstate of civil emergency is in place. A strong and peaceful
\ncountry will always need the presence of the military to uphold
\ncivilian supremacy.<\/p>\n
-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Another blow to
\nthe press freedom<\/p>\n
Another swan song was sung for the country's press freedom
\nwhen the Central Jakarta District Court ordered Trust magazine to
\npay Rp 1 billion (US$112.360) in a libel case against John
\nHamenda and his company PT Petindo Perkasa. The court also
\nordered Trust to apologize in a one-page ad in its edition.<\/p>\n
The court verdict apparently drew questions, especially
\nbecause the panel of judges considered that Trust had failed to
\nmaintain journalistic standards of conduct in its report.
\nHowever, witnesses for Trust, from the Indonesia Press Council,
\ntestified that the reports did not violate the Indonesian
\njournalistic code of ethics.<\/p>\n
More interesting is the fact that John Hamenda, the plaintiff,
\nis now being detained over a BNI bank credit scam. The police
\nhave submitted Hamenda's dossier to the prosecutor's office for
\nfurther legal processing.<\/p>\n
What Trust did was based on the Press Law on control,
\ncriticism, correction and suggestions for anything relating to
\nthe public interest. Trust should have been protected by law.<\/p>\n
Therefore, it is imperative that Trust seeks legal protection
\nfrom the Supreme Court in addition to its appeal to the
\nprovincial high court.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court should assign an independent team to
\ninvestigate the case, or else press freedom will always be in
\njeopardy. -- Koran Tempo, Jakarta<\/p>\n
U.S.-Israel<\/p>\n
The American declarations on the permanent settlement are
\nexpected to support Israel's position that rules out withdrawal
\nto the Green Line in the West Bank and rejects the Palestinian
\ndemand for the return of refugees to Israel. The Americans wished
\nto phrase them ambiguously, in a way compatible with their past
\nstatements - not to tie their hands in the future, and not to
\ncomplicate their relations with the Arab states and Europe.<\/p>\n
This is therefore a symbolic achievement, which Sharon needs
\nmainly due to the pressure of Benjamin Netanyahu and other Likud
\nministers. They have conditioned their support for the plan on
\nthe annexation of settlement blocs and negating \"the right of
\nreturn.\" -- Haaretz, Tel Aviv, Israel<\/p>\n
;SHIMBUN;
\nANPAk..r..
\nOtherOp-Chechnya-terror
\nTerror in Chechnya
\nJP\/06\/OTHER<\/p>\n
Terror in Chechnya<\/p>\n
Terror attacks only cause hatred and sorrow, and they never
\nbenefit the people in Chechnya. Chechens should realize that they
\ncan never achieve a reasonable independence unless they get out
\nof the vicious cycle of hatred. People in Baltic nations did
\ntheir best to avoid bloodshed and instead sang their songs to win
\ntheir independence. There must be a wisdom to avoid bloodshed in
\nChechnya, too.<\/p>\n
-- Mainichi Shimbun, Tokyo<\/p>\n
Photos depicting
\nprisoner abuse<\/p>\n
Worse, you say, Donald Rumsfeld?<\/p>\n
Worse than the picture of a pile of naked Iraqis forced to
\nform a human pyramid? Worse than the one of the nude Iraqi
\nhandcuffed to his bed, women's underwear on his head? Worse than
\nthe perky Army Reservist shown holding what looks to be a dog's
\nleash that encircles the neck of another naked Iraqi?<\/p>\n
Worse is coming, a subdued Defense secretary told the Senate
\nArmed Services Committee Friday.<\/p>\n
\"Beyond abuse of prisoners, there are other photos that depict
\nincidents of physical violence towards prisoners, acts that can
\nonly be described as blatantly sadistic, cruel and inhuman,\"
\nRumsfeld said. \"There are many more photographs, and indeed some
\nvideos. Congress and the American people need to know this.\"<\/p>\n
Well, of course we do. We need to know it because these
\npictures represent a turning point in the war in Iraq and the war
\non terrorism, and the turn takes us in the wrong direction. The
\nAmerican public and the American Congress have to face up to that
\nas the American president takes a second look at our plans for
\nfighting those wars, as he must, and who should be commanding
\nthat fight. --Journal Star, Peoria, Illinois<\/p>\n
U.S.-Israel<\/p>\n
Bush's radical idea was to be the first administration to
\nopenly endorse a Palestinian state, but to hinge that endorsement
\non Palestinian regime change. In his June 2002 speech calling for
\na \"new and different Palestinian leadership... not compromised by
\nterrorism,\" Bush prefigured his push for transformation of the
\nentire Middle East through the promotion of freedom and
