The Acehnese deserve better from us<\/p>\n
Anthony Reid, The Straits Times, Asia News Network, Singapore<\/p>\n
The magnitude of the devastation visited on Aceh on Dec. 26 is
\nalmost beyond comprehension. No natural disaster in Indonesian,
\nor indeed Southeast Asian, history comes close to the mounting
\ntoll of death and destruction of this undersea earthquake and
\ntsunamis. The whole thickly populated coastal strip from
\nLhokseumawe in the east to Meulaboh in the west appears to have
\nbeen devastated.<\/p>\n
In the district of West Aceh, where communication is very
\ndifficult at the best of times, life appears to have almost
\nvanished from all the coastal towns and villages, normally home
\nto about 200,000 people. Only 200 living people were found by the
\nfirst relief unit to be able to land in Meulaboh, its capital,
\nfrom a pre-tsunami population of about 60,000. While one hopes
\nthat many were able to flee inland, they will face mounting
\ndifficulties to stay alive as unwanted guests of the scattered
\nhill villages.<\/p>\n
The provincial capital, Banda Aceh, normally home to 200,000
\npeople and to most of the military and civilian infrastructure,
\nhas been devastated. The Indonesian disaster response has been
\ntragically slow, but little more could be expected given the
\ndisruption to military and civilian facilities. Although the
\nmilitary has 30,000 men on a war footing in Aceh, it appears to
\nhave been largely incapacitated by the disaster. Reportedly, only
\none of its helicopters in the province survived.<\/p>\n
Even worse is likely to come, as the lack of clean water and
\nadequate food and shelter takes its toll on the survivors. Those
\nbringing international aid encounter disorganization,
\ndemoralization and distrust between the military and people. They
\nneed clarity as to who is in charge.<\/p>\n
This appalling disaster comes after more than a century of
\nmisery for the stoic people of this richly endowed region. Aceh
\nhas had only a few decades of peace since being invaded by the
\nDutch in 1873 with very little warning. Forty years of bitter
\nresistance to Dutch occupation lost Aceh perhaps a fifth of its
\npopulation and transformed it from one of Southeast Asia's more
\nprosperous and strategically important centers to an embittered
\nbackwater.<\/p>\n
Aceh was effectively under military occupation by the Dutch
\nuntil 1942 and the Japanese until 1945. After a brief experience
\nof running its own show in 1945 to 1951, it was again under
\nmilitary occupation in 1953 to 1962, during the Daud Beureu'eh
\nrebellion, and in 1989 to 1998, when then president Soeharto's
\narmy sought to suppress the Aceh independence movement (GAM) of
\nHasan di Tiro. Still, GAM became very popular under democratic
\nconditions after Soeharto's fall.<\/p>\n
Finally, since May 2003, a military solution has again been
\nattempted, and thousands more people have been killed in military
\noffensives and punitive actions, without notably removing the
\ncore of resistance.<\/p>\n
Throughout this emergency period, foreign journalists, aid
\nworkers and others have been excluded from the province, as the
\ngovernment sought to remove Aceh from international headlines.<\/p>\n
Having suffered the brutal militarization of its institutions
\nand its society for over a century, now Aceh has been hit by a
\ncolossal natural disaster, the losses of which on a single day
\ndwarf even the tens of thousands that the region has lost to
\nwarfare.<\/p>\n
To its credit, the international community has also responded
\nin an unprecedented way. The military forces of Singapore, the
\nUnited States and Australia are already in Aceh dispensing
\ndesperately needed supplies, and US$2 billion (S$3.3 billion) has
\nbeen pledged in aid to the affected regions, of which at least
\nhalf should in fairness be destined for Aceh. The aid givers have
\ntheir first chance at the Jakarta summit on Thursday to try to
\nensure that Aceh's poisonous politics do not again negate all
\nefforts for assistance.<\/p>\n
In catastrophes such as this, military forces are best able to
\ndeliver aid quickly, and the foreign military units naturally
\nlook to their local counterparts to guide and direct. But in
\nAceh, the military has been the major part of the problem, not
\nthe solution.<\/p>\n
Over the past 50 years it has killed and rendered homeless too
\nmany Acehnese for there to be trust between people and army. The
\ncarefully constructed reform legislation to give the widest
\npossible autonomy to Aceh (the Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam or NAD
\nlaw of 2001) has been completely vitiated by military control of
\nall the levers of power since May 2003.<\/p>\n
The need for the underfunded military to raise money from
\nvarious business and protection rackets has ensured that little
\nof Aceh's wealth has yet benefited its people.<\/p>\n
The foreign aid, in other words, must be delivered to the
\npeople who need it as directly as possible, without the mediation
\nof the Indonesian military. The best way to ensure this would be
\nfor the summit meeting to endorse and carry forward the ceasefire
\nthat both GAM and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono have said
\nthey favor. TNI units on the ground in Aceh have been quoted as
\nignoring this ceasefire, and the higher command needs
\nencouragement in its resolve to bring them into line.<\/p>\n
Both TNI and GAM need to be disarmed during the long process
\nof reconstruction, with law enforcement becoming the
\nresponsibility of Aceh police stiffened by international police
\nunits under United Nations' responsibility.<\/p>\n
Both TNI and GAM forces may be able to assist in the
\nreconstruction of areas where they are strong, but only if they
\nare disarmed while doing so, and thereby unable to continue the
\ndivision and brutalization of the populace.<\/p>\n
The Susilo government has, to its credit, declared open access
\nto Aceh for international aid givers. This runs counter to the
\ninstincts of the local military, and again the international
\ncommunity will need to be clear about permanently full access,
\nnot just for aid givers, but for the journalists who will sustain
\nglobal interest in the problem.<\/p>\n
The government of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, in
\nwhich Susilo was largely responsible for Aceh policy, had allowed
\ninternational peace monitors (from Thailand and the Philippines)
\nduring the peace agreement of 2002 to 2003.<\/p>\n
This crisis demands an even more generous response towards
\naccepting the internationalization of Aceh's reconstruction. The
\nUN needs to assume authority for the international aid effort, in
\ncooperation with Alwi Shihab, the civilian minister President
\nSusilo has placed in charge. Only the demilitarization of Aceh
\nunder some form of international guarantee can make possible the
\nfull implementation of the NAD autonomy law and the emergence
\nthrough elections of a leadership Acehnese can trust.<\/p>\n
Acehnese have suffered enough. They deserve this.<\/p>\n
The writer is director of the Asia Research Institute at the
\nNational University of Singapore and the author of three books on
\nAceh's history.<\/p>",
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