221 more ex-GAM members release from reeducation camp

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh, Aceh

The government released on Tuesday 221 people, who were accused of membership of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), after the latter completed a three-month "reeducation course" in Neuheun subdistrict, Aceh Besar regency.

The release was the fourth since the imposition of martial law, here, last year.

A total of 1,681 former GAM members have been released from "reeducation" camps sprawled across North Aceh, Aceh Besar and West Aceh regencies. That figure includes the 221 people released on Tuesday.

At the camps, the former GAM members are required to study the basic principles of the Indonesian state, including the state ideology Pancasila, and to sing the national anthem Indonesia Raya, as well as other patriotic songs.

Acting as mentors are dozens of military and government officials, who are also supposed to teach the participants various skills, such as sewing and farming.

Not all of them, however, are reportedly GAM members. Some, for example, were arrested merely on the grounds that they provided GAM members with food, including Usman, 45, a fisherman.

Saiful, 21, on the other hand, said he had fought for the separatist movement since 1999. He said that GAM propaganda had initially aroused his interest in the movement. Saiful surrendered last year, along with seven other friends, for fear of being hunted and killed by the Indonesian Military.

"I feel relieved, although other GAM members might consider me a traitor, and, if they knew of my whereabouts, could kill me," he said.

Another former GAM member, who requested anonymity, cited a similar dilemma: "Frankly speaking, I am scared -- I heard that GAM members killed the family of a former GAM member who surrendered to the military," he said.

Saiful said that he was unsure what to do, now that he was free, "I may go to East Aceh to start a new life, but I have to report first to the authority in my hometown in North Aceh," he said.

Once former GAM members report to their local military command, they are granted a certificate and asked to sign a letter that states they will not leave Aceh for six months -- pending a presidential amnesty that is being discussed by the central government.

Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh said that each former GAM member graduating from a "reeducation" program would be given Rp 2 million (US$ 210.5), so that they could start a small business.