2002 a 'year of grace' for Aceh?

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.