Legislators renew calls for dialog to solve Aceh problems
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Legislators at the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) renewed their calls on Wednesday for the government to give priority to dialog in solving the Aceh problem.
"The President should continue dialog with GAM and other components of society in Aceh to peacefully settle the conflict," commission spokesman Alexander Litaay said in a plenary session.
The commission placed conflict settlement in Aceh at the top of its list of recommendations to President Megawati Soekarnoputri. Litaay of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle also said it was advisable for the government to move negotiations with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels from Switzerland to Indonesia.
The recommendation on Aceh was given in response to Megawati's progress report delivered in the MPR's plenary session last Thursday.
Megawati promised tougher action against GAM as part of the government efforts to end the prolonged conflict.
The commission's recommendation on Aceh corresponded with the latest developments on the Aceh issue. Also on Wednesday, Muhammadiyah chairman A. Syafi'i Maarif revealed that the Acehnese community in Jakarta had asked several Muslim figures to mediate the dialog on Aceh.
The Muslim leaders are Syafi'i, former deputy chief of Nahdlatul Ulama Ali Yafie, Muslim scholar Nurcholis Madjid, former foreign minister Ali Alatas and former home affairs minister Surjadi Soedirdja.
Recent dialogs between the government and GAM were mediated by the Swiss-based Henry Dunant Centre. The center's three "wise men", including Anthony Zinni, a retired U.S. general, are currently in Aceh to encourage both sides to continue the peace talks.
The commission also recommended the government protect the Acehnese from any kind of disturbance through the use of balanced, professional and cultural approaches.
"(The government should) uphold the law and settle the human rights violations by establishing a human rights investigation committee and an ad hoc tribunal," he said.
Thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the prolonged armed conflict in Aceh.
Apart from Aceh, the commission also recommended the government settle human right violations in Papua and establish an ad hoc tribunal to end conflicts there.
He said the government should learn from the experience of Poso in Central Sulawesi and Maluku. Warring parties involved in the conflicts in the two provinces have agreed to end enmity and have strived to maintain the hard-won peace.