Jakartans uneasy about spying on Acehnese friends, neighbours
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The ongoing military operation to crush the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Aceh has put Acehnese living outside the war- torn province, Jakarta in particular, in a difficult position as the authorities have ordered that their activities be tightly monitored.
However, not all Jakartans are willing to spy on their Acehnese neighbors.
"We have known them for years and we know them to be good people and neighbors. If we have to beef up security, then it should apply to everybody, not only the Acehnese," Syahroni, head of security at the Tebet apartments in South Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
The apartments, which are located on Jl. Tebet Barat Raya, forms one of the eight community units in Tebet Barat subdistrict.
Syahroni was referring to Circular No. 138/1.755/2003, issued by the Tebet Barat subdistrict administration, which orders all heads of community units, neighborhood units and businesses in the area to monitor Acehnese residents.
The circular, dated May 23, 2003, was issued in response to an instruction from the South Jakarta mayor that contained five points setting out the need to impose tighter security measures in each of local neighborhoods.
The move apparently followed Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso's decision to put the capital on red alert to anticipate the possibility of revenge attacks by GAM members in the city after the central government declared martial law in Aceh on May 19.
The Tebet circular stipulates that residents must "monitor the activities of Acehnese in their neighborhoods and report them" to the local authorities.
"Should they (neighborhood chiefs) become aware of suspicious activities, they must immediately take action and hand over the suspects to the authorities so as to prevent them from perpetrating various crimes (such as bombings)".
The policy has drawn strong criticism from human rights groups, including the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), and the Nusa Bangsa Solidarity (SNB) organization.
They say it is discriminatory and violates the public's right to live free of fear.
Syahroni said the three Acehnese families living in the Tebet apartments had been informed about the instruction. "But both the security guards and the tenants have convinced them that this will do nothing to change our good relationship with them," he added.
The head of the neighboring community unit 7 in Tebet Barat, Naryono, told the Post that there was only one Acehnese in his jurisdiction, who had been living there for six months and had just got married to a Sundanese.
"His neighbors say he is a businessman, but no one is sure what he really does. He is a good person, but that doesn't mean we trust him completely.
"However, we live in an eastern culture. We don't feel easy about checking up on the people next door. That is why we support the establishment of the Mitra Jaya (a subdistrict monitoring unit) sponsored by the local military command. Let the residents of other community units do the monitoring in this unit," Naryono said.