Govt's double standards impedes peace process in Aceh

Govt's double standards impedes peace process in Aceh

Tiarma Siboro and
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

Aceh politician Gazhali Abbas condemned on Friday the
government's double standards in handling the prolonged Aceh
conflict, saying that the military should end its attack on
rebels in Cot Trieng, North Aceh, if the government was committed
to signing the proposed peace accord.

He said the government should comply with MPR Decree No.
VI/2002, which requires it to seek a peaceful settlement, instead
of taking the military approach to solve the Aceh problem.

He said that most Acehnese had supported the measures the
government had taken to promote dialogs between both sides,
including the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) whose existence has been
factually accepted through negotiations held overseas.

"The government should continue the persuasive approach,
instead of using repression to win domestic (Acehnese) and
international support and simultaneously persuade rebels to lay
down their arms to go to the negotiating table," he said.

He also said the government should take strict action against
legal violations committed by both rebels and soldiers.

Johnson Pandjaitan, a human rights activist of the Indonesian
Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), agreed and said
that the government, including security forces, should respect
the peaceful negotiation facilitated by the Geneva-based Henry
Dunant Centre (HDC).

The military should show its strong commitment to sign the
peace accord on Dec. 9 and support the government's persuasive
approach to seek a peaceful solution to the Aceh problem through
a dialog, he said.

Both Gazhali and Johnson further expressed pessimism that the
two warring sides would agree to sign the peace accord on Dec. 9
since their military wings had yet to show readiness in laying
down their weapons.

Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said
that disarmament would become a contentious issue in the cease-
fire mechanism.

Disarmament and cantonment will be a logical consequence of
the peace deal, but both sides are still at odds over the matter,
Hassan said.

Hassan said that the presence of a monitoring team, which will
consist of participants from various countries, would be
assurance that both the military and GAM were in compliance with
the peace accord, including the disarmament issue.

"The presence of the monitoring team will assure the whole
deal," he said.

Amid heightened tension between the military and GAM, two
countries -- Japan and the U.S. -- planned to cosponsor the
Preparatory Conference on Peace and Reconstruction in Aceh on
Dec. 3 in Tokyo, which is aimed at establishing a trust fund for
the reconstruction and development of Aceh.

"This is an effort to encourage GAM to return to the
negotiation table, but the composition of the participants is
still under discussion," Hassan said.