Security approach?<\/p>\n
In Irian Jaya, people get shot at for raising the separatist
\nflag. In Aceh, they get shot at for trying to join a rally
\ncalling for a referendum on self-determination. One would have
\nthought that peaceful methods of political expression were part
\nof the freedom of expression and speech which are guaranteed in a
\ndemocracy.<\/p>\n
Welcome to Indonesia, where some things just don't change in
\nspite of all the promises of reform, democracy and respect for
\nhuman rights. Many of the people's inalienable rights which had
\nbeen violated for 30 years by the Soeharto regime are still not
\nbeing fully respected under President Abdurrahman Wahid,
\nIndonesia's first ever democratically elected president.<\/p>\n
Ask any Acehnese or Irianese who has been at the wrong end of
\nthe government's wrath. They will tell you that today, as in
\nSoeharto's era, people are still being killed or harrassed for
\ntrying to express their political opinions peacefully.<\/p>\n
In Wamena, a hillside town in Irian Jaya, six Papuans died
\nlast month in clashes with the police, who resorted to force in
\npulling down the Morning Star separatist flag. That event sparked
\nbloody unrest targeted at migrants in Wamena, leaving 22 of them
\ndead. Instead of mending its ways, the government has taken the
\nshortcut of outlawing the separatist flag altogether. This gives
\npolice a legal cover to shoot Papuans trying to raise the flag.
\nBrace for more violence when proindependence Papuans hold a major
\ndemonstration throughout the province on Dec. 1.<\/p>\n
In Aceh, at least 22 people died in clashes with security
\nforces last week in the run-up to Saturday's rally to call for a
\nreferendum of self-determination in the province. Police blocked
\nall entrances to Banda Aceh to prevent people from other towns
\nfrom joining the rally. In most instances, police shot and
\npunctured tires of the buses and trucks transporting people from
\nother towns. In other instances, however, confrontations turned
\ninto ugly and fatal clashes.<\/p>\n
The referendum rally went ahead on Saturday, with a turnout of
\nabout 50,000 people, producing a loud enough message to Jakarta
\nand the world of their aspirations for self-determination. Thanks
\nto repressive measures by the police, however, the number was
\nnowhere near the one million people who assembled in Aceh just
\nover a year ago to press their demand for a referendum.<\/p>\n
The government, which has been waging a propaganda war against
\nthe proindependence movement in Aceh, may bask in glory for
\ndeflating the rally's turnout and its political significance. But
\nif it is a victory, it will be a short-lived one. The death of
\nthe 22 Acehnese in clashes with police have further undermined
\nwhatever little trust and goodwill the Acehnese people had toward
\nthe government.<\/p>\n
The police's use of force may even have driven more people to
\ntake up arms. After Saturday's rally, many Acehnese must feel
\nthat they can no longer express their aspirations by peaceful
\nmeans without risking their lives. They may as well join the
\narmed Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and press their demand by force.<\/p>\n
Whether in Aceh or Irian Jaya, the government seems to have
\nreturned to the old ways of dealing with regional independence
\naspirations: with force. Methods of the old \"security approach\"
\nof the Soeharto era have crept back into government policies in
\ndealing with Aceh and Irian Jaya.<\/p>\n
This was the approach widely favored by the military during
\nthe Soeharto era, for it was quick and effective in ensuring
\nnational security -- the regime's overriding and probably only
\nconcern. But the \"security approach\" exacted a high political
\nprice on the government: its credibility. This approach, which
\nput human lives and human rights subservient to national security
\nconcerns, cost Indonesia East Timor.<\/p>\n
The government's credibility is not exactly high either in
\nAceh and Irian Jaya, two provinces which bore the brunt of the
\ngovernment's high-handed security approach of the past. Recent
\nevents in Irian Jaya and Aceh tell us that by resorting to the
\nold repressive ways, the government has squandered whatever
\ngoodwill and trust it had regained from the people in these two
\nprovinces over the past year. One would have expected President
\nAbdurrahman Wahid to show more wisdom than this. Looking at Aceh
\nand Irian Jaya, that seems not to be the case.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/security-approach-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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