\nrepresentative government.<\/p>\n
The road map that Bush now clings to, we should not forget, is
\na bastardization of his original idea. Sure, the road map pointed
\nto a Palestinian state, but it became a cover for regime without
\nchange<\/p>\n
The question then, is not what to \"give\" Sharon, but when will
\nBush return to his bold vision of refusing to give in to Arab
\nradicalism. Such a return to boldness would begin by ruling out
\nthe any Palestinian \"return\" to Israel as a matter of principle,
\nnot just through a supposed Israeli veto over the number of
\nPalestinian immigrants. It is a sad commentary on the state of
\nthe West that, to begin to fight terrorism in earnest, Bush had
\nto defy almost all of enlightened world opinion.<\/p>\n
-- Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem<\/p>\n
U.S. prisoner abuse<\/p>\n
The abuse of prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison has opened
\nthe U.S. to criticism from all sides, including the United
\nNations.<\/p>\n
The UN has turned a blind eye to far greater abuses than those
\nat Abu Ghraib.<\/p>\n
It condemned Saddam Hussein in numerous resolutions but
\nallowed him to enrich himself (and the UN and other countries)
\nfor more than a decade under the \"oil for food\" program, all the
\nwhile torturing and killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.<\/p>\n
It did nothing to halt the slaughter of the people of Rwanda,
\nor Argentina's \"dirty war,\" or Cuba's recent crackdown on
\ndissidents.<\/p>\n
All of America's alleged \"abuses\" in Iraq cannot even begin to
\ncompare with those that take place routinely in many of the
\nnations that so enjoy condemning us now.<\/p>\n
-- The Courier, Findlay, Ohio<\/p>\n
The Brown vs. Board decision<\/p>\n
Fifty years later, the Supreme Court's landmark decision in
\nthe Topeka, Kansas, case of Brown vs. Board of Education offers a
\nstriking example of the power of the law - but also its
\nlimitations - in provoking social change.<\/p>\n
Today, desegregation often has given way to resegregation.
\nMost white students across the country still have little contact
\nwith black or Hispanic students - and vice versa. Schools in
\nIllinois and New York are the most segregated for black students,
\nsays Harvard researcher Gary Orfield, the primary author of a
\nreport on the subject. For Latinos, schools in New York and
\nCalifornia are the most segregated. And even schools that appear
\nintegrated often turn out to be segregated by classrooms - with
\nmore whites and Asian-Americans in classes for the gifted, and
\nmore blacks and Latinos in classes for those with special needs.<\/p>\n
No one mandates today's resegregation through \"Jim Crow\" laws
\nor \"whites only\" signs. The new resegregation results from
\ndifferences in income more than skin color. Brown helped launch a
\nnew era of civil rights demonstrations, confrontations,
\nlegislation and reforms that opened doors to new black
\nopportunities. Parents who can afford to move to districts with
\nbetter schools do so. But too many non-white students are
\nrelegated to substandard schools and resources.<\/p>\n
America is a better place than it was before Brown. The
\ndecision helped Americans open up opportunities and broaden their
\nhorizons. Although black and Latino students don't have to sit
\nnext to white students in order to learn and perform well, all
\nstudents benefit from exposure to others who come from
\nbackgrounds that are different from their own.<\/p>\n
-- Chicago Tribune<\/p>\n
Drug importation<\/p>\n
The Bush administration didn't exactly wave the white flag of
\nsurrender to legal prescription drug reimportation, but HHS
\nSecretary Tommy Thompson last week signaled that victory is in
\nsight for the pro-importation forces. Count Thompson's
\nacknowledgment of inevitability as a pivotal moment in the siege
\nagainst the drug industry's Fortress PhRMA.<\/p>\n
The industry's lobbying stranglehold on American prescription
\nprices is yielding to the obvious in the markets and political
\nlife in a country where unfairness has great power to mobilize
\ncitizens to demand redress from government.<\/p>\n
Pressing for legal reimportation of drugs that cost less in
\nother countries has been a popular, easy issue for progressive
\nofficeholders such as Sen. Mark Dayton. In the current Washington
\nreality, though, the leadership of Republicans is crucial to
\ngetting the job done on affordable prescription drugs.<\/p>\n
-- Saint Paul Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minnesota<\/p>\n
The war in Chechnya<\/p>\n
Vladimir Putin has decided the war in Chechnya doesn't exist.
