Govt issues amnesty to GAM members

Govt issues amnesty to GAM members

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Yuli Tri Suwarni
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta/Bandung

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday signed a decree
granting amnesty and unconditional release to members of the Free
Aceh Movement (GAM), clearing the way for an immediate release of
those now being detained at various prisons across the country.

The amnesty is a key component of the peace deal signed by the
government and GAM on Aug. 15, which is expected to end the 30-
year armed conflict in Aceh that has killed some 15,000 people.

State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra told a press conference
that the general amnesty and unconditional release would be
granted to people who were involved with GAM, be it Indonesian
nationals, foreign nationals or those who are currently
stateless.

This means that some 500 GAM members, and leaders including
Hasan Tiro, Malik Mahmud, Zaini Abdullah and Bakhtiar Abdullah
who are now living in exile and assumed foreign citizenship,
would also be eligible for the amnesty.

"With the issuance of the general amnesty and unconditional
release, their social, political, economic and other citizenship
rights are revived," Yusril said.

According to the Presidential Decree No. 22/2005, GAM members
who have assumed foreign citizenships or who are stateless could
regain their Indonesian citizenship within six months after the
issuance of the decree, conditional upon them withdrawing their
foreign or stateless status, and pledging allegiance to the
Unitary Republic of Indonesia, Pancasila and the Constitution in
front of the minister of justice and human rights.

But the decree stipulates that the amnesty would be
automatically annulled if the GAM members committed treason in
the future.

The decree states that GAM members being detained in prison
for ordinary crimes are not eligible to obtain the amnesty or
unconditional release.

The amnesty takes effect immediately. A total of 1,424 GAM
prisoners and detainees are expected to be released on
Wednesday.

Meanwhile, some 74 GAM members being detained at the
Sukamiskin Penitentiary in Bandung, were scheduled to be released
starting 3 a.m. on Wednesday and proceed to Jakarta's Soekarno-
Hatta airport by bus. They would depart for Aceh at 9 a.m.