Govt's new plan on Aceh gets mixed responses

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)