Initiating security sector reform for Aceh

Initiating security sector reform for Aceh

Andi Widjajanto, Researcher, Center for International Relations Studies,
University of Indonesia, Jakarta

Societies with experience of violence are faced with many
diverse tasks. In Aceh, the political and economic systems have
become dysfunctional because local government has little
legitimacy and the state apparatus is overcentralized, and cannot
provide its citizens security and prosperity.

Thus, to foster postwar reconstruction in Aceh, attention must
be centered on reforming security institutions, with close
cooperation from a variety of players from politics and civil society.

The necessity to initiate security sector reform in Aceh must
be seen as an integral part of a comprehensive approach to
instigate a postwar reconstruction program. This program should
start with a systematic attempt to eradicate local political and
social instability. This instability must be seen as the result
of the state's inability to project power and authority within
its own borders, leaving most of its territories governmentally
empty. In such a situation, Indonesia shares the following
characteristics of weak states: a loss of institutional control
over its borders; declining levels of GDP per capita;
environmental degradation; a rise in criminal and political
violence; rising ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural
hostilities in the form of internal conflicts.

The potential point of breakdown for Indonesia is the
persistence of an armed, separatist rebellion, demonstrated by
the ongoing rebellions in Aceh. This persistence demonstrates our
inability in achieving legitimacy for our postindependence
political structure, as well as continued internal weakness.
Internal conflict in Aceh indicates that some possible future
threats are rooted in conditions related to the increasing
insecurities of long-established authoritarian regimes that have
little experience in handling the complexities of a multiethnic
society, pluralistic politics and market economics.

At present, the core issue of initiating reconstruction
programs for postwar Aceh is the deprivatization of violence
through reform of the security sector. The security sector is
taken to mean all those organizations that have authority to use,
or order the use of, force, or the threat of force, to protect
the state and its citizens, as well as those civil structures
that are responsible for their management and oversight. It
includes: (a) military and paramilitary forces; (b) intelligence
services; (c) police forces; (d) civil structures that are
responsible for the management and oversight of the above.

This sector represents the most sensitive area within the
peace-building process. The security sector is of crucial
importance for instigating postwar situations, since this sector
will be a decisive factor for the termination of armed conflict.
Alas, this so-called security sector often represents more of an
"insecurity sector" for Aceh, as it has been repeatedly
responsible for repression and human rights violations. Under
martial law, the military has a tendency to assume ever more new
responsibilities and gain autonomy vis-a-vis the civilian
authority. Civil authorities cannot set sufficient limits for a
military that tends to continue to become part of the state's
machinery of repression. Programs to improve the capacity of
security sector forces to fulfill their legitimate functions,
therefore, will have to focus on combating these negative
tendencies.

Many of the problems of security sector forces are a result of
their isolation from society and their lack of accountability for
their activities and for the resources that they consume. A key
aim of security sector reform is therefore to ensure that good
governance is extended into the security sector. A well-informed
and independent civil society sector (including non-governmental
organizations, professional associations, independent media,
research and advocacy institutions) can play a crucial role in
ensuring that security sector organizations are accountable and
effective by encouraging open debate, media scrutiny and academic
research on the implementation of martial law in Aceh. They can
also have an important role in implementing aspects of the reform
agenda, especially in helping communities accept reintegration of
former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members into society.

Reintegration is the process of assimilating demobilized
personnel into the economic, social and political life of the
civilian community. It includes a variety of measures targeted at
ex-GAM combatants, including: vocational training and formal
schooling, microcredit and rehousing schemes, medical care and
disablement counseling and involvement in community
organizations. Demobilization refers to the process of reducing
the number of military personnel within the GAM organization. It
includes measures such as funding demobilization centers,
providing basic provisions (food, clothing, medicine) for ex-GAM
soldiers, transportation for communities and repatriation of GAM
political activists from neighboring states.

Another potential target for security sector reform is the
state's armed forces. The Indonesian Military (TNI) is still in
charge of various aspects of internal security, while the
authority and capacity of the police have tended to be weaker. In
view of this, it is recommended to prepare the police better for
internal state functions that have previously been performed by
the Army, with the provision of resources following clearly
defined criteria.

Responsible and effective police forces are a key element in
security sector reform and in economic and social development.
The main objective of security sector reform programs for the
police sector is to create effective local and national police
forces. In immediate postwar situations, security sector reform
often involves a fundamental reorientation of the police from an
active role in support of the military to a new role more
appropriate to peacetime policing. More generally, reform
requires a clear distinction between the roles of the military
and police, with operational procedures and training that reflect
the distinction.

A particularly important role can be played by supporting the
development of a community policing system in Aceh. This system
will vary according to local conditions, and it is particularly
important that it should be related to indigenous Aceh concepts
of social order, developed only after careful consultation with
local communities.