Journalists regret media restrictions

Journalists regret media restrictions

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A group of journalists associations revealed on Thursday a series
of violent incidents and restrictions imposed on journalists
covering the military operation in Aceh which began on May 19.

The press association, grouped under the Coalition Against
Violence Toward Journalists, said restrictions to press freedom
and abuses came from both warring parties in Aceh.

In their statement, the coalition urged both the Indonesian
Military (TNI) and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to protect the
press in line with the 1949 Geneva Convention.

The coalition consists of the Alliance of Independent
Journalists, Indonesian Television Journalists Association,
Indonesian Press Association of Reform, Indonesian Photo
Journalists and Southeast Asian Press Alliance.

It said the restrictions imposed on the press started when the
martial law administrator in Aceh, Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarya,
asked the media on May 20 not to quote statements from the Free
Aceh Movement (GAM). He also disclosed a plan to curb news
coverage in the war-torn province.

Under martial law, the military enjoys extraordinary powers to
restrict or ban the press.

Another form of restriction, the coalition said, came when TNI
stipulated on May 25 that all journalists had to report to the
military before covering the operation in a bid to prevent
"internationalization" of the Aceh case.

TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto added to the list of
restrictions on May 26 when he said he would sue print or
broadcast media that failed to provide facts in their reports on
the conflict. Endriartono also asked the media to sacrifice the
principle of covering both sides for the sake of nationalism.

Aside from the restriction, journalists have also been the
target of violence while covering the conflict, the coalition
said.

On May 20, an employee of state television channel TVRI in
Banda Aceh, identified as Muhammad Jamal, was abducted from his
office. His whereabouts and the motives behind his abduction
remain unknown, while TVRI has refused to give more details.

On May 21, the transmission pole of the state-owned radio RRI
was burned by unidentified group in Indrapuri district in Aceh
Besar, some 25 kilometers east of Banda Aceh. RRI repaired it the
next day.

A car carrying a reporter of private TV station TV7, Wahyu
Mulyono, was shot at by an armed group on May 22 while passing
Sigli en route to Banda Aceh. He escaped unhurt.

On May, 23, a car carrying a journalist of private television
station RCTI Wayan Astapala was also shot in the same area. Wayan
survived.

The next day, there were two shooting incidents aimed at
journalists, including The Jakarta Post's Nani Farida, as well as
threats against two local radio stations.

The coalition also noticed that on May 26, five journalists of
Koran Tempo daily were questioned until late into the night by
the military in Lhokseumawe following their report on civilian
causalities at the hands of the military. Later on the military
announced a plan to sue the daily.

The coalition asked journalists covering the Aceh war to
comply with professional standards of reporting only facts and
not propaganda from either party.

It also called on owners of print and broadcast media
enterprises to send experienced journalists to cover the conflict
as well as to fulfill their rights, including life and accident
insurance cover and provide them with safety devices.

Meanwhile, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists
(CPJ) cited at least six cases in which unknown gunmen opened
fire on convoys of both foreign and Indonesian journalists,
describing the attacks as "alarming".

"CPJ has documented a series of alarming incidents in which
journalists have been targeted while driving on the main road
between the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, and the town of
Lhokseumawe" in North Aceh, a CPJ statement was quoted by Agence
France-Presse as saying.

None of them was hurt, the group said.

"We are also gravely concerned by mounting evidence of a
systematic effort by Indonesian security forces in Aceh to
restrict reporting on the fighting there," it said.