Lifting provinces' DOM status<\/p>\n
By Hendardi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Three of the country's 27 provinces -- Irian
\nJaya, East Timor and Aceh -- stand out with their own
\ncharacteristics and demands.<\/p>\n
And all three have long been under military rule as military
\noperation areas (DOM).<\/p>\n
In the reform era, they have demanded that the status in their
\nprovinces be revoked immediately and unconditionally.<\/p>\n
The New Order government failed to settle the sociopolitical
\nproblems in the provinces without involvement of the military. On
\nthe pretext of "security", the military status was implemented,
\nwithout any clarification on when it would end.<\/p>\n
The New Order regime coined the term "security disturbance
\nmovements" (GPK) for the Free Aceh Movement in Aceh, the Free
\nPapua Organization in Irian Jaya and Fretilin rebels in East
\nTimor.<\/p>\n
The status entails a form of military operation that is meant
\nto destroy armed groups considered to be disturbing local
\nsecurity. The term GPK reflects the ideological mechanism of the
\nNew Order military, aimed at separating the groups from the local
\npopulation.<\/p>\n
The policy does not seek to find why there are upheavals in
\nthe provinces and what the root problem is. Or, for that matter,
\nwhy there are people who are ready to fight fiercely to the end.<\/p>\n
And why there are people who revolt against the New Order by
\ntaking up arms.<\/p>\n
Armed revolts against the New Order were certainly not without
\na cause. The question is why the investigation and the
\nexplanations on these matters are always shrouded in mystery and
\nnever revealed.<\/p>\n
Official explanations only touch on "security disturbances" in
\norder to justify the military operations, an approach that fails
\nto look for an effective and integral solution.<\/p>\n
The fact is that the people do not feel that the matter of
\n"security" is solved by putting the provinces under military
\nstatus. On the contrary, many of them "do not feel safe" and many
\nare even killed. Others are overwhelmed by worry and fear, and
\nmutual suspicion reigns in the community.<\/p>\n
The people expressed their anger toward various military
\nactions in the area. An East Timor rebel leader now in prison,
\nJose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, has pledged that if East Timor is
\nseparated from Indonesia, the region will be made a "country
\nwithout soldiers", like Costa Rica and Switzerland. This shows
\nthe people have had their fill of experiences under the DOM
\nstatus and the dangers it entails.<\/p>\n
Their attitude toward the military has now converged with
\nthose of the student movement, which demands an end to the dual
\nrole of the military in defense and politics.<\/p>\n
This is indeed one of the requirements toward real reform; the
\nmilitary must go back to the barracks.<\/p>\n
Military activities in the three provinces have resulted in
\nthe most serious human rights violations. It is not only a matter
\nof violations of civil and political rights of local inhabitants
\nbut, more importantly, so many lives have been lost that they
\nmust be categorized as crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n
After a relatively quiet period from 1989 to mid 1990s, and
\nthe absence of news on movements demanding freedom, reform
\nmovements in many regions have awakened the dormant but
\nsmoldering "old problem" of Aceh.<\/p>\n
The discovery of mass graves in Bukit Tengkorak, Hutan Krueng
\nCampil, Hutan Seureke and Jembatan Kuning was a trigger as it
\nstartled the public into realizing the extent of the atrocities
\nunder the military. Numerous cases of abductions and the
\nexistence of a number of torture camps has yet to be added into
\nthe horror story.<\/p>\n
Human rights and NGO activists estimate that at least 4,000
\npeople have been killed since 1989 under the DOM status. The Aceh
\nregional government has only recorded 1,021 fatalities, 864
\nmissing and 357 crippled for life. Records also show dozens of
\nwomen were raped and 681 houses burned down. A total of 1,376
\nwomen were widowed and 4,521 children were orphaned (Kompas, Dec.
\n22, 1998).<\/p>\n
In Irian Jaya, where the biggest gold mine in the world lies,
\nit is reportedly common practice for the military to arrest,
\ndetain and torture people suspected of participating in the OPM
\nor GPK movement, in many cases without legal procedure. Many
\npeople were declared missing. Military activities against GPK
\noften lead to deaths, including of innocent civilians.<\/p>\n
The military's rule in East Timor for more than 23 years has
\nnever solved the problems and the people's resistance continues.<\/p>\n
The New Order has failed to settle the East Timor problem in
\nits entirety. One gross example was the Nov. 12, 1991 incident in
\nDili in which the military opened fire on young students staging
\na peaceful rally. Since 1975, about 200,000 East Timorese have
\nallegedly been killed. Like in other DOM areas, violence in East
\nTimor involves rape, sexual attacks and sexual harassment of
\nwomen. Some describe the violence in East Timor as human rights
\nviolations of the nature of an "annihilation of the nation".<\/p>\n
Recent attacks and the taking hostage of Armed Forces soldiers
\nin Aceh must be seen in the context of the impact of the
\nimplementation of the DOM status during a long period and with
\nvarious repressive measures.<\/p>\n
Although the Armed Forces commander has revoked the DOM status
\nof Aceh, the anger and the hurt of the inhabitants suffering
\nunder the status cannot be cured in an instant.<\/p>\n
This is especially true if the response to the problem is
\ntypically New Order in that it is repressive and refuses to
\nexplore the roots of the issue.<\/p>\n
Each settlement in the military way should be rejected for
\nexperience has taught us that the social cost is too high.<\/p>\n
Demands to put an end to the DOM status and to withdraw
\nmilitary personnel from various areas must be met without any
\nconditions. They must be followed up with an integral solution
\nand an immediate improvement of the infrastructure of the
\ncommunity's political life in a democratic way.<\/p>\n
The writer is chairman of the board of the Indonesian Legal
\nAid and Human Rights Association, Jakarta.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/lifting-provinces-dom-status-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}