Fear reigns in troubled Aceh

Fear reigns in troubled Aceh

Nani Farida and Arya Abhiseka, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

As fear was once again on the rise here, Acehnese leaders warned
the government against launching a military operation in Aceh,
saying that it had been proven in the past, that such an approach
would certainly not resolve the conflict.

Imam Su'ja, chairman of the Acehnese chapter of the second
largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah called on the two
warring sides to listen to the Acehnese people's plea for dialog,
emphasizing that war was not the answer.

"Both sides should have stuck to the deal and maintained it.
Didn't we share the happiness when the deal was signed," he said.

He implied that both sides were lacking commitment in
establishing peace in the resource-rich province.

Meanwhile, several Acehnese figures expressed their fresh
fears of the renewed military operation and called on the two
warring parties to pursue dialog to salvage the peace agreement.

The people in northern Aceh who had enjoyed days and nights
without any terror, intimidation and gun shots over the past four
months, now are fearful again.

"All the traumatic memories from the military operation have
returned since the Indonesian Military (TNI) said it might renew
that option," Ahmad, a resident of North Aceh told The Jakarta
Post on Sunday.

"We really fear for our lives, because the the Joint Security
Committee (JSC) members have left their office in Lhoksemawe.
People are frightened since the recent assassination of rebels
and the gunfights between the two sides," he said.

Thamrin Ananda, a student activist from the Aceh People's
Democratic Fighters Front (FPDRA), said that a military operation
would certainly bring another problem for the Acehnese.

"The history has shown that a military approach only creates
more fighting against the government instead of solving the
problem," he said.

There should be an extra effort from all sides to stop the TNI
from further aggression in Aceh, he added.

Acehnese councillor Nasir Djamil said that the government
should have concentrated on providing assistance for the Acehnese
and upholding justice.

"We have to optimize the peace deal, which in the past four-
months successfully decreased the number of casualties and both
sides had to maintain the peace spirit," he said.

The government launched a decade-long military operation
between 1989 and 1999 in an attempt to quell the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM), but as a result, the conflict was far from
settled, while thousands of innocent people were killed.

There have been other attempts to solve the issue, but all
have failed to a certain degree.

Influential leaders Syafii Maarif, chairman of Muhammadiyah,
Deputy Chairman of the National Commission of Human Rights
Solahuddin Wahid and Muslim intellectual Nurcholish Madjid have
also called on security authorities to leave the Aceh problem to
civilians.

Nurcholish called for the appointment of Coordinating Minister
for People's Welfare Yusuf Kalla to handle deals with GAM and the
Henry Dunant Centre (HDC) and replace all military and police
personnel in the JSC.

Chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Hasyim Muzadi said,
however, that he disagreed with the role the government had given
to the Switzerland-based human rights organization, the HDC to
broker the peace process.

He claimed that the HDC did not have enough knowledge or
experience in Aceh to settle the conflict between the TNI and
GAM, in addition to its very limited authority to enforce the
peace pact.

"HDC does not really understand the situation in Aceh and has
no information on the background of each side," Hasyim alleged.