Govt eyes monitoring agency for Aceh<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
In the next round of peace talks on Aceh, the government will
\npropose to establish an independent committee to supervise the
\nimplementation of a cease-fire between the government and the
\nseparatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM).<\/p>\n
Learning from past failures to implement a ceasefire, Minister
\nof Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said members of the monitoring
\nteam would be recruited from a third party, not from the
\ngovernment or GAM.<\/p>\n
\"The concept is that we need to have a monitoring committee to
\nensure the effectiveness of the cessation of hostility. Members
\nof the monitoring committee should come from a third party,\"
\nHassan said on Monday.<\/p>\n
He said the independent monitoring committee would emulate a
\nsimilar committee established in Moro, Southern Philippines, to
\nsupervise the implementation of a ceasefire between the
\nPhilippine troops and the rebel group, the Moro National
\nLiberation Front.<\/p>\n
Indonesia at that time sent observers to Moro to join the
\nmonitoring team in the mid-1990s.<\/p>\n
When asked if Indonesia would allow foreigners to sit on the
\nproposed monitoring committee, Hassan said: \"We haven't discussed
\nany details yet on the idea.\"<\/p>\n
He added that the committee would have the authority to
\nconduct an investigation into any violence occurring after the
\nplanned agreement.<\/p>\n
Representatives of the government and GAM will sit for peace
\ntalks in Geneva early this October to end a chain of violence
\nrampaging the territory.<\/p>\n
The peace talks will be facilitated by the Henry Dunant Center
\n(HDC), which has been brokering talks between the government and
\nGAM for the past three years.<\/p>\n
The government and GAM agreed in early 2000 to end the
\nviolence in Aceh, but the agreement failed to stop the violence.
\nThey accused each other of failing to honor the agreement.<\/p>\n
\"That is why we need to make a different arrangement than the
\none we had in the past,\" Hassan said.<\/p>\n
He assured that the upcoming agreement would be different as
\nGAM had agreed to accept the special autonomy law for Aceh, with
\nsome revisions.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs
\nSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono explained that the upcoming agreement on
\nthe cessation of hostility would contain articles regarding the
\nmonitoring committee.<\/p>\n
He also said that the agreement would enable the Indonesian
\nMilitary (TNI) and GAM to work together and curb criminal actions
\nconducted by bad elements in TNI and GAM.<\/p>\n
\"GAM admitted that there were bad elements that could not be
\ncontrolled. After the signing of the agreement, all those bad
\nelements in the province will be treated as the common enemy,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The minister said that the government had sent the peace
\nproposal to GAM through the HDC and there were three articles
\nthat needed to be further discussed.<\/p>\n
\"The three articles are on a demilitarized zone, political
\nrights for all GAM members that are willing to return to the
\nRepublic of Indonesia and the process to review the special
\nautonomy law,\" Susilo said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-eyes-monitoring-agency-for-aceh-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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