AMM urges punishment for rogue TNI personnel
AMM urges punishment for rogue TNI personnel
Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
The Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) demanded on Wednesday that the
Indonesian Military (TNI) punish a TNI soldier accused of
shooting four members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Peudawa,
East Aceh.
The incident was the first violation of the Helsinki peace
agreement on the part of the TNI. "We regret that the TNI
personnel resorted to disproportionate force in the incident,"
said Pieter Feith, the chief of AMM, during a press conference on
Wednesday in Banda Aceh.
The incident occurred on Friday when TNI personnel arrested
three GAM members in Peudawa, East Aceh, some 370 kilometers east
of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province.
Aware that their colleagues had been arrested, other GAM
members went to a TNI outpost to demand their release. As the
request was turned down, the GAM members brought more people
later on in the evening to step up pressure against the TNI
personnel.
When the negotiation was in process, suddenly a TNI soldier
sprayed bullets at the GAM members wounding four people, one
seriously.
The AMM accused the TNI soldier of committing a breach of
discipline by opening fire contrary to military regulations and
said he had to be punished.
The TNI personnel should have been more restrained, said
Pieter.
Separately, chief of Iskandar Muda military command overseeing
Aceh Maj. Gen. Supiadin said he would take stern measures against
any personnel found guilty in the incident.
The incident is being investigated and those who are guilty
will receive punishment, he said.
Friday's incident was the second violation of the Helsinki
peace agreement reported by the AMM. Earlier last month, the AMM
accused GAM of breaching the peace deal after it found a GAM
member shot a TNI personnel in North Aceh regency. No fatalities
or injuries were reported in the incident.
The Helsinki peace deal was inked on August 15, after a series
of faltering peace negotiations between the Indonesian government
and GAM. The negotiation, which came in the wake of the tsunami
disaster in December last year, has helped bring an end to almost
30 years of bloody conflict in the resource-rich region.
The two incidents have had little political repercussions with
GAM and TNI personnel continuing the decommissioning of weapons,
the latest being held in Sabang area on Tuesday.