JSC announces truce violations<\/p>\n
Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh<\/p>\n
The Joint Security Committee (JSC) announced here on Saturday
\nfour more serious violations of the peace agreement to end 26
\nyears of fighting in Aceh province, and blamed them mostly on
\ngovernment security forces.<\/p>\n
The committee overseeing the truce signed on Dec. 9 in Geneva
\nsaid it had recorded three "very serious" violations and one
\n"serious" breach of the accord.<\/p>\n
The announcement was made at around 6 p.m. after the rebel
\nFree Aceh Movement (GAM) walked out of a routine meeting with the
\nJSC in a protest against the committee for not publicly releasing
\nthe findings of its investigations into these violations.<\/p>\n
The investigations were actually completed last Thursday.<\/p>\n
The JSC announcement came against the backdrop of a statement
\nmade by Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs
\nSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who warned that the peace deal between
\nJakarta and GAM was on brink of a breakdown as GAM continued to
\ndisseminate lies among the Aceh people that the truce would lead
\nto a referendum for independence.<\/p>\n
Susilo said the campaign was a serious violation and the
\ngovernment was preparing a contingency plan to anticipate the
\nbreakdown of the peace agreement.<\/p>\n
Under the agreement, a serious violation of the truce is
\ndefined as something that could harm the peace process in Aceh by
\ncausing significant losses to either side, or civilians.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a very serious violation is defined as violence
\nthat could endanger the peace process in the resource rich
\nprovince by causing death, serious injury, permanent disability
\nor property damage to either side, or to civilians.<\/p>\n
The latest violations announced by the JSC included a shooting
\nincident at Lamno village in West Aceh on Jan. 25, in which a
\nrebel was shot dead by soldiers, who also wounded another
\nseparatist.<\/p>\n
The JSC blamed the military for this "very serious" violation
\nof the truce.<\/p>\n
Another "very serious" violation was blamed on the rebels who
\nlaunched a deadly attack at Manggamat village in South Aceh on
\nDec. 22, killing two Mobile Brigade (Brimob) paramilitary police
\ntroopers and wounded another two.<\/p>\n
The third "very serious" violation took place when soldiers
\nkilled a civilian identified as Jamaluddin in Lueng Bata village
\nin Aceh Besar on Jan. 8.<\/p>\n
The forth violation was categorized as "serious", and involved
\nthe killing of another civilian, identified as Husaini M. Yusuf,
\nin the town of Langsa, East Aceh, on Jan. 10.<\/p>\n
The last two incidents involving the deaths of the two
\ncivilians were being investigated by the police and military
\npolice in Aceh, who promised to present their findings to the
\nJSC. No date was given for this.<\/p>\n
"I am again very much honored in producing verdicts for
\nanother four cases today (Saturday)," Maj. Gen. Tanungsak
\nTuvinun, senior envoy of the JSC, said when announcing the truce
\nviolations in a statement.<\/p>\n
The announcement brings the number of investigated violations
\nto seven, with the perpetrators also being made public.<\/p>\n
The monitoring team found that GAM was responsible for three
\nof the seven serious violations of the truce, while the security
\nforces were blamed for the remaining four cases.<\/p>\n
No legal or other sanctions have been imposed on either side
\nfor their respective breaches of the truce.<\/p>\n
Tuvinun said there were no outside parties meddling in the JSC
\nfindings.<\/p>\n
"I personally review each of these cases in detail without any
\nintervention or influence from anyone else," he said.<\/p>\n
"These decisions are made based on the available evidence and
\nall the circumstances. I always keep in my mind the benefit to
\nthe success of our peace process ... I am convinced that both GAM
\nand the Indonesian government take these incidents very
\nseriously," he added.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, David Gorman of the HDC said: "Both parties
\nrecognized that there would be problems, and that the conflict
\nwon't be solved overnight. What's most encouraging is that both
\nparties are addressing the actions of their respective members on
\nthe ground".<\/p>\n
The truce has significantly reduced the bloodshed in Aceh,
\nwhich has seen 26 years of separatist fighting, but sporadic
\nviolence has continued since the signing of the accord.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jsc-announces-truce-violations-1447893297",
"image": ""
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