GAM, NGOs welcome Tokyo meeting to rebuild Aceh
Ibnu Mat Noor, Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
Separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), non-governmental organizations and a monitoring team all hailed the planned international conference in Tokyo to raise funds to finance Aceh reconstruction programs.
One GAM military commander, Amri Abdul Wahab, told The Jakarta Post by phone here on Monday that GAM would appreciate help from the international community for Aceh as long the aid did not have conditions attached to it.
"We never reject assistance from the international community as long as it does not bind us," Amri said.
He was commenting on reports that Japan, the United States, the European Union, together with the World Bank, will convene on Tuesday an international conference of donors to raise funds for the reconstruction of Aceh following the planned signing of a peace deal between the Indonesian government and GAM, slated for Dec. 9.
A total of 23 countries and international organizations will be represented at the meeting. GAM, however, is not invited to the meeting.
Amri said he hoped the assistance from the international community would not only consist of financial or material aid to rebuild public facilities in the health and education sectors, but also efforts to help the Acehnese cope with their lives.
"More important than those things is how to help the Acehnese regain their rights that have been robbed by Jakarta for so many years," Amri added.
The day before the international conference on Aceh starts in Tokyo on Tuesday, the situation in the volatile province was calm, despite the planned celebration of Aceh independence by GAM on Dec. 4.
The Indonesian government and military (TNI), however, has warned GAM and the Acehnese people not to celebrate an independence day other than the Indonesian independence day of August 17.
Despite the ban, GAM spokesman for East Aceh Teungku Fauzillah said that the separatist group would continue with its plan and organize a ceremony to commemorate the 26th anniversary of self- proclaimed independence on Dec. 4.
He claimed that preparations for the anniversary in East Aceh had been made in the past weeks, involving thousand of GAM soldiers.
According to Fauzillah, these armed forces would be deployed to create eight circles of security. "Each circle will be enforced with dozens of soldiers to enable them to detect TNI members," he told the Post.
A member of the monitoring team on Aceh security, Abdul Gani Nurdin, confirmed on Monday that the situation in the province had been improving lately, especially after the deployment of monitoring team members in five regencies across Aceh.
Gani, who works for the Henry Dunant Center, that facilities peace talks between the government and GAM, added that the security situation in Aceh cities was much better than in the villages.
Gunfights between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and GAM often take place in the villages, he said.
Gani added that the recovery programs for Aceh should be implemented urgently, to reconstruct education and health care facilities as well as rebuild thousands of houses destroyed in the past decades.
Meantime, a coalition of 27 civil organizations in Aceh expressed their support for the initiative of the international community to help the Acehnese people emerge from their prolonged conflict.
They said in a statement that the recovery program for Aceh must be implemented democratically with regards to the agreement between Jakarta and GAM.
The international assistance should also consider the rights of the Acehnese for self-determination, said one of the activists, Muhammad Nazar.
"Without the right for self-determination, human rights, social justice, and economic recovery will not be able to be fully implemented," said the statement, copies of which were sent to the Indonesian government, GAM, and international organizations.