Aceh enters crucial demilitarization phase

Aceh enters crucial demilitarization phase

Nani Farida and Ibnu Matnoor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh

The restive province of Aceh took another step toward cementing a
peace deal to end almost three decades of separatist fighting,
with the start of the crucial demilitarization stage on Sunday.

The phase comes exactly two months after the government and
the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) signed a peace accord on Dec.
9 in Geneva to end 26 years of hostilities in the resource-rich
province.

Under the landmark agreement, GAM will lay down its arms at
designated sites and the Indonesian security forces will move
back to their barracks, changing their role from a strike force
to a defensive one. This phase will last five months.

However, violence continued one day before the
demilitarization phase, as police officers from the elite Mobile
Brigade (Brimob) shot two alleged rebels identified as Zakaria,
25, and Syukri Yusuf, 22, in the area of Krueng Mane in North
Aceh regency.

The two alleged rebels, who were shot while riding on a
motorcycle on Saturday, are being treated at the Cut Mutia
Hospital in Lhokseumawe, the main town in North Aceh, GAM
spokesman Teungku Sofyan Dawood said.

According to mechanisms agreed upon with the Henry Dunant
Centre (HDC), the rebel group will store its weapons in at least
32 secret designated sites in eight regencies across Aceh.

"The placement sites are very secret and will be known only by
the HDC," Teungku Kamaruzzaman, a GAM negotiator, told The
Jakarta Post on Sunday.

He said that in the first stage, only 20 percent of GAM's arms
would be laid down.

The Geneva-based HDC has brokered peace talks between the
Indonesian government and GAM since 2000, including last year's
truce. But previous cease-fires have always broken down.

Visiting HDC director Martin Griffiths said on Sunday that
both parties had established "enough confidence" to begin the
demilitarization process.

The two sides met on Saturday and agreed to start the
demilitarization phase according to schedule on Sunday, he said.

They respectively presented their "concrete, specific"
blueprints on how they are going to meet their obligations over
the next five months, Griffiths said.

During the meeting, GAM pledged to store its arms in several
phases at secret designated sites. The Indonesian government
agreed to redeploy its forces and change the role of Brimob from
an offensive force to a defensive one.

It is unclear whether the Indonesian government has agreed to
allow the locations of GAM's stored weapons to remain secret, as
the proposed mechanisms from both sides are still being
discussed.

In a press release issued here on Sunday, the HDC said the
details of the demilitarization phase would be fine-tuned in the
coming days and weeks.

"Trust is the key, between both parties and the HDC,"
Griffiths said.

"GAM's got to trust that HDC will not reveal the placement
locations. The Indonesian government must trust that HDC is
carefully, accurately monitoring the placement," he said.

He said the HDC had the right to conduct "no notice"
inspections of the arms sites to verify that GAM was complying
with the agreement.

The demilitarization phase was one of the most contentious
issues during the Geneva peace negotiations.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Gen.
(ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono flew to Lhokseumawe over the
weekend to take part in a dialog with local leaders, marking the
start of Sunday's demilitarization.

Griffiths delayed a visit to Pidie district to meet with
Susilo on Sunday in Lhokseumawe, to talk about demilitarization
and the improving security situation over the last two months.

Susilo is scheduled to attend a similar dialog in the
provincial capital of Banda Aceh on Monday.

The HDC has recorded only nine GAM deaths since the Dec. 9
signing of the truce, compared with a reported average of 102 a
month last year.

Four security officers have been killed since the truce,
compared with an average of 45 a month last year, while at least
24 civilians have died since Dec. 9, down from an average of 87 a
month last year.

The Joint Security Committee (JSC), which is charged with
monitoring the peace process, groups representatives from the
Indonesian government and GAM, as well as foreign monitors, who
represent the HDC and are led by a Thai general.