Emergency status mulled for Aceh<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government is considering adopting a civil
\nemergency status to address the long-standing violence in Aceh,
\nCoordinating Minister for Politics, Social and Security Affairs
\nSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Speaking after a meeting with Vice President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri, Susilo said the emergency status would serve as a
\nwarning to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels who the
\ngovernment has blamed for perpetrating violence despite the truce
\narrangement under the humanitarian pause, which is in effect
\nuntil mid-January next year.<\/p>\n
\"If the alternatives proposed are rejected, the government
\nwill adopt legal measures and deem it necessary to impose an
\nemergency status, although it's not an ideal thing to do,\"
\nYudhoyono said.<\/p>\n
However, he said the government was still optimistic that it
\ncould end the fighting through negotiations.<\/p>\n
\"A state of emergency is a last resort, which we hope will not
\nhave to be taken,\" said Yudhoyono, a retired army general.<\/p>\n
Since the truce came into effect in June, more than 240 people
\nhave been killed in restive Aceh.<\/p>\n
Based on Law No. 23\/1959, which remains in effect as the newer
\nlaw passed by the House of Representatives in 1998 has not been
\nratified yet, the civil emergency status would be declared
\nthrough a presidential decree.<\/p>\n
The government of Abdurrahman Wahid imposed an emergency
\nstatus in Maluku and North Maluku in late June to address months
\nof sectarian conflict there.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman has repeatedly pledged to keep the country's
\nunity.<\/p>\n
A coordination forum of ministers under Susilo's auspices
\nsuggested on Tuesday that the government should get tough against
\nseparatist movements in the natural resource-rich provinces of
\nAceh and Irian Jaya.<\/p>\n
Among the attendees at Tuesday night's meeting were Minister
\nof Defense Muhammad Mahfud MD, Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi
\nShihab, Minister of Home Affairs and Regional Autonomy Surjadi
\nSudirdja, Indonesian Military chief Adm. Widodo AS, Attorney
\nGeneral Marzuki Darusman and Chief of State Intelligence
\nCoordinating Board (Bakin) Arie J. Kumaat.<\/p>\n
The meeting also assigned Widodo, accompanied by Air Force
\nChief of Staff Marshal Hanafie Asnan, to visit Aceh on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Yudhoyono gave no details of the consequences of a declaration
\nof emergency. However, under past states of emergency in Aceh,
\nsecurity forces have been given extra power to search for and
\narrest suspects and impose curfews.<\/p>\n
Rebels belonging to the Free Aceh Movement have been fighting
\nfor independence in their oil and gas-rich homeland for about 25
\nyears, leaving at least 5,500 people dead in the past decade.<\/p>\n
Susilo also warned the popular Aceh proindependence group, the
\nInformation Center for an Aceh Referendum (SIRA), about
\nmobilizing people against the government.<\/p>\n
SIRA earlier this month mobilized hundreds of thousands of
\npeople during a two-day rally organized to demand a referendum on
\nself-determination for the strongly Muslim region on the northern
\ntip of Sumatra.<\/p>\n
They marked the anniversary of last year's first public call
\nfor a vote on self-rule, which was attended by almost a million
\npeople.<\/p>\n
Susilo reiterated on Wednesday his warning to separatist
\nleaders in the easternmost province of Irian Jaya that a
\ndeclaration of independence, which is expected to highlight the
\ncelebration of the 39th anniversary of their declaration of
\nindependence on Dec. 1, would be treason.<\/p>\n
He said he had heard reports that Free Papua (OPM) separatists
\nplanned to celebrate the commemoration.<\/p>\n
\"If that takes place, it will be considered an act of treason
\nand the government will take stern action in line with the
\nConstitution,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Independence sentiments were nurtured for similar reasons in
\nIrian Jaya but only surfaced strongly following the end of the
\nrule of former president Soeharto in 1998.<\/p>\n
Separatists there claim that Irian Jaya declared independence
\non Dec. 1, 1961 before the former Dutch colony became a part of
\nIndonesia under a UN-sanctioned act of free choice in 1969 that
\nIrianese say was flawed.<\/p>\n
At a congress held by the proindependence Papua Council in
\nJune, the delegates called on Jakarta to recognize the 1961
\ndeclaration.<\/p>\n
The separatist movements in Indonesia have gained momentum
\nfollowing East Timor's split from Indonesia last year.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/emergency-status-mulled-for-aceh-1447893297",
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