Kodam for Aceh?

Kodam for Aceh?

To thinking citizens, the idea of setting up a new regional
military command (Kodam) today might sound strange or outlandish,
if not blatantly antithetical to the nationwide struggle to
establish a civil society.

However, in the case of the demand of the people of the
troubled province of Aceh that its long dissolved Kodam be
reinstated, their reasons deserve serious study, but only if the
measure is intended to help accelerate the return of peaceful
conditions there. Aceh's previous military command was rather
grandly referred to as Kodam Iskandar Muda (after the powerful
sultan who ruled the Kingdom of Aceh Darussalam in the first part
of the 17th century.)

The idea of reinstating an Aceh Kodam has been an "on again,
off again" proposal. When President B.J. Habibie's government
announced the idea of reestablishing a Kodam in Aceh, many
parties in the province, who had been traumatized by the brutal
and inhumane military operations conducted under the code name of
DOM, flatly rejected the proposal. They included the local
assembly (DPRD), which is now one of the supporters of Kodam's
reinstatement. They now say that they are proud of the name
Iskandar Muda.

The people of Aceh are irritated by the presence of the
Operational Command for the Rehabilitation of Security (Kolakop)
in Lhokseumawe, an industrial city and regency capital of North
Aceh. The function of Kolakop, which is headed by an Army
brigadier general and the provincial police chief, has been
queried. If a semimilitary agency chaired by two brigadier
generals can be established, why not set up a Kodam in Banda
Aceh, the provincial capital, with a clear status and situated in
the provincial capital instead of in Medan?

History shows that in 1629 Iskandar twice tried to free Malaka
from the yoke of Portuguese colonial power. According to the
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Aceh achieved great prosperity under
the monarch and controlled the northwestern portion of what's now
known as the Indonesian archipelago.

But there are also community groups, especially non-
governmental organizations, that do not care about historical
sentiment and fear a repetition of cold-blooded military
operations, carried out in an even more callous way.

The Kodam was abolished along with 16 others throughout
Indonesia and merged into 10 new military commands in 1985. The
functions of the Kodam Iskandar Muda were moved to the North and
Central Sumatra Military Command located in Medan, the capital of
North Sumatra. The Acehnese were somewhat demoralized by the
measure because, historically speaking, Aceh had played a leading
role in the establishment of the Republic of Indonesia in the
1940s whereas Medan, then the capital of the East Sumatra region,
with its traditional, procolonial aristocrats had been the
capital city of the Dutch-created puppet state of Negara Sumatra
Timur (East Sumatra State).

However, after the central government explained that the
change had been implemented for the sake of efficiency, the
people of Aceh were able to accept it. Studying the mood of the
people during a meeting between delegations representing the Aceh
administration and the Acehnese people, we would tend to say that
President Megawati will soon give her nod of approval to the
plan.

But amid the wave of change currently sweeping the world and
our country, the President needs to give more thought to demands
to abolish Kodam throughout the archipelago. With the fall of
Soeharto's despotic regime, which abused the power of the
military from the central military headquarters right down to the
village level in the pursuit of its own interests, this noble
idea should have been seriously discussed many years ago. But
back then it was completely unthinkable because of the presence
of so many pro-Soeharto elements both within and without the
government. Considering that Kodam usually ask for police
assistance to secure special events, it could be viewed as a
redundant unit anyway.

Back in Aceh, where the law has long been held at bay by both
separatists and members of the armed forces and police, the local
government should announce, as part of its plan to reinstate
Kodam, ideas on how to make the best use of the new military
command to: first, bring to justice those officers who have
committed human rights violations, because what the Acehnese
badly need right now is the restoration of their pride, whether
that be based on historical factors, ethnic pride or justice. And
second, when the time comes, to join other people throughout the
country to campaign for the abolition of military commands at all
levels in order to raise our nation to the same level as modern
and civilized countries.