HDC to continue work in Aceh despite recent attack
HDC to continue work in Aceh despite recent attack
Nani Farida and Ibnu Matnoor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh
A mob attacked the tripartite monitoring team office in
Central Aceh on Monday, but the peace observers pledged to
continue their mission in the war-torn province.
Spokesman for the Henry Dunant Centre (HDC) peace broker in
Aceh David Gorman said on Tuesday that the Joint Security
Committee (JSC) would not pull its personnel out of Aceh despite
the attack.
"We will not leave Central Aceh. We will continue our mission
here," he said, adding the HDC regretted the incident.
The team has temporary been moved from the Central Aceh town
of Takengon to Banda Aceh following the attack. David said the
team would resume activities in Takengon pending the
investigation of the incident and the renovation of the office.
It was the first attack on peace observers in Aceh following
the signing of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement in Geneva
last December, which has cut the death rate in the almost three-
decade long conflict between Indonesian troops and Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) soldiers. More than 10,000 people, mostly
civilians, are believed to have been killed during the violence.
The HDC formed the JSC to monitor the truce.
Fifty international monitors, most of them from Thailand and
the Philippines, have been working for the team, along with 50
representatives each from Indonesia and GAM.
Two monitors, identified as Husni Jalil of GAM and Maj. Eko
Yatma of the government, were slightly injured during the mob
attack, in which two cars belonging to JSC were torched and
another damaged. Several JSC members were taken hostage for six
hours.
"We (HDC, GAM and the government) have agreed to solve the
problem in Central Aceh," David added.
Reports said the incident started after local farmers accused
the JSC of being unfair by ignoring their complaints over alleged
extortion by GAM members.
David denied the reports, saying the JSC had done its best to
solve problems that might break the truce.
"We need to examine this case," he said.
Separately, GAM accused the Indonesian Military (TNI) of
condoning a militia attack in a bid to destroy chances for peace.
"The peace agreement has once again been sullied by the
actions of thousands of Javanese militia members who had been
mobilized by certain parties who do not want peace in Aceh," GAM
spokesman Sofyan Dawod said in a statement.
He said the attack "appeared to be well organized and the
Indonesian security authorities did not take any action
whatsoever."
Considering that the incident began at 9:00 am and lasted
until 4 p.m., Sofyan said that "it is impossible that the
intelligence of the Republic of Indonesia had no advance
knowledge of this."
Military spokesman Col. Firdaus Komarno denied any military
involvement in the attack.
"The rebels can accuse all they want. We had nothing to do
with it. It was a spontaneous and genuine reaction to extortion
by the rebels," he said.
The peace deal in Aceh has resulted in a sharp drop in
violence. But several key issues, including GAM's disarmament and
the TNI's withdrawal to barracks, have yet to be resolved.