GAM rejects Tokyo meeting<\/p>\n
Nani Farida and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The effort to bring peace back to Aceh faces another stiff test
\nafter the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel group threatened to
\nboycott a Joint Council meeting if it went ahead in Tokyo as
\nplanned.<\/p>\n
GAM senior envoy to the Joint Security Committee (JSC) Sofyan
\nIbrahim Tiba insisted on Monday that the meeting be held in
\nGeneva, saying Switzerland was known to be a neutral country.<\/p>\n
"We just want the meeting to be held in Geneva. Why should we
\ngo to another country?" Sofyan said.<\/p>\n
He denied the Indonesian government's claim that GAM had
\nagreed to Tokyo as the venue for the crucial meeting scheduled
\nfor Friday, which will determine the future of the dialog.<\/p>\n
Sofyan emphasized that the negotiations would not revise the
\nCessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA), but simply discuss why
\nthe peace zones and the demilitarization process had failed to
\nwork.<\/p>\n
Due to the disagreement, the Henry Dunant Centre (HDC), which
\nhas been facilitating the peace talks, is seeking a new venue for
\nthe Joint Council meeting.<\/p>\n
HDC project manager David Gorman said that he had discussed
\nthe plan to hold the meeting with the warring sides.<\/p>\n
"They agreed on, for example, the date and the agenda to be
\ndiscussed, but at this moment, we have no agreement on the
\nlocation of the meeting," David told The Jakarta Post in Banda
\nAceh on Monday.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, escalating tension in the province has seriously
\naffected the daily activities of local people. The latest
\nfatality was a student Mayasari, 18, who suffered gunshot wounds
\nto the head.<\/p>\n
Local military spokesman Lt. Col. Firdaus Komarno said he had
\nreceived a report on the finding of a body in the village of
\nManyang Cut, Pidie, 150 kilometers east of the provincial capital
\nof Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
Nearby residents said that they had heard gunshots at 8:30
\np.m. on Saturday. But they were too afraid to go outside and
\nfound the dead body the next morning.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the efforts to salvage the peace deal, M.M.
\nBillah of the National Commission on Human Rights suggested on
\nMonday a reshuffle in the membership of the JSC, arguing that
\nrepresentatives of Acehnese civilians should be included, whom he
\nsaid knew the situation on the ground better.<\/p>\n
"The presence of Acehnese civilians would help both the
\ngovernment and GAM to heed the real aspirations of the silent
\nmajority. If these civilians do not have a forum for articulating
\ntheir views, who will speak for them?" Billah told a press
\nconference at his office.<\/p>\n
The tripartite monitoring team comprises 50 representatives
\neach from Indonesia, GAM, and HDC.<\/p>\n
The differences of opinion between the government and GAM in
\ntheir interpretations of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement
\nhave been deepening, with GAM claiming that special autonomy
\nserves as the starting point for the all-inclusive dialog,
\nwhereas the government insists that special autonomy is the last
\nword.<\/p>\n
"It will be impossible for the two warring groups to meet half
\nway if the silent majority is ignored in the peace talks," Billah
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The rights body also supported a peaceful solution in the
\nprovince through dialog, and urged the government to refrain from
\nusing military force.<\/p>\n
The HDC, a Swiss-based non-governmental organization, has been
\nfacing challenges in its efforts to bridge the differences
\nbetween Jakarta and GAM in the form of physical threats and mob
\nattacks over what the mobs say is "the JSC's failure to stop GAM
\nfrom extorting, kidnapping and terrorizing civilians."<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar
\nsaid the separatist movement had been violating Articles 106 to
\n110 of the Criminal Law by organizing a secessionist movement in
\nthe country.<\/p>\n
Asked whether a military operation was the answer to quelling
\nseparatism in Aceh, Da'i declined to comment but stressed that
\n"since GAM fights with guns, we have to crush them in the same
\nway."<\/p>\n
Da'i said that in line with the demilitarization process as
\nstipulated in the COHA, the duties of the police's elite Mobile
\nBrigade (Brimob) troopers stationed in the province had already
\nbeen changed from those of combatants to those of a security
\nrestoration unit dealing with law and order.<\/p>\n
"But should the planned Joint Council meeting on April 25
\nresult in the need for them to go on the offensive again, then
\nthey will do so," Da'i said on the sidelines of a three-day
\nworking meeting at National Police Headquarters in South Jakarta.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/gam-rejects-tokyo-meeting-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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