Government told to consider GAM's key demands

Government told to consider GAM's key demands

Tiarma Siboro and Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Peace talks with Aceh rebel leaders are unlikely to bring any
significant changes to the long-standing conflict in the tsunami-
ravaged province unless the government accepts two key demands
raised in Finland, an Acehnese sociologist says.

The demands -- to allow Acehnese people to establish local
political parties and to hold local direct elections immediately
after the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the government signed a
peace deal -- were vital to the peace process, Aceh-based Syah
Kuala University lecturer and human rights activist Otto
Syamsuddin said on Wednesday.

These two thorny issues would determine the fate of Aceh
because "they would reconstruct the whole political system there,
opening up the door for the democratization process," Otto said.

"The special autonomy law for Aceh allows the Aceh legislative
council to enact the Qanun (bylaw), but as of today, none of its
articles deal with the political aspects (to local self-
government)," he said.

"Therefore, (these ideas) are not against the law. If the GAM
leaders take such demands to the negotiation table then they are
asking the same thing as an Acehnese civil society delegation,
which made a similar proposal during a recent meeting in Sweden,"
Otto said.

From May 24 to May 25, Acehnese civilian figures, including
Otto, and GAM leaders met in Sweden, ahead of the fourth round of
peace talks in Helsinki, which ended on Tuesday this week.

"If the government refuses to fulfill these demands, it will
be acting against the Acehnese people's interests and, perhaps,
against all pro-democracy elements in the country," Otto told The
Jakarta Post.

The country's national election law does not recognize certain
local political parties and bans all members of separatist
groups, including GAM, from contesting elections.

Otto said the lack of democratization in Aceh was one of the
serious problems in the province.

"I think (if the terms were agreed to) that GAM will
(eventually) cease fighting for independence because foreign
donors have already committed to supporting the Indonesian
government -- and not the GAM leadership -- in the post-tsunami
reconstruction and rebuilding programs," Otto said.

"GAM will lose its credibility in the eyes of the Acehnese
people, should foreign donors stop the reconstruction programs.
On the other hand, Indonesia will also lose foreign aid if it
fails to create a conducive situation to enable people to
continue the reconstruction work." Otto said.

Responding to GAM's demands for an amnesty for Acehnese
prisoners, Otto doubted the amnesty would have a positive effect
because " ... many of the prisoners were sent to jail on criminal
charges, not for treason offenses."

"Maybe only GAM negotiators and a pro-democracy activist,
Muhammad Nazar, would be (beneficially) affected by the policy,"
he said.

However, House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono said
that all efforts to resolve the Aceh problem had to be in line
with the Constitution, which prohibited the creation of a local
political party as demanded by the rebels.

He also questioned the decision to involve foreign parties in
Aceh's peacekeeping issue.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla earlier said the government and GAM
had agreed to allow a greater role for the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union in
supervising and observing the implementation of a peace agreement
in the field.

This came Agung said, after "both the government and the House
have agreed to avoid 'internationalizing' the matter."

"We strongly reject ... if foreign parties are included in
any decision-making process regarding the conflict," he said.

Otto, meanwhile, countered that "Aceh has belonged to
international community even before the Dec. 26 disaster, because
of the continuing human rights violations (there)."

"Human rights are certainly an international issue, and we
should blame the government and lawmakers for allowing the
brutality to continue in Aceh," the member of human rights
watchdog Imparsial said.