Government has no intention of negotiating in Aceh: Activist<\/p>\n
The signs are that the government has no plans to come to the
\ntable to seek a peaceful settlement on Aceh, sociologist Otto
\nSyamsudin who is also the director of Cordova, a non-governmental
\norganization focusing on human rights, told The Jakarta Post last
\nweek in a long-distance interview from Banda Aceh:<\/p>\n
Question: The government has sent different signals, with
\nsecurity ministers and generals saying \"there is a limit to
\ndialog\" and the President saying that more emphasis will be
\nplaced on negotiations with the Acehnese. How do you see this?<\/p>\n
Answer: The reality is that it's impossible (that the
\ngovernment would not use force). Until today violations of human
\nrights against civilians here continue. The government does not
\nseem to pay any attention to this continuous violation. All it's
\ndone is make the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) a scapegoat; although
\nit is true that GAM could also be involved in such violations.<\/p>\n
But I think the possibility for GAM's involvement is far less
\nthan that of the soldiers because the Acehnese can be said to be
\na part of GAM. GAM's philosophy is that the people and GAM are
\nlike fish and water.<\/p>\n
But to soldiers, mainly during the 10-year military operation
\n(which ended in 1998), the people should be attacked if they are
\nto overcome GAM because the people are like GAM's social
\nfortress. They tried to destroy the \"fortress\" through violence,
\nterror, kidnapping, and public executions.<\/p>\n
Q: Is there a difference in the type of violence today?<\/p>\n
A: Today we see a new type of violence in the style of mysterious
\nmurders (petrus), such as those committed during the Soeharto
\nyears which were then applied on suspected criminals.<\/p>\n
Suddenly now in Aceh we have bodies placed deliberately in
\npublic areas. It is these actions that make it difficult for us
\nto believe the government when it says the violation of rights
\nhere can be stopped.<\/p>\n
Our experience shows how hard it is to ask for the cooperation
\nof the police and the military assigned here.<\/p>\n
In the case of arrests, they aren't open to dialog at all when
\nwe try to have the arrestees released.<\/p>\n
In the case of the August arrest of three activists of
\n(British aid organization) Oxfam working in Jambo Dalim in South
\nAceh, the activists had permits and were known to the
\nauthorities. Yet they were arrested and tortured. When they were
\nreleased, one of them had some 25 stitches on him.<\/p>\n
Early this month, three volunteers of the Rehabilitation
\nAction for Torture Victims (RATA) in Aceh were publicly executed.
\nRATA is a NGO with funds from the government of Denmark working
\nto rehabilitate victims of kidnapping. They were arrested,
\ntortured and killed.<\/p>\n
Until now we have not been able to bring home their bodies.
\nMohammad Nazar, head of the Aceh Referendum Information Center
\n(SIRA), has not been released either (since his arrest on
\nNov.22). He has been treated as a criminal detainee instead of a
\npolitical detainee although the charges against him are political
\n(creating disorder during a rally on Independence Day of Aug.
