Amnesty granted to GAM members Tuesday

Amnesty granted to GAM members Tuesday

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Over 1,400 Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members will celebrate their
freedom on Tuesday when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issues
a decree that will grant them amnesty.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Monday that pursuant to the
peace agreement signed on Aug. 15, the government would hand down
a general amnesty and pardon to all the political prisoners
regardless of their citizenship.

"This is a general amnesty. There is no peace without
amnesty," he told a group of Muslim leaders at Muhammadiyah
headquarters in Central Jakarta.

The amnesty is part of the Memorandum of Understanding on a
peaceful settlement of the Aceh conflict signed by the government
and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Helsinki.

A total of 1,424 GAM prisoners and detainees will make up the
first batch of amnesty and pardon recipients on Tuesday, the
deadline set in the peace agreement. Amnesty is given to
previously convicted political prisoners while the pardons are
for detainees who have not been prosecuted.

Separately, State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra defended the
granting of a general amnesty to all GAM members, domestic or
international, saying it would not contradict the recommendations
presented by the House of Representatives to the government.

Yusril said the government had received the House's conditions
for the amnesty and other issues, such as the rebels' Indonesian
citizenship and their pledge of allegiance, written or verbal, to
the unitary state of Indonesia.

He said that amnesty and pardons were granted based on the
rebels' wrongdoings, not their citizenship.

"The President has the authority to grant amnesty and pardons
to prisoners and detainees, regardless of their citizenship.
There are also foreign prisoners here jailed not because of their
citizenship but the crimes they committed in Indonesian
territory. Only foreign criminals who we cannot bring to justice
cannot be amnestied," he explained.

He said GAM rebels, especially those living overseas, would
receive the amnesty because they wanted to be good Indonesian
citizens and return home to develop their province.

Yuzril added that the amnesty would be automatically revoked
if the recipients decided to take up arms against Indonesia, or
commit actions in violation of the peace agreement.

"The amnesty is for those who form a resistance movement
against the government after the MOU was signed on Aug. 15," he
said.

Meanwhile, several House factions threatened to exercise their
"constitutional rights" against the government if the latter
failed to take their conditions into consideration.

The secretary of the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction,
Helmy Faisal Yahya, said his faction would encourage its members
to question the granting of amnesty if the government ignored all
recommendations submitted by the House.

Jacobus Mayong Padang, secretary of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction, said the party's
legislators would call for an inquiry into the government's
policy on the amnesty and the signing of the MOU, which he said
had created many other problems.

"The absence of the House's participation during the peace
negotiation shows that the legislative body remains a rubber
stamp for the government policies," he said.