Hopes for normalcy still remote in Aceh<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Lhokseumawe, North Aceh<\/p>\n
Saturday night is no longer lively in the North Aceh capital
\nLhokseumawe where youngsters used to gather in street cafes
\ndowntown or just ride around on motorcycles.<\/p>\n
\"Before the imposition of martial law we used to hang out
\nuntil 11 p.m. But now 10 p.m. is already too late. There have
\nbeen rumors of a curfew, so we refrain from going out at night to
\navoid security raids and armed clashes,\" high-school student
\nRizal Fahmi, 17, says.<\/p>\n
The youths here have even decided to stay away from the beach
\nnext to the Marine Headquarters, because, as 16-year-old Taufik
\nHidayat says, \"bombs are planted there often.\"<\/p>\n
Soldiers and Mobile Brigade police are all over in the city,
\nwhere roaming armored vehicles and tanks are commonplace.<\/p>\n
Entering the third month of the integrated military operation
\nto quash Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels, clashes have expanded
\nto the residential area downtown, where most of the victims are
\nbelieved to be civilians. The martial law administrator argued
\nthat such incidents proved the operations had managed to suppress
\nthe insurgents who had left their hideouts in the remote
\nmountainous hamlets or coastal areas.<\/p>\n
As part of the efforts to separate GAM members from civilians,
\nthe martial law administration has ordered residents to obtain
\nnew identity cards.<\/p>\n
Other efforts include transporting residents to refugee camps,
\na strategy that Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono
\nSutarto admitted had hurt the Acehnese as many had found their
\nbelongings missing upon returning home.<\/p>\n
Two soldiers are standing trial for allegedly stealing money
\nand jewelry from a house belonging to a woman in a refugee camp.<\/p>\n
The military court has also convicted three soldiers for
\nraping four women.<\/p>\n
Endriartono apologized to the Acehnese people last week for
\nall the excesses of the TNI.<\/p>\n
A mere apology is apparently not enough before security and
\npublic order is fully restored and residents can return to their
\nnormal life.<\/p>\n
Lhokseumawe-based military operation command spokesman Lt.
\nCol. Ahmad Yani Basuki said the restoration of security and
\norder, which is one of the targets of the integrated operation in
\nthe province, would take time.<\/p>\n
\"Many residents have now taken a stand against GAM members and
\nhave even taken revenge for the abduction of their relatives by
\nGAM members. Should we fail to stop them, a communal conflict
\ncould have occurred. But the fact is they feel secure due to our
\npresence here.\"<\/p>\n
However, many of the residents do not share Yani's claim.<\/p>\n
A vegetable vendor at state-owned market Pajak Inpres in the
\ntown, Nurjanah, said she had not been able to reach the market
\nfor two months and instead was forced to return home to Cot Me
\nhamlet, Kuta Blang village, as armed clashes between the security
\nforces and GAM members continued.<\/p>\n
\"We'd better stay at home and let the vegetables rot,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Along with other vendors, Nurjanah used to hire a pick-up
\ntruck carrying them from home at 4 a.m. to the market, returning
\nhome about noon.<\/p>\n
\"We had to pass three security check points on a one-way trip
\nwhere we sometimes were forced to pay Rp 2,000 (about 25 US
\ncents) at each post or leave some of the vegetables,\" she
\nrecalled.<\/p>\n
In many hamlets where male residents once went into the forest
\nto pick pinang (areca nuts), their main source of money, they
\nhave stopped, letting the women do the tough job in a bid to
\navoid trouble.<\/p>\n
\"We are prone to becoming the target of both the military and
\nGAM,\" Muhammad Salim, a resident of Alue Papeun hamlet in Nisam,
\nsaid on Saturday.<\/p>\n
After staying in the refugee camps at Kedai Amplah for 20
\ndays, Salim said his family's 30 Siamese chickens had gone. \"One
\nchick from the chickens was worth Rp 30,000 on the market.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/hopes-for-normalcy-still-remote-in-aceh-1447893297",
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