\nLess than a week ago, during his investiture address marking the
\nstart of a second mandate, the president barely mentioned
\nChechnya.<\/p>\n
Three days later on May 9, a terror attack in the Grozny
\nstadium ... reminded us in horror that Chechnya is still at war.<\/p>\n
Relaunched five years ago by Mr. Putin, that dirty war goes
\non. With each morning, the cadavers of those tortured overnight
\nare placed at the end of a street.<\/p>\n
Mr. Putin can count on the complicity of Westerners, of the
\nUnited States and Europeans. No senatorial inquiry commission
\nhere, no court martialed soldiers, no ONG reports.<\/p>\n
Silence. There is no war in Chechnya.<\/p>\n
-- Le Monde, Paris<\/p>\n
President Nelson Mandela<\/p>\n
Ten years ago yesterday President Nelson Mandela officially
\nassumed the highest office in the land. ...<\/p>\n
The next day newspapers across the world splashed the picture
\nof Mandela and his two deputy presidents - Thabo Mbeki and F.W.
\nDe Klerk - with their hands clasped and arms aloft. Yesterday the
\nthree men were reunited for a special ceremony in parliament.<\/p>\n
A sober assessment of the past 10 years might suggest that the
\nideals of the covenant spelt out by Mandela on that historic day
\nhave not all been met.<\/p>\n
But yesterday it was impossible not to agree with Mandela
\nhimself when he said of the historic events 10 years ago; \"Let us
\nrefrain from chauvinistic breast-beating, but let us not also
\nunderrate what we have achieved in establishing a stable and
\nprogressive democracy where we take freedoms seriously; in
\nbuilding national unity in spite of decades and centuries of
\napartheid and colonial rule; in creating a culture in which we
\nincreasingly respect the dignity of all.\"<\/p>\n
-- The Cape Times, Cape Town, South Africa
\n---------------------------------------------------------------<\/p>\n
The Egyptian Gazette, Cairo, Egypt, on Bush's Middle East
\npolicies:<\/p>\n
President George W. Bush may pride himself on being the first
\nU.S. president to evince backing for the creation of a
\nPalestinian state to live side by side within internationally
\nrecognized borders with Israel. But in the eyes of many people in
\nthe Arab world, he has hardly moved to make his two-state formula
\na reality.<\/p>\n
Last month, Bush enraged Arabs when he endorsed Israeli Prime
\nMinister Ariel Sharon's unilateral plan to retain big chunks of
\nthe occupied West Bank and opposed the return of millions of
\nPalestinians displaced since the creation of Israel in 1948. Bush
\ncited what he termed as realities on the ground for his glaring
\ntilt toward Israel.<\/p>\n
In an apparent bid to mollify Arabs' rage, Bush said during
\na joint press conference with King Abdullah II of Jordan that the
\nUnited States would not prejudice the outcome of any future talks
\nbetween Palestinians and Israelis. Despite its embarrassing woes
\nin Iraq, the Bush administration is required to put its policy on
\nMideast peacemaking in shape and vigorously move to help
\nPalestinians' statehood dream come true. This will certainly ease
\nthe American quandary in Iraq.<\/p>\n
---<\/p>\n
El Pais, Madrid, Spain, on Spanish troops in Iraq:<\/p>\n
Spanish troops should have never gone to Iraq. And they should
\nhave left even earlier when the U.S. tried to force them to
\nfollow the erroneous shift in U.S. policy from a defensive to an
\noffensive mission.<\/p>\n
General Jose Enrique de Ayala, adjunct to the commander of the
\nPolish-Spanish brigade, warned in a report at the beginning of
\nApril that the U.S. tried to pressure Spanish forces into taking
\noffensive actions for which they had no legal authorization, and
\nthe hunt for the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr was a mistaken
\nstrategy.<\/p>\n
If there were any doubts, the horrors of the torture of Iraqi
\nprisoners confirms that leaving Iraq was the best moral option
\nand the most sensible from Spain's military point of view.<\/p>\n
The acting Aznar government fulfilled its role by passing de
\nAyala's report to the Socialists, but there has not been a single
\nword of criticism (from the former government) about the absurd
\nU.S. war.<\/p>\n
---<\/p>\n
The Fiji Sun, Suva, Fiji, on the status of civilian personnel
\nin Iraq:<\/p>\n
The death of Ratu Sakiusa Lalabalavu, a Global Risks
\nStrategies officer working in Iraq, brings into sharp focus the
\ndifficulties posed by the outsourcing of military functions by
