Government spurns talks with Aceh separatist group<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice\/State Secretary Muladi ruled
\nout on Thursday the possibility of holding a dialog with the
\nseparatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), saying it was not a legal
\norganization.<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists after meeting with President B.J.
\nHabibie at Merdeka Palace, the minister said the government would
\nmeet only with legal groups and Aceh community figures to help
\nease the escalating tension in the province.<\/p>\n
\"We will not (hold such a dialog) ...up to now we have no
\n(plans) to hold talks with the Aceh rebels group,\" Muladi said.<\/p>\n
When asked why the government agreed to talk with East
\nTimorese rebels and not with Aceh rebels, the minister said the
\nsituation in East Timor was completely different from that in
\nAceh because the histories of the two provinces were not
\ncomparable.<\/p>\n
\"It is totally different. Historically they are also
\ndifferent.\"<\/p>\n
A number of human rights activists have urged the government
\nto talk directly with Aceh rebels as it did with East Timorese
\nindependence fighters. However, the government insisted that Aceh
\nhas been a part of Indonesia since the country's independence in
\n1945, while the United Nations has never recognized Indonesia's
\nsovereignty over East Timor.<\/p>\n
Aceh Police chief Col. Bahrumsyah had proposed direct talks
\nwith Aceh rebel leader-in-exile Hasan Tiro to enable the
\ngovernment to get first-hand information about his plans to set
\nup an independent Aceh state.<\/p>\n
Muladi said the government would proceed with its plan to set
\nup an independent team to seek a peaceful solution to the
\nproblems in Aceh.<\/p>\n
\"The team is being established and it is expected to be
\nsuccessful in its mission to calm down the tension,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Muladi's statements came as the National Commission on Human
\nRights proposed that its team, which has been working on the Aceh
\ncase and has visited the province five times, be entrusted with
\nthe task instead.<\/p>\n
Commission members Bambang Soeharto and Clementino dos Reis
\nAmaral made the suggestion in a media briefing on Thursday.
\nBambang expressed the hope that the commission's team would be
\naccepted by the Acehnese and succeed in its mission.<\/p>\n
Muladi hinted that he objected to the proposal.<\/p>\n
\"The presidential decree on the establishment of the team will
\nsoon be issued, and the team will go to work immediately,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence
\n(Kontras) recently urged the military to pull out the riot troops
\n(PPRM) from Aceh to help ease the tension and stop villagers
\nfleeing from clashes between the separatists and the military.<\/p>\n
Separately, Minister of Home Affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid
\ndismissed the mounting calls for withdrawal, saying the force's
\npresence was needed to ease the tension.<\/p>\n
\"It is impossible, unless we want Aceh separated (from
\nIndonesia), then we can withdraw the whole security apparatus
\nfrom there,\" the minister said after attending a plenary session
\nof the House of Representatives on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Syarwan may well be among the most well-informed Cabinet
\nministers about Aceh, because, as a colonel, he was commander of
\nthe Lhokseumawe district command in North Aceh from 1991 to 1992,
\nat the height of the nine-year military operation in Aceh started
\nin 1989.<\/p>\n
\"No country in the world wants disintegration,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Aceh Governor Syamsuddin said it was possible for the
\nIndonesian Military (TNI) to withdraw the PPRM personnel.<\/p>\n
He said he believed TNI would seriously consider the
\nwithdrawal if the situation in the province returned to normal.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, 100 Muslim students demonstrated in Surakarta,
\nCentral Java, demanding the government and the military handle
\nthe Aceh case immediately to prevent more civilians becoming
\nvictims in the province.<\/p>\n
Nurhayadi, a demonstrator, said the government and the
\nmilitary should be blamed for the tension and for their failure
\nto keep their promises to the Acehnese. (har\/prb\/rms)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/government-spurns-talks-with-aceh-separatist-group-1447893297",
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