Media blasts curbs in Aceh

Media blasts curbs in Aceh

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The media criticized on Friday new guidelines for media coverage
in Aceh, saying that rules were effectively hampering the press
from obtaining balanced reports on the current integrated
operations in the conflict-torn province.

Bambang Harymurti, the chief editor of the daily Tempo Koran,
said on Friday that the media had an "obligation to observe and
tell our readers what is really going on in Aceh."

Chairperson of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI)
Ati Nurbaiti, meanwhile, said that the media restrictions made it
harder for the public to obtain a balanced report of the war.

She said that learning from the perceived success of embedded
journalism in Iraq, the TNI invited journalists to cover the war
in Aceh to open up the military campaign to public scrutiny.

"But now we see more constraints apparently coming from the
TNI's realization of what public access can lead to -- exposure
outside their control," she said.

The martial law administration in Aceh issued on Thursday a
declaration banning foreigners from visiting the province and
limiting the movements of foreign journalists to the provincial
capital Banda Aceh and the capitals of the province's 15
regencies.

Aceh military administrator Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarya said on
Thursday that the guidelines were aimed at ensuring the safety of
foreigners in Aceh.

But, foreign media correspondents in Indonesia lambasted the
declaration, saying the regulations had effectively banned
foreign media access to the province.

The Jakarta Foreign Correspondents' Club (JFCC) sent on Friday
a letter to Coordinating Minister for Security and Political
Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hassan Wirayuda, urging the government to ensure that foreign
journalists could travel freely to and within Aceh.

"Many of our members have reported from numerous conflict
zones around the world and find the restrictions being imposed in
Aceh among the most restrictive ever encountered," the JFCC said
in the letter.

Foreign journalists and correspondents may report only from
the provincial capital Banda Aceh and the province's 15 regency
capitals. Traveling between districts requires a military or
police escort.

It also questioned reports of the military banning local media
from providing any reporting or video footage to foreign media.

The JFCC said that exchange of news materials was common
practice in the media industry, citing for example Indonesian
television showing footage from international media.

"It is a violation of press freedom that local media are now
being prevented from offering their material, in turn, to foreign
media," said the JFCC in its letter.

This criticism has come despite repeated discussions with
government officials in the hope that the new rules would
continue to facilitate coverage of the war in Aceh.

"The JFCC is deeply concerned, however, that a series of
delays and constantly changing government and military rulings is
in fact preventing foreign media access to Aceh," it said.

The military arrested on Friday 25-year-old Takagi Tadatomo, a
Japanese freelance photographer, who took pictures of refugees in
the Bireun regency.

Aceh military operation spokesman Lt. Col. Ahmad Basuki Yani
said that Tadatomo did not have a permit from the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and was told to leave Aceh on Thursday.

Coverage by the local media is subject to restrictions as
well. The TNI bans statement from rebels while at the same time
encourages the media to send embedded journalists reporting from
the military side.

Speaking in a gathering with journalists last week, Aceh
Military Operation Commander Brig. Gen. Bambang Darmono reminded
them that Aceh was under martial law and that such stringent
policies were fully legitimate.

The tighter foreign media rulings add to concerns of a lack of
public scrutiny over the war. Rights abuses were rampant in the
period between 1989 and 1998 when Aceh was declared a military
zone. Over 10,000 people died during the 10-year military
operation, mainly civilians.

Now the TNI has turned a cold shoulder to local aid groups,
including the government sanctioned National Commission for Human
Rights (Komnas Ham).

Meanwhile, international aid groups and outspoken Acehnese
activists have virtually left the province.