Landmark Aceh deal to offer autonomy, elections
Landmark Aceh deal to offer autonomy, elections
Joanne Collins, Reuters, Jakarta
International mediators trying to get Indonesia and rebels in Aceh to sign a fresh peace deal said on Friday the pact would be a landmark agreement offering provincial elections and the setting up of a team of monitors.
Bill Dowell, a spokesman for the Geneva-based Henry Dunant Centre which is mediating in the dispute, said the outline of the agreement would be unveiled later on Friday in Banda Aceh, capital of the troubled province on the northern tip of Sumatra island.
He said the deal was the culmination of a year of negotiations and hoped it would be signed by Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels and the government in December, after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadhan.
Jakarta had wanted to sign the deal before the fasting month began but the rebels sought a delay until after Ramadhan, saying there were still some issues to be ironed out.
"It is more comprehensive than anything that has happened before and what it is basically calling for is the formation of a joint security committee," Dowell told Reuters by telephone from Banda Aceh, 1,700 km (1,060 miles) northwest of Jakarta.
It also provides for the holding of free and fair local elections in Aceh -- the first for any Indonesian province -- but details, including how GAM might be involved, were yet to be fleshed out.
"The idea is to grant some autonomy to the region and have elected officials represent the people of the region," he said.
The decades-long conflict has claimed thousands of lives and more than two years of peace talks in Switzerland have done little to halt the bloodshed. Several ceasefires have been signed, but are almost immediately ignored by both sides.
Indeed, the deal comes as Indonesian troops continue to lay siege to a group of rebels at a village in North Aceh.
According to an outline of the peace deal obtained by Reuters, the committee would monitor security, investigate violations and be the point of reference for all complaints.
Dowell said that committee would create around 25 monitoring teams of six people each with equal representation from the rebel group, the government and the Henry Dunant Centre.
"The Henry Dunant Centre's orientation and needs assessment teams will begin deploying on Saturday to prepare for eventual deployment of peace monitors, once the agreement has been signed," he said.
Dowell said a well-recognized, international personality, acceptable to both sides, would be chosen to sit on the committee. Under the deal, called the Cessation of Hostilities Framework Agreement, the following would apply:
* A free and fair process for provincial elections to be set up to ensure the broadest participation of all elements of Acehnese society.
* Both sides would immediately cease hostilities, acts of violence and intimidation, destruction of property, illegal arrests, harassment and illegal searches.
* At a time to be agreed on, begin a process of joint demilitarization.
* The joint committee, operational within a month of signing the agreement, would designate "peace zones", which would include certain schools, mosques and other facilities.
When asked whether the siege would impact the signing of the deal, Dowell said: "It hasn't stopped the process but it may be more reason for reflection by some parties before going ahead."
Between 500-1,000 troops have encircled the rebels for nearly two weeks, and at the weekend fired several mortars which military officials have said was necessary to separate a number of civilians apparently holed up with them.
Many of Aceh's four million people want independence, but most just long for peace and an accounting of past wrongs carried out during decades of military operations under the iron rule of former President Soeharto, who stepped down in 1998.
Jakarta has ruled out independence, saying the best it could offer was last year's autonomy package that gives Acehnese more control over their affairs.