Covering both sides a tough challenge in Aceh war
The Jakarta Post, Lhokseumawe, Aceh
Covering a war anywhere in the world always exposes a journalist to the risks of compromising the basic principle of impartiality for his or her own safety.
After a few days on assignment in war-torn Aceh, a number of reporters, both from the print and the electronic media, claimed they had to cope with intimidation from both the military and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatists.
Local Aceh daily Serambi Indonesia became the first media to be instructed by the martial law administrator not to print statements from GAM, accusing the rebels of distorting the facts.
The military has also considered curbs on media coverage amid rumors of expulsion of foreign journalists from the province.
Aceh military commander Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarya said rules on press coverage would soon be issued, adding that journalists covering the conflict would have to be accredited with the provincial military command.
"I want all news published to contain the spirit of nationalism. Put the interests of the unitary state of Indonesia first. Don't blow up the news from GAM," he said.
Under martial law, the military possesses excessive powers, including the authority to impose a news black-out.
Another day, reporters from Jakarta-based private television channel Metro TV were given a verbal reprimand by a military officer because of their footage displaying a group of people wearing GAM symbols who were helping local residents extinguish a fire at a school in Bireuen. The officer also threatened to expel them from Aceh if such a footage appeared again.
The reporters argued they had no prejudice when a group of people claiming to be GAM members stopped them and directed them to a school building which was being razed by fire.
"But the officer turned a blind eye to the situation we had faced on the ground," one of the TV crew said.
Being embedded with the military has ironically posed a matter of safety to some journalists.
Apart from having no access to independent sources, those journalists have found themselves the target of GAM, mainly due to their proximity to the military.
To their surprise, the rebels have the list of 54 journalists who are embedded with the military after undergoing a four-day drill in the Sangga Buana training camp belonging to Army Strategic Reserve Command in the West Java town of Purwakarta.
One of the journalists, who works for state-owned channel TVRI, told The Jakarta Post she had just been taken by a group of GAM members for interrogation when she was covering an arson attack on a school building in Bireuen on Monday.
"I was so frightened and tried to convince them that I was not part of the embedded journalists. Thank God the rebels released me even though they initially threatened to detain me," she said.
Another embedded journalist was evacuated by the military to another hotel in Banda Aceh following information that GAM rebels were looking for her.
The GAM commander in North Aceh, Abu Jamaika, said there had been no order from the group's top brass to intimidate journalists, whoever they were.
He said GAM respected journalists, who he said were bound to carry out a check and balance function amid the military's propaganda.