Confrontation in Aceh

Confrontation in Aceh

Is the government heading for a confrontation with the people
of Aceh? It certainly looks that way if we put two and two
together. The same day that a two-day general strike, called by
dozens of non-governmental organizations, began in the troubled
province on Wednesday, the National Police announced in Jakarta
that it was launching a massive six-month security operation
against armed civilians in Aceh, with troops under specific
shoot-on-sight orders against civilians who carry fire arms.

Coincidental or not, the timing of the security operation
mirrors the total insensitivity on the part of officials in
Jakarta toward the grievances of the Acehnese people. This same
attitude has been shown by the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the
National Police in approaching the Aceh problem for the past year
or so. One has to at least give them credit for consistency.

The general strike was called by Aceh NGOs in protest at the
recurring violence in their province, mostly perpetrated by
government troops. They are demanding no less than the withdrawal
of the special troops deployed in Aceh, and for the abandonment
of the military plan to establish a new command in their
province. In short, they are demanding less military.

Judging by the way major towns like Banda Aceh, Lhokseumawe
and Sigli were crippled on Wednesday and Thursday, the call for
civil disobedience received widespread support. This was a
voluntary call, and contrary to what the police claimed, most
people joined because they share the grievances, and not because
of threats or intimidation. The armed Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (Free
Aceh Movement, GAM) did not initiate the strike.

Yet, instead of heeding the demands, the government is taking
a tougher stance. Although the police are heading the latest
security operation, the involvement of soldiers means this is
essentially a revival of the dreaded Military Operations (DOM)
which claimed thousands of civilian lives from 1989 to August
last year when it was abandoned. It was an operation that left a
deep scar among the Acehnese, and one that severely tarnished the
image and reputation of the military. We have yet to see the TNI
living up to its promise to punish those responsible for the
atrocities perpetrated under DOM. Instead, we are seeing more
atrocities being committed under various new operations.

In the meantime, TNI and the National Police continue in their
denial mode. They have dismissed the general strike as of no
consequence. They are refusing to recognize GAM, preferring to
call it by their own self-created acronyms. Once it was called
GPL (Gerakan Pengacau Liar), next it was GPK (Gerakan Pengacau
Keamanan), both essentially mean security disturbance groups.
Then it was called GPK-HT for GPK Hasan Tiro, so-named after the
GAM leader who is in self-exile in Sweden. The latest acronym is
GBPK for Gerombolan Bersenjata Pengacau Keamanan or armed
security disturbance group.

The government's refusal to recognize the existence of GAM
virtually rules out any channel of communication and therefore
negotiation. The only thing left is for the government and the
rebels to slug it out. It's a sure recipe for violence.

This was the same approach used in facing the East Timor rebel
group Fretilin, before the government was forced, by the
international community, to recognize its presence and to open
negotiations with its leaders. One is left to wonder whether the
government, especially the TNI, has not learned anything from
Indonesia's botched military adventure in East Timor. At this
rate, the TNI, which has already lost its authority and mandate
as a sociopolitical force, is risking its authority and
credibility as a defense and security force.

President B.J. Habibie, or certainly the next elected
president, must take the Aceh initiative out of the TNI's hands,
and place it firmly in civilian hands. In the hands of the TNI,
the Aceh situation has become worse over the past year, to the
extent that the military, at least in the eyes of many Acehnese,
has become very much part of the problem. It can no longer be
part of the solution.

Students and NGOs in Aceh, who better reflect the people's
aspirations, are not making unreasonable demands: a referendum,
with the possibility to vote for Aceh becoming a state within a
federal system of government, and for justice and fairness. They
are not demanding total separation. But if the government in
Jakarta continues to use force in dealing with Aceh the way it
has done over the past year, then more and more people will
certainly be driven to fight for Aceh's independence.