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.