Long way for Megawati to tame rebellious Aceh

Long way for Megawati to tame rebellious Aceh

SINGAPORE: Violence has become a way of life in Aceh,
Indonesia's troubled north Sumatran province, and the situation
is fast becoming untenable as it gets worse by the day. Just this
week alone, rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) staged an
audacious attack on a police post in the provincial capital,
Banda Aceh.

In another incident, Indonesian troops opened fire at a public
minibus killing a boy and injuring three others. A provincial
lawmaker was murdered. On Thursday, just two days before
President Megawati Soekarnoputri visits Aceh, eight people, among
them a university rector, were shot dead in separate attacks.
Local legislators have fled in the face of intimidation and
mounting casualties.

Clearly, there is a campaign to terrorize people in the
province. The 26-year separatist war has already claimed the
lives of tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians. Clashes
between government troops and the separatist rebels are a daily
affair, and security is such a problem that President Megawati is
not staying overnight in Banda Aceh on her trip there today. It
is a telling sign of a deepening malaise. A radical change in
thinking is needed if Jakarta's leaders are serious about ending
Acehnese separatism.

Megawati's predecessor, former president Abdurrahman Wahid,
used a conciliatory approach, but his efforts failed, partly
because he was distracted. The peace talks he engaged with the
rebels broke down and the military went back to its tough line
last April. Alas, the Acehnese problem cannot be settled by brute
force. Independence for Aceh is out of the question, but the
Acehnese do have legitimate grievances which Megawati must
address if she is to end the bloody conflict. Besides greater
autonomy, the Acehnese demand justice and the prosecution of
those responsible for gross human-rights violations in Aceh.

But Megawati is neither meeting the provincial legislators nor
separatist leaders during her visit. The distrust between Jakarta
and the Acehnese is palpable, and the two sides are clearly out
of sync. The Indonesian government, having proscribed the GAM,
has refused steadfastly to accord it any status that might
legitimize its activities. But a meeting with GAM rebels, who
have been fighting for an independent Islamic state since 1976,
need not enhance their standing. Rather, it will underline
Megawati's resolve to end the conflict by peaceful, not military,
means. It would be a clear signal that it is time for the rebels
to lay down their arms and resume peace talks. Both the
Indonesian military and the GAM will only perpetuate the
separatist war if they persist in their old ways.

For now, the Acehnese want the government troops withdrawn
from the province. They want the legal proceedings against those
who committed serious human-rights abuses to be speeded up. To
stop the violence, there must be an immediate ceasefire. And
there should be no further delay in Jakarta in releasing the
funds which have been allocated under the new laws that give
special autonomy to Aceh. This will help to placate the Acehnese,
who feel the central government had, for too long, exploited the
resource-rich province but done little to improve their lot.
Acehnese activists want concrete measures from Megawati to
resolve the conflict. They are right to say that her visit should
not just be a public relations exercise. She had already
apologized to the Acehnese for misdeeds by the military in the
past three decades, but this has not satisfied them. She cannot
impose peace in Aceh, but she can work for it.

-- The Straits Times/Asia News Network