Aceh's recent history one of mistreatment and abuse

Aceh's recent history one of mistreatment and abuse

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After decades of struggling for independence, the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) agreed on Monday to sign a landmark peace deal
with the government, raising some hopes that peace can eventually
prevail in the troubled province.

But whether or not peace comes, it largely depends on how well
Jakarta addresses the root causes of the Acehnese freedom
struggle and restores the people's confidence in the government.

In the early years of independence, Aceh was one of the few
provinces that fought against the Dutch in Indonesia's
independence struggle. Acehnese entrepreneurs later bought two
airplanes and donated them to the central government after then
president Sukarno requested them. The two aircraft later became
the country's flag carrier Garuda Indonesia.

Despite Aceh's generosity, however, Sukarno reduced Aceh in
1950 into a regency of North Sumatra province, triggering a
rebellion led by Tengku Daud Beureuh in 1953. The rebellion only
ended in 1956 when Jakarta reinstated its provincial status and
declared it as a special region in 1959.

According to the special status, Aceh was supposed to be
granted unique religious, cultural and educational provisions,
but it was never implemented as agreed up on by Jakarta.

Citing economic injustice and broken promises, Hasan Tiro
launched GAM on Dec. 4, 1976, just two years after one of the
world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) fields was discovered
in Arun, North Aceh.

At least 12,000 people have been killed in the last 25 years,
mostly innocent civilians.

Instead of addressing the root causes of the secessionist
movement, then president Soeharto declared Aceh as a special
military operation zone, or DOM, in 1989, a harsh and violent
period that was officially ended by Soeharto's successor B.J.
Habibie in 1999.

During the 10-year military operations, hundreds, or even
thousands, of civilian Acehnese were killed or tortured and are
still officially listed as disappeared, presumed dead. Reports of
rapes against Acehnese women and other gross human rights
violations also have been reported in abundance.

After the DOM status was revoked, which was accompanied by a
public apology by then military chief Gen. Wiranto, the
government promised to bring to justice those responsible for
arbitrary killings, torture, rapes and other human rights
violations, but it has yet to convict even one single high
military officer.

After the forced resignation of Soeharto in May 1998, Jakarta
has been seeking other ways to solve the problem. Former
president Abdurrahman Wahid started the peace talks with GAM in
2000.

However, this year the military reinstated the Iskandar Muda
military operational zone for Aceh and violence has risen sharply
with over 1,200 killed this year alone, and Military/police
presence of over 30,000 personnel.

On Jan. 1, 2001, the government introduced a special autonomy
law for Aceh, under which the province is supposed to be allowed
to retain up to 70 percent of the revenue from oil and gas
production in addition to organizing independent elections for
local administrations.

And in May this year, both sides signed another agreement in
which GAM conditionally agreed upon the special autonomy status
as a "starting point" for future peace talks.