\ncoalition forces there.<\/p>\n
Increasingly, civilian personnel are doing armed tasks
\npreviously undertaken by the military. The cost of maintaining a
\nfully armed, equipped and protected soldier in the field is far
\nhigher than the cost of an outsourced, lightly armed civilian who
\ncan do the same job, particularly when that civilian comes from a
\nThird World nation and lacks the financial and benefit
\nexpectations of, say, a British or American citizen.<\/p>\n
Still, the terms and conditions are a Godsend to many families
\nin Fiji, but those signing up for service with private defense
\ncompanies in Iraq or elsewhere should be aware of the loopholes
\nand pitfalls before donning the uniform.<\/p>\n
... But by signing up with those private security firms some
\ncall mercenaries the employees enter a legal (and probably moral)
\ntwilight zone.<\/p>\n
... It seems that, in the case of the Fiji operatives at
\nleast, if they die at the hands of an aggressor, their lives are
\nworth more than if they die of natural causes while on duty in
\nIraq. Now Ratu Sakiusa's widow is left without a decent
\ncompensation payout because her husband didn't die in combat, but
\nof a heart attack.<\/p>\n
---<\/p>\n
The Guardian, London, on the Bush administration's response to
\nU.S. mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners:<\/p>\n
Mr. Rumsfeld did not apologize for the Red Cross reports of
\nunarmed Iraqi prisoners being shot to death by United States
\nmilitary personnel. ... He expressed no regret for employing
\nprivate contractors to question people who were accused of no
\ncrime, then hiding their sadistic behavior from public scrutiny.
\nHe never mentioned how sorry he might be for turning over
\ncaptives to other governments using even cruder torture methods.
\nHe showed no contrition for continuing to hide hundreds of people
\nin Guantanamo Bay away from the law.<\/p>\n
Such leaders have placed themselves outside the bounds of
\ninternational law, their own code of justice and their much-
\nadmired constitution. In doing so, they have also removed the
\nprotection of law from those who follow their orders. ...<\/p>\n
The Iraq revelations have given much of the world its voice
\nback. ... We need to hear now from others about how they believe
\nthe torture system came about, and what changes they propose. We
\nneed to hear from John Kerry. And we need to hear from Tony Blair
\ntoo. Above all, we need to have a sign from President Bush that
\nhe understands his mistake, not the mistakes of a handful of ill-
\ntrained reservists acting out the policies of intelligence
\nservices. That sign could be given by presidential order, no
\npermission slip needed from Congress, from coalition partners or
\nfrom the United Nations. Close Guantanamo.
\n---<\/p>\n
The Daily Telegraph, London, on British soldiers in Iraq:<\/p>\n
Now it is British soldiers who are in the dock. Yesterday's
\nnewspapers read like a lengthy charge-sheet against the Army.<\/p>\n
Along with the accusation that troops from the Queen's
\nLancashire Regiment tortured Iraqi prisoners, it is alleged that
\nsoldiers from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers were involved in
\nsexual assault, that British observers were present at Abu Ghraib
\nprison while American guards were mistreating inmates, that our
\nforces were implicated in the shooting of Iraqi detainees and
\ncivilians, and that details of at least some cases of abuse were
\npresented by the Red Cross in February.<\/p>\n
It is important to emphasize that nothing has been proved
\nagainst our Servicemen. ...<\/p>\n
That said, it is vital that we get to the bottom of what
\nhappened. ...<\/p>\n
The Army is, of course, a human institution, and prone to
\nhuman failings. ... If soldiers have abused their positions, they
\nshould be given exemplary and expeditious punishment; and let us
\nhear no nonsense about young boys far from home facing difficult
\ncircumstances.<\/p>\n
Our reputation as a country depends on our comportment abroad.
\nIf our servicemen have been unfairly blackguarded, they will be
\nentitled to a handsome apology from several newspapers. But if
\nthey are guilty, they are a disgrace to Britain.
\n--- MORE[<\/p>\n
GetAP 1.00 -- MAY 14, 2004 00:54:53<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/civil-emergency-status-for-aceh-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }