438 ex-rebels go home after 'reeducation'

Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam

Maulidarrahmi and another 437 supposed former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members appeared relieved as they were finally allowed to return home on Sunday after attending a five-month ideological "reeducation" course in the war-town province.

"For sure I am very glad," said Maulidarrahmi, 18, a former GAM rebel from Balohan village in Sabang subdistrict, Aceh Besar regency, who surrendered to Indonesian forces.

Maulidarrahmi and the other supposed GAM members who surrendered were required to participate in the reeducation and vocational training course for five months at the Teacher Training Center in Aceh Besar, some 14 kilometers from the Aceh capital, Banda Aceh.

Maulidarrahmi said he would make good use the vocational skills he had learned during his time at the Teacher Training Center. "Maybe I will open a sewing business," he added.

Similarly, another ex-GAM rebel, Ansyari Ali, 40, from Cot Mon Jaya village in Ingin Jaya subdistrict, Aceh Besar, also expressed relief that he would soon be able to see his family again.

Ansyari, who was an employee of the Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport, said he was not worried if he met with GAM members after his return home.

"I'm going to stand up for myself if I meet them," he told The Jakarta Post.

Before returning home, the former separatist rebels were required to take an oath declaring that they had quit GAM and submitted to the Unitary Republic of Indonesia.

Should they break their oaths, they said they were ready to accept the presumably very severe punishments that would be meted out to them by the security authorities. The former rebels have also been asked to encourage other GAM members to follow their lead.

The reeducation course was concluded on Saturday by Aceh martial law commander Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarya, who said that although the former rebels were being allowed to go home, they were still prohibited from leaving Aceh pending a presidential amnesty.

"The amnesty issue is currently being discussed by the central government," he said without elaborating further.

The former GAM members are also required to report to the local authorities after they arrive home.

Endang said the government would assist those who did not want to return home for fear of attack by their former comrades. "If they don't want to go home, that's because they know better about the situation in their villages," he said.

The former rebels who intended to return home were given Rp 2.5 million (US$299) each as seed capital to start businesses in their home districts.

"They can use the money to start up businesses so that they can live in a reasonable manner," Endang said.

He said the five-month reeducation course had cost more than Rp 2 billion in taxpayers' money.

Endang also said that at least 143 GAM members who had been captured by the security forces and sentenced to more than three years in prison would be moved on Wednesday to serve their jail terms on Java island.

"We will bring them to Semarang (Central Java) and from there they will taken to prison," he said.

It was reported earlier that the convicted rebels would be sent to the prison island of Nusakambangan off the coast of Cilacap, Central Java.