Surrendered GAM rebels express fears over their safety<\/p>\n
Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh<\/p>\n
Ninety-nine people fill the Military Police detention camp for
\nformer members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group.
\nAll have surrendered but not everyone is a GAM member.<\/p>\n
Some had lost faith in the struggle for Aceh's independence
\nwhile many others had merely joined a few GAM meetings and feared
\nworse treatment if the police found out about them.<\/p>\n
M. Nur, 41, falls into the first category. He joined GAM in
\n2001, saying that widespread injustice drove people to embrace
\nthe rebel group.<\/p>\n
However Nur realized that GAM was also to blame for the grief
\namong his people. He had had enough, he said.<\/p>\n
"I gave up because GAM's struggle is so different now. GAM
\nmembers too like to make people suffer," he said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Now the former GAM fighter lives with the other 98 people at
\nthe detention camp. Once a week, his wife and four children visit
\nhim.<\/p>\n
The camp consists of five large tents. They will remain here
\nuntil another camp outside Banda Aceh has been completed.<\/p>\n
"We prosecute immediately those whom we arrest and transfer
\nthem to prison," said Military Police commander Lt. Col.
\nSulendra. "But those who have surrendered only receive
\ncounseling, and are being kept here temporarily."<\/p>\n
No one knows how long they will be detained for. Meanwhile
\nthere is not much to do for the 99 detainees. Most just sit and
\nrelax inside their tents while others exercise.<\/p>\n
Twice a day they receive counseling on religious issues and
\npatriotism.<\/p>\n
GAM has been fighting for an independent state since 1976. The
\nprovince is rich in natural resources, in particular gas, timber
\nand agricultural products.<\/p>\n
But three decades under the Soeharto rule has left the
\nprovince's 4 million population impoverished. The 10-year
\nmilitary operation between 1989 and 1998 to crush the rebel group
\nworsened conditions in the province.<\/p>\n
Human rights violations have been flagrant and economic
\ndevelopment has almost come to a halt.<\/p>\n
Over 10,000 people were killed in the decade-long war, mainly
\ncivilians. Rights groups blamed both sides for the atrocities,
\nbut said Indonesian troops had committed most of the rights
\nabuses.<\/p>\n
The current war followed the collapse of a five-month old
\npeace deal on May 18. During the six weeks of fighting the
\nIndonesian Military (TNI) said it had killed over 300 GAM rebels.<\/p>\n
Around 680 others had either been arrested or had surrendered.<\/p>\n
The government is preparing Nasi Island off the coast of Banda
\nAceh as a detention center for GAM rebels. The island had once
\nserved as a GAM training ground.<\/p>\n
"I entered GAM in March 2003 and was only able to learn how to
\nmarch on Nasi Island," said 28-year old Hamdani, a resident of
\nthe island before he entered the camp.<\/p>\n
He said he joined the group because he knew some GAM rebels
\nwho convinced him of their struggle. "I along with two friends
\nthen surrendered after we decided that this was the best thing to
\ndo," he said.<\/p>\n
Asked what he planned to do next, he said he wanted to live
\nwith his father who lived alone on Nasi Island after his mother
\ndied.<\/p>\n
"I want to go home soon, my poor father is living by himself,"
\nhe said. "But if Nasi Island is still unsafe, I don't dare
\nreturn. I might be killed."<\/p>\n
Fear of revenge killing is high among former GAM members who
\nwish to return home. Lt. Col. Sulendra said many of the detainees
\nrefuse to go home.<\/p>\n
But reports of harsh treatment of GAM supporters in military
\ncontrolled areas also abound.<\/p>\n
Zulfikar knows that. "Someone told the military that I was a
\nmember of GAM," he said. "I thought it'd be better to surrender
\nbefore I get arrested."<\/p>\n
He denied that he had joined GAM and was surprised that
\nsomeone would want to set him up.<\/p>\n
"In these times people can just accuse anyone they don't like
\nof being a GAM member," he said. "Somebody who isn't a GAM member
\nis accused of being one simply out of dislike, I am an example of
\nthat."<\/p>\n
According to him, only a third of the detainees here are
\nactually GAM members. The rest, he said, were ordinary people who
\nwere forced to surrender because they just happened to have
\nattended a GAM meeting, a speech, or gave the rebels some food.<\/p>\n
Zulfikar said that sometimes GAM held a meeting or a speech
\nand forced villagers to attend. "If everyone has to surrender
\nbecause of this, it's like asking all of Aceh to surrender."<\/p>\n
Lt. Col. Sulendra agreed that many among the detainees had
\nsurrendered for the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n
"We will look into it and see who had once been a real GAM
\nsupporter and who just tagged along or surrendered for other
\nreasons."<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/surrendered-gam-rebels-express-fears-over-their-safety-1447893297",
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