Acehnese have high hopes, but remain wary

Acehnese have high hopes, but remain wary

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Acehnese people are looking forward to the signing of the
peace deal scheduled for Aug. 15 but fear a repetition of the
short-lived calm and freedoms that followed earlier botched
agreements.

"We still haven't got over the collapse of the (Cessation of
Hostilities Agreeement) CoHA," said Fakhrulsyah Mega of the Joint
Commission for a New Aceh (KBAB) on Tuesday. That deal signed in
late 2002 by the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)
later broke down and was followed by repressive military
operations and martial law.

"We urge the President to issue a decree to guarantee the
protection of Acehnese civilians involved in the entire peace
process," Fakhrulsyah said.

After the CoHA signing, the Acehnese were allowed to move
around freely in safety for a few months and there were less
civilians caught in military-GAM crossfire. When the accord
collapsed, however, peace and independence activists were sought
by security force and went into hiding while the year-long
martial law operation began in May 2003.

"We are again seeing signs of the mobilization of civilians to
reject the negotiations," Fakhrulsyah said. He added that the
CoHa process was elitist, "and so is this one, and we are pushing
for more public participation in the future."

Members of the KBAB commission, accompanied by another peace
NGO, the Tifa Foundation, visited The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
The groups, comprising student representatives, local leaders,
ulema, women's activists and workers, said the Acehnese had high
hopes for the agreement to be signed in Helsinki, Finland.

"Hopefully, there will be less lives lost, less unemployment
and more freedom for farmers to be able to cultivate their land,"
said Basri, a pedicab driver who leads hundreds of becak drivers
in Banda Aceh. "I just want to be able to ride my pedicab in
peace," he added, saying his drivers were used to experiencing
extortion from security forces.

The groups issued a statement saying the main requisite to the
reconstruction of Aceh after the December tsunami was "peace,
attained with justice and dignity."

They also expressed disappointment that the national discourse
had focused on the creation of local political parties, a main
demand of the GAM in the negotiations in Helsinki. "It's already
a huge step that GAM no longer demands independence; we (the
Acehnese) might not even choose their party," one activist said.

Fakhrulsyah said a "peace parade" by local performers was
planned for Aug. 7 and 8 in Aceh to express support for the
process. The parade from Kuta Raja, in Banda Aceh, to Pasai
followed "a traditional route made for the declarations of
peace," he said.

Meanwhile, House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono said
on Tuesday the government had agreed to hold a consultative
meeting with leaders of the House, as well as chairmen of House
factions and related commissions on Aug. 5 regarding the results
of the recent peace talks in Helsinki.

"The House will not push the government on the matter but only
give suggestions based on the explanations provided by
(negotiators). There will not be approvals or decisions sought,"
he said.

However, several lawmakers from Commission I on defense and
foreign affairs demanded on Tuesday a hearing session with the
government to discuss the results of the preliminary peace talks
before the government moved to officially sign the deal with GAM.

"The government has excluded the House too many times on this
issue. We're having a deal with people who are no longer
Indonesians, with talks held in Helsinki, and with monitoring
teams coming from the European Union (EU)," said commission
deputy Sidharto Danusbroto from the Indonesian Democratic Party
of Struggle (PDI-P).

A hearing session normally discusses a specific issue in more
detail and results in formally binding conclusions.