\n17). However he has not been tortured.<\/p>\n
Q: So the humanitarian pause has not reduced the intensity of the
\nviolence?<\/p>\n
A: That's right. Instead since June we've been seeing more petrus
\ncases, in which the victims are mostly civilians. The joint
\ncommittee for security modality representing GAM and the
\ngovernment, cannot negotiate on the field; they cannot even stop
\nthe violence conducted by field commanders. They rarely appear on
\nthe field.<\/p>\n
This shows the absence of a solid command within the
\nIndonesian government. So we find it hard to believe that the
\nviolence will stop although President Abdurrahman Wahid has
\nstressed the need to end the violent approach.<\/p>\n
Q: The government has said it would impose a civilian emergency
\nrule in Aceh, and then if necessary, impose a military emergency
\nrule if the humanitarian pause ends without results. Your
\ncomments?<\/p>\n
A: First, we should return to the essence of the humanitarian
\npause which is to enable the provision of humanitarian aid to the
\nAcehnese, not to end armed conflict.<\/p>\n
So I think Susilo (Coordinating Minister for Political, Social
\nand Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) has misunderstood
\nthe pause.<\/p>\n
To end violence in Aceh, what must be done is to draw up a
\npolitical deal with GAM, instead of burdening the end to violence
\non the humanitarian pause.<\/p>\n
The government should face the Aceh case through two channels;
\nFirst, a humanitarian channel, to rehabilitate humanitarian
\nproblems. Second, a political channel, through which GAM and the
\nRepublic of Indonesia could seek an agreement to end armed
\nconflict.<\/p>\n
If the government wants to impose martial law, it shows that
\nit has no intention of negotiating because it has already started
\non a framework of the republic's unitary state.<\/p>\n
Maybe the government does not care about the humanitarian
\nsituation here. Susilo has often mentioned law enforcement in
\nAceh but until now there has not been any trial on those who have
\ncommitted violence here.<\/p>\n
Law enforcement has only been used to make GAM the scapegoat;
\nhence the government is using the ways of the New Order which
\nused the law as a weapon against its political enemies. The
\ngovernment has never really acknowledged violations of human
\nrights here, it has only said that there have been murders by
\n\"irresponsible\" personnel.<\/p>\n
Q: Which party has mostly violated the humanitarian pause?<\/p>\n
A: Maybe both parties are guilty of violating the humanitarian
\npause. But what is more important is that if both the government
\nand GAM respect human rights in Aceh, both parties must be open
\nto a transparent and comprehensive examination of rights
\nviolations.<\/p>\n
Such an \"audit\" can be done by foreign NGOs like Amnesty
\nInternational or the United Nations. We have a model in the case
\nof East Timor, in which the UN was involved but where it was the
\nNational Commission on Human Rights which set up the independent
\ncommission investigating rights violations in East Timor.<\/p>\n
So far GAM's response toward the proposed examination has been
\nmore \"gentlemanly.\"<\/p>\n
Q: How large is the possibility for Aceh, and also Irian Jaya, to
\nbecome an international issue?<\/p>\n
A: The possibility is small in the political dimension but
\nsympathy toward rights violations in Aceh in the international
\nfora has been larger than in Irian Jaya simply because of the
\nmore known victims in Aceh.<\/p>\n
Recently special rapporteurs from the UN's human rights
\ncommission urged the examination of rights violations in Aceh.<\/p>\n
Q: Do you see any prospect of a peaceful settlement for Aceh?<\/p>\n
A: There must be a comprehensive settlement comprising
\nhumanitarian and political aspects. So it depends on the
\ngovernment on whether it has such a comprehensive package.<\/p>\n
I see the government does not have a clear concept on Aceh.
\nThey are only asserting that the unity of the republic must be
\npreserved but they don't know how. Maybe all they know is the
\nmilitary approach -- but actually in each violent incident it is
\nthe republic which stands to lose in the eyes of the Acehnese.<\/p>\n
And the reality is that GAM has managed to win the hearts of
\nmost Acehnese because of the government's approach in which many
\npeople have become victims.<\/p>\n
Maybe it's true that many don't agree with GAM's demands but
\nit's also true that almost all Acehnese hate the government for
\nits violations of human rights.<\/p>\n
Q: What are your comments on the plan to apply Islamic law in
\nAceh to fulfill the Acehnese people's demands?<\/p>\n
A: That has not helped much to win over the Acehnese, not to say
\nthat it was futile. Acehnese are devout Muslims, what was the
\npurpose of having them read the syahadat statements
\n(acknowledging Allah and the Prophet Muhammad)? That was only the
\ndemand of a fraction of the elite, mainly in the local council.<\/p>\n
The main demand of the Acehnese is a referendum (to determine
\nif they want to secede from Indonesia). (Asip A. Hasani)<\/p>",
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