Criticism mounts against Aceh foreign monitors

Criticism mounts against Aceh foreign monitors

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Criticism about the contents of the peace accord between the
government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) continued on Friday,
with legislators questioning the role of the foreign monitoring
mission that they said was too powerful and was an
"internationalization" of a domestic conflict.

Legislator Sutradara Gintings from the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said the memorandum of understanding
(MOU) had given the Aceh Monitoring Mission, which comprised of
peace monitors from the European Union (EU) and five ASEAN
countries, excessive powers to settle possible conflict during
the implementation of the peace deal.

"The mission's tasks show that it doesn't only monitor, but
also rules on disputes and on complaints and alleged violations.
The mission's decision is binding and cannot be vetoed,"
Sutradara said during a discussion here on Friday.

The MOU's sixth article on dispute settlement says that all
disputes should be discussed collectively between parties, but
all final decisions would be in the hands of the mission.

Should dialog fail to bring agreement, the mission would then
deliberate with Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Political
and Security Affairs, GAM leader, the chief of the Crisis
Management Initiative (CMI) and the EU political and security
committee, the MOU says.

A decision would then later be drawn up by the CMI, which was
the facilitator of the informal peace talks that led to the
signing of the MOU on Monday.

"If we take a look at former conflict facilitators in other
countries, like in Moro, Cambodia or Vietnam, they didn't get
such great authority," said Sutradara, a member of the House
Commission I on defense and foreign affairs.

"Don't you think it's too much to give such overwhelming
authority to people we don't know? People whose real intent we
don't know ... people who don't grasp the spirit of Indonesia?"
he said.

Former Army deputy chief of staff Lt. Gen. (ret) Kiki
Syahnakrie said the government could not guarantee that the
foreign mission would be fair in its dealings.

"No one's monitoring them. They can monitor and decide and
cannot be vetoed, but who can ensure their independence? Who can
ensure that what happened in Timor Leste wouldn't recur?" he told
the discussion.

Indonesia lost Timor Leste in 1999 after the former province
voted for independence during a United Nations-sponsored
referendum. Shortly before the referendum, the former Indonesian
province was administered by United Nations Temporary Executive
Authority (UNTEA).

But Golkar legislator Theo L. Sambuaga, who chairs the House's
Commission I, said the presence of the mission was nothing
unusual.

"When there's a conflict, it's normal to have a third party
that is deemed as neutral as a facilitator. It needs to have
powers to make sure that neither parties cheat or stray from the
agreement," he said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda agreed.

"There is an opinion that the Aceh Monitoring Mission
comprising foreigners from EU and ASEAN will 'internationalize'
the Aceh problem. We have to first understand the nature of their
presence in Aceh: They are invited by us to help us implement the
MOU. This is something that everyone has agreed upon, or in other
words, their presence is in line with our interests."

"Members of AMM are bound by the rules of the game, which are
stated in the MOU and later in the Status of Monitoring Agreement
(SoMA). So please don't use the term 'internationalization' just
because they are foreigners," Hassan said on Friday at a separate
event.