Rebel activists remain cautious about returning to Aceh<\/p>\n
I. Christianto, Contributor, Helsinki<\/p>\n
In spite of the amnesty offered by the Indonesian government to
\nall people linked to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), many of them
\nwho are living in exile overseas have adopted a wait-and-see
\nattitude, with no immediate plans to return home.<\/p>\n
Munawar Liza Zainal or Warzain, the secretary-general of the
\nAceh Center in Pennsylvania, the United States, said he planned
\nto first observe whether the peace deal was implemented properly
\nbefore booking a ticket home.<\/p>\n
\"Actually, I can go to Aceh any time I want, and when I am
\nneeded there. But I will wait for the appropriate time to return
\nto Aceh,\" he said after Monday's signing of the memorandum of
\nunderstanding on the Aceh peace agreement.<\/p>\n
The appropriate time for a homecoming would depend on the full
\nwithdrawal of troops that were recruited outside of Aceh, the
\ntransfer of power to the police to maintain law and order, the
\nreal political participation of the Acehnese and the absence of
\nhuman rights violations, he added.<\/p>\n
Warzain was involved in the Helsinki peace talks from the
\nonset early this year. He was a member of the support group for
\nthe Aceh negotiating team, the duties of which included technical
\nand information affairs.<\/p>\n
\"I can't specify a timeframe to determine an appropriate time,
\nbut I expect it will be soon,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Another pro-GAM activist, Shadia Marhaban, who is a permanent
\nresident of the U.S., said she would wait for the word from GAM
\nas to whether she was needed in Aceh or overseas.<\/p>\n
\"I have learned there are still militiamen roaming around
\nAceh, and this is not right. This is what continues to cause me
\nworry, even though the peace agreement has been signed. I am sure
\nmy family and relatives and the province of four million people
\nare also worried about that,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Shadia, the wife of American activist and freelance journalist
\nWilliam Nessen, has been living in the U.S. since 2003 and is
\nactive in the Aceh campaign across the country as well as other
\nnations.<\/p>\n
\"I have been actively involved in the peace talks in Helsinki
\nsince the beginning, but as a civilian. This is to prove that GAM
\nis involving civilians in the process,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The issue of militia groups also worries Tgk. Yusuf. He said
\nthat GAM had evidence that militiamen acting under Indonesian
\nMilitary (TNI) orders remained present in Aceh, even though the
\nIndonesian government had always denied this.<\/p>\n
In its press release dated Aug. 14, the day before the MOU's
\nsigning, GAM quoted a leaked TNI intelligence document as saying
\nthat there were nine militia organizations in Aceh with some
\n10,000 active members who vowed to kill GAM members after they
\nwere disarmed.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, Yusuf, plans to return to Banda Aceh, his
\nhometown, by mid-September at the latest.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, adviser to GAM Damien Kingsbury said he would love
\nto go to Aceh again once Indonesia allowed him back into the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
\"I was banned from entering Indonesia last December. Perhaps
\nbecause I am too critical of the TNI,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Kingsbury, the author of Power Politics and the Indonesian
\nMilitary, is an Australian academic who is always among the
\nAcehnese delegation in the Finnish capital.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Bakhtiar Abdullah, GAM spokesman and negotiator in
\nthe peace talks, said he would not give up his Swedish
\ncitizenship just to return to Aceh after the deal was signed.<\/p>\n
\"From bullets, GAM is now dealing with ballet. The peace deal,
\nhowever, hasn't made and won't make our organization over. And in
\nmy case, I won't give up my Swedish citizenship,\" he said, adding
\nthat he remained undecided as to when to visit Aceh.<\/p>\n
Other GAM negotiators Malik Mahmud, Nur Djuli and Zaini
\nAbdullah agreed with Abdullah.<\/p>\n
Indonesian negotiator Sofyan Djalil, who is Minister of
\nInformation and Communications, said the peace agreement did not
\nforce those GAM supporters living overseas to return to Aceh.<\/p>\n
\"It's very understandable, if an Indonesian has abandoned his
\nor her Indonesian citizenship and is enjoying the comforts of
\nliving abroad and holds the citizenship of a certain foreign
\ncountry, he or she will think twice before regaining their
\nIndonesian citizenship as Indonesia does not recognize dual
\ncitizenship.\" he said.<\/p>\n
Responding to the issue of proxy militiamen, raised by GAM,
\nformer Aceh military commander Maj. Gen. Bambang Dharmono said
\nTNI had never maintained militiamen, adding that such a worry was
\npart of the process of trust building.<\/p>",
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