Govt urged to take tough measures against GAM
Govt urged to take tough measures against GAM
JAKARTA (JP): National Police Chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro
urged the government on Wednesday to take a hard-line stance on
the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in order to help solve
the prolonged conflict in the troubled province.
"The government must take a tough stance on whether separatist
activities in Aceh are merely a violation of the law or acts of
rebellion. The Aceh conflict cannot be solved immediately if it
is simply seen as a matter of violating the law. The military
must also be deployed to the province if armed separatism is
classified as acts of rebellion," he said in a hearing with the
House of Representatives' Commission II on legal and home affairs
here on Wednesday.
The Indonesian Military (TNI) also believed that the
government needed to take tough measures against GAM, who are
believed to have been behind the killing of numerous security
personnel and civilians in the province.
Bimantoro argued that Aceh's problems had been prolonged
because the government had yet to take a clear stance on the
status of GAM's activities as to whether they were merely an
infringement of the law or a rebellion.
"The government will not be able to solve the conflict if it
continues to deploy only police personnel to enforce the law as
stipulated in Presidential Instruction No.4/2001 because they are
not merely facing law-breakers but armed rebels who are fighting
for Aceh's independence," he said.
Bimantoro said the police fully supported the government's
peaceful approach of holding political talks with all sections of
the Acehnese community. They also backed accelerating social and
economic development to improve the province's social welfare but
regretted the absence of tough measures taken by the government
against the separatist rebels who had killed many police
personnel and civilians and attacked public infrastructure.
He conceded, however, that the strife-torn province was
returning to normal following the enforcement of the presidential
instruction, though a harder military-style approach was needed
to quell the separatism.
Bimantoro also said the police could not handle many
violations of the law due to the absence of prosecutors and
judges in many districts across the province.
"Aceh's provincial police cannot proceed with investigating
rebels detained for breaking the law and are forced to release
them when their period of detention expires because of the lack
of prosecutors and judges," he said.
Citing an example, he said the police were allowed to detain
suspects for only 12 days and the detention period could not be
extended without approval from prosecutors. (rms)