Govt's new plan on Aceh gets mixed responses

JAKARTA (JP): The government's plan to take resolute action against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) amid an ongoing negotiation process currently under way in restive Aceh, has received a mixed response from both legislators and political observers.

Yasril Ananta Burhanuddin, chairman of the House of Representatives' Commission I on defense and foreign policy, expressed strong support on Monday for the Indonesian Military (TNI)'s campaign against the armed Acehnese rebels in order to curb their increasingly brutal acts of violence.

"The government must deal firmly with the armed rebels while continuing dialogs with all sectors of the Acehnese people to seek a comprehensive solution to the Aceh issue," Yasril said.

"GAM's recent brutalities have sparked serious unrest among the Acehnese people, showed their rejection of the persuasive approach and damaged our image overseas," he added.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said after a visit to Aceh last week that the government would retaliate harshly against the separatist movement following the brutality it had exhibited over the past few weeks.

Golkar Party House faction secretary Yahya Zaini shared Yasril's remarks, saying the tough measures against the separatist movement were needed to help restore security and order, and to create a feeling of safety among the people.

"We should first respect the human rights of innocent civilians and not those of the rebels," he said.

Meanwhile, J.B. Kristiadi, a political observer of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), supported the measures to be taken by the Indonesian Military (TNI), but was concerned about the possibility of violence extending within the civilian population.

"Over the past few months, around 1,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Aceh and we do not want more and more people to be victimized," he said.

Kristiadi said that the ongoing military operation should be part of a comprehensive approach aimed at solving the Aceh issue.

"Therefore, the government should fulfill all its promises to Aceh, including legal action against those who violated human rights in the province in the past and the implementation of special autonomy to improve Acehnese people's social welfare," he said.

According to him, the troops deployed to Aceh should be professional and possess a good understanding of Acehnese culture so that their presence gained the sympathy of Acehnese people.

Former foreign minister Ali Alatas said he could understand the government's military operation, but suggested that it should continue the dialog with the Acehnese to resolve the separatist movement problem.

"What the government has been doing through a series of dialogs, or through comprehensive processes, is a good step. But if it is fruitless or should the rebellion maintain a level of violence amid the dialog, surely we must suppress them," Ali said.

Munir, a human rights activist and coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), expressed his objection to a military operation, saying that the approach showed that the government did not understand the key problem in Aceh.

He said the government should initiate two important steps before launching the military operation.

"First, the Acehnese people should be given wider space to negotiate their future and, second, the government should respect human rights and show its commitment to trying human rights cases from the past," he said.

Permadi, an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) legislator, called on the government to declare a state of civilian emergency to stop the killing of innocent civilians and restore law and order in the province.

"The tension would have calmed down had the previous government been firm with the separatist movement and declared a state of civilian emergency at the time," he said.

Syaiful Achmad, a National Mandate Party (PAN) legislator from Bakongan, southwest Aceh, said that he would agree with a military operation to disarm the rebels and force them to negotiate a peace deal as long as the police also stopped their inhumane treatment of civilians in rural and urban areas.

"The police's inhumane treatment in Aceh has sowed hatred among the civilians and forced a segment of them to join the separatist movement," he said.

In Banda Aceh, Thamren Ananda, secretary of the Democratic Struggle Front for Acehnese People (FPDRA), protested the government's planned military operation, saying it was ignoring Acehnese people's political rights.

"The military operation is not a solution to the Aceh problem because it will certainly bring new suffering to the Acehnese people," he told The Jakarta Post by telephone.

Thamren also accused the military and police of being behind the recent mass killing in Idi Rayeuk, East Aceh, and the arson attacks on at least 50 school buildings, which provoked the military operation. (rms/tso/02)