Sending off the sons to the unknown war in Aceh<\/p>\n
By Ati Nurbaiti<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Defense and Security\/Indonesian
\nMilitary (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto announced last month the
\nredeployment in Aceh of the Crack Riot Troops which gained so
\nmuch bad publicity following the reported abuse of civilians at
\nthe hands of these troops.<\/p>\n
The military commander overseeing Aceh, including the volatile
\nregencies of North Aceh, East Aceh and Pidie, Col. Syafnil Armen,
\nsaid in September troops were still deployed in these three
\nregencies.<\/p>\n
\"They are needed because the people there still face the
\ndanger of attack by armed groups\" he was quoted by Serambi
\nIndonesia daily as saying.<\/p>\n
Security in Aceh is supposedly the responsibility of the
\npolice, but they have said they lacked the personnel and needed
\nthe support of local military troops.<\/p>\n
Reports of sporadic arson and the abduction and murder of
\ncivilians and security personnel continue throughout Aceh.<\/p>\n
Syafnil said 159 military and police personnel were killed
\nfrom last November to August. Sgt. Maj. Ishak Rahman, 42, of the
\nMeurah Mulia Military Command in North Aceh, was shot by an
\nunidentified assailant on Sept. 7, becoming the 160th victim.<\/p>\n
Even senior Acehnese officers, including police chiefs, have
\nbeen among those killed. Police officers returning to Java or
\nother islands have been quoted as saying that there are \"wild\"
\ntroops and that it was not the separatist Free Aceh Movement
\n(GAM) they were facing.<\/p>\n
The Free Aceh Movement has denied employing terror tactics
\nagainst civilians, and the Acehnese say they do not believe GAM
\nis responsible for attacks on civilians.<\/p>\n
Police and military commanders have said they are not entirely
\nsure who they are fighting, but officers in Pidie are confident
\nthey are facing the Free Aceh Movement.<\/p>\n
\"They're quite strong,\" an official at the local military
\ncommand said.<\/p>\n
Syafnil, who heads the Lilawangsa Military Command, said last
\nmonth that to his knowledge the rebels had amassed nearly 1,000
\nweapons.<\/p>\n
Lt. Col. Deden Sudradjat, a former commander of the Crack Riot
\nTroops and now a supervisor of security operations in Aceh, asks
\n\"who else\" but GAM would be responsible for shooting at military
\ntrucks from inside a refugee shelter.<\/p>\n
Nine people died in the incident in Titeu Kemala district,
\nPidie, in early August, and Deden said the GAM commander was a
\n\"coward\" for only claiming three of the victims as his members.<\/p>\n
\"Our men could not shoot back,\" he said, \"because the shooting
\ncame from among the refugees.\"<\/p>\n
Rebellion<\/p>\n
Similar to the official stance on rebels elsewhere in the
\ncountry, authorities play down the strength of the Free Aceh
\nMovement -- saying the 5,000 members once claimed by a rebel
\ncommander likely included sympathizers among the public.<\/p>\n
\"Less than 1,000 would be more likely,\" said Aceh Police chief
\nCol. Bachrumsyah.<\/p>\n
However, the continued deployment of troops has failed to
\nquell the violence.<\/p>\n
The withdrawal of a few thousand non-Acehnese troops seems to
\nhave reduced the clashes in the past few weeks and thousands of
\ninternally displaced persons have returned to their homes. Of
\n180,000 displaced persons, less than 40,000 now remain.<\/p>\n
Confusion about what and who the Free Aceh Movement is has
\ninevitably led to various ideas and perceptions among the public.<\/p>\n
GAM members are either robbers and terrorists or Ratu Adil --
\nthe ultimate savior in times of untold suffering -- depending on
\nwho you ask.<\/p>\n
A woman whose husband was allegedly abducted by the military
\ntold The Jakarta Post: \"We are all ready to join GAM if those
\nresponsible for our husbands' disappearance are not brought to
\njustice.\"<\/p>\n
If the planned Aceh Military Command is established, observers
\nsay they fear that the so far \"neutral\" students in Aceh \"will
\nall join GAM\".<\/p>\n
Asked who they recognized as the leader of GAM, observers said
\nthey only knew of the widely interviewed Teungku Abdullah Syafei.<\/p>\n
The rebels are said to want an Islamic state -- a female
\nnewcomer to Aceh is advised to wear a headscarf \"or else GAM will
\ncut you up\". But rebel leaders says this is Jakarta propaganda.<\/p>\n
What is more confusing is the reported claim among GAM figures
\nthat the movement does not want separation, but \"freedom\" from
\noppression.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, \"referendum\" is the unifying word among GAM and
\nits supporters, as reflected by the ubiquitous graffiti.<\/p>\n
Local media is also unsure which is the \"pure GAM\", the \"split
\nfaction of GAM\" or the \"Kopassus GAM\", referring to the alleged
\nrebel group formed by the special forces as an intelligence
\noperation.<\/p>\n
In Pidie, Teungku Abdullah said the leader of the Islamic
\nboarding school and former political prisoner Teungku Bantaqiah,
\nwho was shot dead with dozens of his students by security forces,
\nwas not a GAM member.<\/p>\n
He also said a GAM leader in North Aceh, Ahmad Kandang, was
\nnot created by the military as widely claimed, but was a real
\nleader of the movement. Teungku claims \"provocateurs\" have used
\nthe names of several Free Aceh figures in committing acts of
\nviolence.<\/p>\n
A number of people say this is a \"strategy\" of GAM, to reveal
\nonly one or two leaders to the world, leaving doubt as to whether
\nthere really is a GAM and whether the movement has substantial
\nclout.<\/p>\n
Military operations were launched in Aceh in 1989 to crush the
\nrebel movement, and little was heard from GAM until the 1990s.<\/p>\n
The movement traces its origins back to the 1970s, when it was
\nestablished as a reaction to economic and political
\ndissatisfaction with the centralistic government.<\/p>\n
As in other areas of the country, the New Order regime
\nattempted to make all local social institutions uniform and
\nexploit the province's natural resources for the benefit of
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
A book by veteran journalists on human rights abuses committed
\nduring the military operations states that Hasan Tiro, one
\nofficially recognized GAM leader who now resides in Sweden, is
\nlargely unknown among the Acehnese.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, local military commanders say they know what
\nthey are up against -- a fairly well trained militia who knows
\nthe land by heart.<\/p>\n
\"We don't know every brook and stream here,\" says Lt. Col.
\nDeden, who hails from West Java.<\/p>\n
He flatly rejects speculation TNI members, ex-military members
\nor \"rogue elements\" in the military are selling weapons to GAM.<\/p>\n
Teungku Abdullah said getting arms was as easy \"as buying
\nwater or peanuts\". According to military intelligence, arms come
\ninto the province from abroad.<\/p>\n
\"Our weaponry is complete,\" a GAM leader told journalists. AK-
\n47s and grenade launchers are among the group's known armory.<\/p>\n
Locals criticize the military and police for only harassing
\ncivilians at roadblocks instead of hunting for armed rebels in
\nthe mountains.<\/p>\n
Amid accusations that security forces are either incapable or
\nunwilling to face the mysterious armed group, the young men
\nassigned to Aceh remain nervous and unsure as attacks on
\ncolleagues continue.<\/p>\n
\"What a job,\" murmurs a police officer in a low tone. \"You
\ndon't even know who the enemy is.\"<\/p>",
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