Emergency status for Aceh gets mixed response<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government's threat to impose a civil
\nemergency status for restive Aceh has gained both full support
\nand stiff opposition.<\/p>\n
Secretary-general of the National Commission on Human Rights
\n(Komnas HAM) Asmara Nababan warned the government of complicity
\nresulting from a decision to adopt a civil emergency status for
\nthe province, which saw gross human rights violations during a
\ndecade of military operations ending in 1998.<\/p>\n
\"I am concerned and disappointed with the plan because it
\nwould only give the government legitimacy to take repressive
\nmeasures in addressing problems in Aceh,\" Asmara told The Jakarta
\nPost by phone from Surabaya.<\/p>\n
He said an emergency status \"would result in new problems and
\nclaim more lives rather than reach a settlement\".<\/p>\n
The province, where the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist
\nrebels have been fighting for independence from Indonesia for 20
\nyears, has continued to be the scene of violence despite a truce
\nsigned in May and extended in November.<\/p>\n
\"Furthermore, the emergency status would alienate Acehnese
\nfrom their brothers across the country,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Asmara warned decisionmakers in the government that they
\nrisked being charged with perpetrating rights abuses now that the
\nHuman Rights Law was in effect.<\/p>\n
His notice came amid calls from the United Nations experts on
\nIndonesia to probe allegations of human rights violations in
\nAceh, including alleged extrajudicial executions of civilians.<\/p>\n
In a letter dated Nov. 22 to the Jakarta government, five
\nhuman rights representatives who are working for the UN
\nCommission on Human Rights said they had received information on
\na pattern of serious human rights violations targeting human
\nrights defenders in the province.<\/p>\n
They highlighted alleged extrajudicial executions of numerous
\ncivilians, especially human rights activists and pro-independence
\nactivists, and alleged acts of torture, including sexual
\nviolence, by the military and security forces against civilians.<\/p>\n
Prominent social and political observers shared the belief
\nthat the state of emergency would only rub salt in the wounds of
\nAcehnese.<\/p>\n
\"If either a civilian or military emergency is imposed in
\nAceh, it would be the same as the previous implementation of the
\nmilitary operation (DOM) and I'm afraid that it would culminate
\nin a point of no return for Aceh,\" Bahtiar Effendy, a doctor of
\npolitics at Ohio University, said after a discussion on ethno-
\nreligious conflict here.<\/p>\n
\"In such an emergency situation, which naturally involves
\nrepressive measures, people might be incited to fight the state
\nand we would probably lose Aceh for good.\"<\/p>\n
President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri along with related Cabinet ministers should visit
\nAceh soon, Bahtiar and sociologist Sardjono Djatiman of the
\nUniversity of Indonesia, said.<\/p>\n
\"Abdurrahman is a kyai. He should be able to win people's
\nhearts. So go on and try. The Acehnese basically wish to be
\ntreated as humans. Don't just send ministers who act as if
\nnothing happens out there,\" Sardjono said.<\/p>\n
\"What the Acehnese need are concrete improvements and changes
\nfor a better life. The government must fulfill their promises to
\ncompensate the victims of violence and let's hope that Aceh
\ndoesn't have to again experience the nightmare of an emergency
\nstate.\"<\/p>\n
In Yogyakarta, rector of Gadjah Mada University Ichlasul Amal
\nsuggested that the government avoid the use of coercion in
\naddressing the separatist movement in Aceh, saying that such a
\nmilitaristic approach had proven fruitless.<\/p>\n
Amal said the government had no choice but to maintain peace.<\/p>\n
\"A peaceful way is the only choice for the government, for we
\nare not going to either destroy or defeat the Acehnese or the
\nseparatists there,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Amal said the government should drastically reduce its
\ndominant role in solving the Aceh problem and let the Acehnese,
\nthe pro-Jakarta groups and proindependence groups settle their
\ndispute.<\/p>\n
On the contrary, the House of Representatives urged the
\ngovernment on Thursday to declare by Sunday at the latest a civil
\nemergency status in Aceh to fight armed separatism in the natural
\nresource rich province.<\/p>\n
\"We hope the emergency can be announced as soon as possible,
\nat least before the beginning of the Ramadhan fasting month,\"
\nchairman of House Commission I for defense, foreign and political
\naffairs Yasril Ananta Baharuddin said.<\/p>\n
Yasril said the emergency law should be intended for GAM and
\nthe Information Center for Aceh People (SIRA).<\/p>\n
Speaking at a joint news conference with the chairman of House
\nCommission II for home and legal affairs, Amin Aryoso, Yasril
\nviewed that GAM and SIRA should be declared rebels.<\/p>\n
\"If the civil emergency can not decrease the tension in a
\nmonth, it could be elevated to military emergency status,\" Yasril
\nof Golkar Party said.<\/p>\n
He suggested the government apply Law 23\/1959 on an emergency
\nstate to take stern action against the two rebellious groups.<\/p>\n
But for the majority of Acehnese, Yasril proposed that the
\ngovernment conduct a dialog and offer special autonomy for the
\nprovince soon. (01\/44\/edt\/jun)<\/p>",
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