Free Fery<\/p>\n
A few days after the death of RCTI television journalist Ersa
\nSiregar, Aceh's martial law administrator and military commander
\nannounced that anyone was welcome to be a facilitator for the
\nrelease of some 100 civilian hostages held by the Free Aceh
\nMovement (GAM).<\/p>\n
Thank you very much, Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarya, this is a
\nwelcome turnaround from the martial law administration's earlier
\npolicy that no non-governmental party, even international
\nhumanitarian organizations, could operate in Nanggroe Aceh
\nDarussalam. (The first good news in early December was that the
\nInternational Red Cross Committee, or the ICRC, officially
\nreopened its office in Banda Aceh.)<\/p>\n
We can only wonder and regret, however, that it took the death
\nof a civilian who made headlines just because he was a journalist
\n-- and a fine one at that -- for the military to open the doors
\nto Aceh in welcoming any party wishing to assist in the hostages'
\nrelease.<\/p>\n
Without doubt, the change in policy has mainly come about
\nbecause another media professional, Ersa's RCTI colleague
\ncameraman Fery Santoro, is still in the hands of GAM, and neither
\nof the disputing parties want another headline death on their
\nhands.<\/p>\n
Not even the presence of a pregnant woman among the hostages
\n-- a wife of a military officer and who is expected to go into
\nlabor soon -- has been able to move the hearts of either parties
\nto reach an agreement to secure the civilians' release.<\/p>\n
Organizations such as the Indonesian Red Cross and the ICRC
\nhave repeatedly said they were ready to help with the release of
\nhostages, yet GAM and the Indonesian Military (TNI) have both
\nbeen arguing for months on the conditions of release. The
\nimpression is that they have been thinking selfishly about their
\npossible losses or gains in blatant disregard of the Geneva
\nConvention, which says that warring parties have the ultimate
\nresponsibility to protect civilians caught in an armed conflict.<\/p>\n
The TNI has woken up, it seems, following the death of Ersa,
\nwho it said was a victim of a military bullet in a crossfire on
\nDec. 29. Spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin has even said
\nthat the TNI will now try harder to protect journalists. GAM has
\nalso been desperate to convey its condolences and apologies, all
\nthe while blaming the TNI for \"killing\" Ersa in cold blood.<\/p>\n
RCTI, along with local and international journalist
\nassociations, is demanding an independent investigation into
\nErsa's death, while journalists across the country are also
\ndemanding that Fery be released immediately and returned safely
\nto his family.<\/p>\n
An investigation should uncover -- among other details -- how
\ncivilians, including local bureaucrats, were kept as hostages for
\nso long -- Ersa's group alone had spent six months with GAM --
\ndespite repeated statements from GAM and the TNI implying that
\nthe ball was in the other's court regarding the release of
\nhostages. Meanwhile, the international and local Red Cross bodies
\nhave said that their operative procedures dictate that they could
\nonly render help in a conflict situation upon the request and
\nknowledge of both parties.<\/p>\n
According to our files, neither Red Cross body had ever
\nreceived a request for their services based on an agreed
\ntimeframe and agreed conditions from both GAM and the TNI -- even
\nafter reports that a hostage was pregnant, that Ersa had coughed
\nblood and that all hostages, including the sick, were moved
\nconstantly from one place to another to avoid the military,
\nwalking great distances each day over rough terrain.<\/p>\n
The joyful reunion of Ersa's driver Rachmatsyah with his
\nfamily early last month was only possible because he escaped from
\nGAM during a shoot-out with the TNI.<\/p>\n
When the government blasted as \"baseless\" the report of an
\ninternational rights watchdog on the \"secret war\" in Aceh, it
\nmerely reflected the sickening and irrelevant New Order-style
\narrogance. In its dismissal of the Human Rights Watch report, the
\ngovernment still failed to respond to the concerns of its
\ncitizens -- that thousands of civilians were forced to remain
\nrefugees in their own country and that others remained hostages
\nwhile their families waited in uncertainty.<\/p>\n
After a long silence -- in part because of their anxiety and
\ntheir trust in promises from both GAM and the TNI for the release
\nof their loved ones -- the hostages' families are now beginning
\nto speak up.<\/p>\n
Fery's wife, Maya, in an open letter written on the day of
\nErsa's funeral to the leaders of both parties, asked, \"Please
\nrelease my husband Fery Santoro and the other hostages. Let there
\nbe no more victims. Stop all this fighting, it will only add to
\nthe wounds and the sorrows of us all.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/free-fery-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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