2002 a 'year of grace' for Aceh?

Kornelius Purba The Jakarta Post Jakarta

The year 2002 has been marked by the historically significant signing on Dec. 9 of the cessation of hostilities agreement, facilitated by the Geneva-based Henry Dunant Centre (HDC), to end the 26-year-old Aceh conflict that has claimed more than 10,000 lives, as well as to pave the way for the Acehnese people to live a better life, both economically and politically, in the future.

Despite some worries among certain groups of people closely linked to the conflicting sides, most Acehnese people had taken up their normal lives again as President Megawati Soekarnoputri enjoyed a two-day visit to the province on Dec. 17 and Dec. 18.

Only ten days after the signing, the police have recorded at least 28 incidents, mostly abduction murder cases, which will be handled by the Joint Security Committee. The peace accord could, however, could still be doomed to failure unless both Indonesia and GAM build up mutual confidence.

Evening life in certain leisure areas like the Merdeka field and the grounds of the Baiturrahman Mosque in Banda Aceh are returning to normal, many traders are opening their shops until 10.p.m. and some refugees have returned to their home villages.

Under the HDC-facilitated peace scheme, the government and its one-time enemy, the Free Aceh Movement, are working hard to build up mutual confidence so as to bury their hostility, restore security and order, and reconstruct the war-ravaged province.

With the help of the central government, the provincial administration is determined to accelerate its economic development and build democracy under the 2000 special autonomy law. Besides gaining revenue from the non-oil sector, the province will receive almost Rp 7 trillion in annual revenues from the fiscal balance from the exploration of oil and gas resources

Some 30 foreign countries, as well as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, which met in Tokyo earlier this month, have expressed their commitment to reconstructing Aceh after the signing of the peace agreement.

It looks like Megawati and her administration has learnt from the years-long ineffective military approach to resolve the conflict, and from the mistakes her father and predecessors made in the past.

For the Acehnese, it was the nation's founding father Sukarno who delivered them into the hands of the central government after betraying their trust in him. They now say they have a right to expect his eldest daughter, President Megawati Soekarnoputri, to atone for her father's policy.

Hopefully the saying "a chip of the old block" will not prevail this time.

The cessation of hostilities framework agreement is on paper quite promising and the presence of international monitors to supervise the implementation of the accord is expected to safeguard the peace pact. But many questions about GAM and its representation of the Acehnese people in the peace deal have been raised.

Nevertheless, there are still strong reasons to be more optimistic now. Amid the global war on terrorism, the world community has expressed its commitment to helping reconstruct Aceh so as to seek Indonesia's supports for the global fight against terror.

For Indonesia, it will be its biggest test in maintaining its sovereignty. In May this year, Indonesia's former 27th province, East Timor, declared its independence 22 years after Indonesia annexed the territory. On Dec. 17, Indonesia lost two of its 17,506 islands, Sipadan and Ligitan, after Malaysia won the case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

If we look back at the history of rebellion in Aceh since the 19th century against what the Acehnese consider to be colonial powers, we will see that there may still be a long way to go until a permanent peace in Aceh is achieved. We may even be allowing ourselves to be trapped by false expectations.

According to official Indonesian history, Aceh was the territory least colonized by the Dutch. When the official history maintains that some other territories were "occupied" for about three-and-a-half centuries, the Dutch only declared war on Aceh on March 26, 1873. The war lasted until 1912.

This historic fact became a source of pride for the Acehnese in their struggle as part of Indonesia.

The distrust and hatred of the Indonesian government has persisted since the country's independence on Aug. 17, 1945. Aceh was included as one of residencies of Sumatra province, and not a special province as had been expected by the Acehnese.

On Dec. 17, 1949, Jakarta granted provincial status to Aceh, and appointed Daud Beureuh as its first governor, but only after the Acehnese bought independent Indonesia's first aircraft, the Seulawah, in 1948.

One year later, Jakarta again angered Aceh when it abolished its provincial status and lumped the region in with North Sumatra province. On Sept. 21, 1950, Daud Beureuh started a rebellion against the central government. Six years later Aceh regained its provincial status.

After some years, Aceh's rich natural resources again tempted Jakarta to abuse the trust of the province's people. In 1974, huge liquid natural gas reserves (LNG) were uncovered in Arun, North Aceh, and it became the world largest LNG producer four years later. These LNG reserves are expected to last for at least 50 years.

Led by Hasan Tiro from his base in exile, thousands of Aceh civilians took up arms against the Soeharto government. Soeharto imposed a Military Operations Territory (DOM) status on Aceh in 1989. His predecessor B.J. Habibie lifted this emergency status in 1999, although the killings of civilians both by the Indonesian military and the rebels continued unabated.

Despite strong opposition from the military, the country's fourth president Abdurrahman Wahid initiated a dialog with the Aceh rebels with full facilitation from the HDC. In May 2000, the government, led by diplomat Hassan Wirayuda, and GAM signed a three-month "humanitarian pause" cease-fire in Geneva. Eight months later, they again met in Geneva to extend the cease-fire by one month. Fighting between the two warring parties, however, continued despite the truce. In May 2002 the two parties again went to Geneva where both sides renewed the cease-fire accord.

Soeharto's three successors all tried to accommodate the Acehnese people's demand, including the provision of special legal autonomy for Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam. They now have the right to receive up to 70 percent of gas revenues, much higher than the share allowed by Soeharto.

Most Acehnese have rejected Jakarta's attempts to apologize for misdeeds since the government has failed to bring to court all those violating human rights, especially during the decade- long military operation between 1989 and 1999.

What has not changed since Soeharto is: rampant violations of human rights, and the fact that those who committed gross human rights' crimes remain free. As long as the military, both as an institution and as individuals, feels that prolonged conflicts profit them, they will act as a disrupting factor for the peace process. This will likely be the most difficult problem to resolve.

There is no magic solution for Aceh, whose people are known to take pride in their independence as individuals. While we praise the international community for their readiness to help the Acehnese, learning from Afghanistan, where many people complain they have only received empty promises, we must realize that it is only Indonesia that can tidy up its messy house. The help provided by outsiders will only be temporary.

The awareness of Acehnese people that their futures lie in their own hands will be also a crucial factor in their efforts to build new lives in a climate of peace.