Media slammed for sidelining Aceh issue
Media slammed for sidelining Aceh issue
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesian media have failed to help resolve the Aceh conflict,
as their coverage of the impact of martial law in the war-torn
province has been inconsistent, a watchdog says.
The Information Flow Study Institute (ISAI) said the media
here has no clear agenda on the Aceh issue, let alone helping to
find a settlement to the war.
Data from ISAI revealed that the media flooded their columns
and air time with news about Aceh during the early days when Aceh
was placed under martial law in May 2003.
However, during the final days of the first six months of the
military operation, there were only a few news items about the
issue, said Agus Sudibyo, who heads ISAI's evaluation team, on
Tuesday.
He criticized the media for easily ignoring Aceh and instead
focusing on other issues considered to be more interesting.
"The media has the right to say that it must present something
its readers or viewers want, but there is no reason for the media
not to keep questioning the implementation of martial law in
Aceh," he said.
"The media forgets easily. Also, it forgets that inconsistent
publication on Aceh simply confuses people, making it easy for
them to be provoked," he added.
The media, he said, had apparently left the public with the
impression that war was the only realistic option to resolve the
Aceh conflict.
"There is no room left to question the policy and its negative
impact," Agus said, pointing out that most publications only
quoted military officials in their reports on Aceh.
Agus was announcing the results of his team's quantitative
analysis on 10 national publications -- Kompas, Republika, Media
Indonesia, Pos Kota, Koran Tempo, Rakyat Merdeka, Indo Pos, Warta
Kota, Harian Terbit and Suara Pembaruan -- and five television
stations, Metro TV, SCTV, ANTV, TV7 and RCTI.
The team monitored news on Aceh from the media in three
phases: prior to martial law from May 1 to May 19, the initial
phase of operations from June 1 to June 19, and the final days of
the first six-month operation, from Oct. 1 to Oct. 19.
Military analyst J. Kristiadi said that many issues could have
been raised following the military operations.
"The issues are ongoing. For example, the media could ask
about the cost of the operations and budgeting transparency or
the effectiveness of the government's decision to engage in war,"
he said.
Kristiadi said he agreed that armed rebellion should be
confronted with a military response, but strongly opposed
operations that sidelined civilian institutions in Aceh.
"That's what has happened now in Aceh. You can always ask what
has happened behind the scenes," he said.
Dhandy Dwi Laksono, the chief editor of Acehkita.com online,
commented that most mainstream media in Indonesia had lost their
appetite to cover Aceh issues for a variety of reasons.
"Some media editors, managements or owners do not want
problems with the military, which is a very poor excuse, because
the Aceh issue is too important to be ignored," he said.
Teuku Agam Muzakkir
and Apriadi Gunawan
The Jakarta Post
Lhokseumawe/Medan
The newly trained Raider Unit, a combat unit under the authority
of the Indonesian Military (TNI), will be installed in Aceh early
January next year, Brig. Gen. Safzen Nurdin, the deputy commander
of the Aceh Military Operation Command (Koops), says.
The one-star general said that the combat unit was tasked to
hunt down Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels and safeguard security
in the area, prior to and after next year's general election.
The unit will join the existing 45,000 security personnel in
the troubled province, who have been stationed there since the
government launched a full-scale military offensive to crush the
separatist movement in May this year.
"More security troops are badly needed because the acts of
terror perpetrated by GAM members have yet to subside.
Those Acehnese hoodlums, who claim they are GAM members, are
still terrorizing people and committing criminal acts, including
abduction and blackmail," he said on the sidelines of a
discussion on the military's role during elections in Aceh.
The Raider Unit comprises of 10 battalions of raider combat
troops, consisting of 8,000 personnel. They have undergone
training since several months ago in various parts of Indonesia
and are now ready to be deployed.
Contradictory to Safzen's statement the TNI had earlier said
that the troops would be deployed in mid-December.
Safzen did not specify whether the troops would be deployed at
the same time or in stages.
The unit is said to be capable of mounting ambushes from the
air or water, as well as on land. The unit was formed due to the
concern that most TNI personnel killed in Aceh had not been
properly trained. Dozens of TNI personnel have been killed in the
operation.
The TNI has also argued that a small and highly capable unit
would be more effective to hunt down "the disorganized rebel
group."
The unit was inducted on Monday during a large Army ceremony
commemorating Army Day in Jakarta.
During the seven-month military operation, TNI personnel have
killed more than 1,000 rebels, while more than 2,000 others have
surrendered to the Indonesian authority.
But despite the number of rebels killed, the TNI are
apparently pledging to work harder to capture and kill more
rebels, as there are still thousands more left alive in Aceh.
It has been estimated that GAM has some 5,000 personnel.
Separately, the Medan police arrested two members of GAM on
Wednesday after they were discovered hiding in a location on Jl.
Yos Sudarso here. The two were identified as Saefudin bin
Ibrahim, 23, from Tanjung village in North Aceh and Jamal Hasan,
33, from Padang village in East Aceh. They confessed to police
that they were officers with the GAM police force.
The chief of Medan Police Detective, Adj. Comr. Maruli
Siahaan, said that the rebels acknowledged that they had escaped
from Aceh to avoid arrest.
"The two GAM members admitted that they had been here for
about eight days. They were able to pass security checks on the
border of North Sumatra and the Aceh border in Langsa, by using
fake ID cards," he said.
The two will be immediately handed over to the Aceh martial
law administrator.
14 die in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, Dec 25 (AFP) - At least 14 people, including a military marine, have been killed in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh, the armed forces said Thursday.
Six rebels and one marine were killed during a clash in the marshy area of Bireuen district on Wednesday, Aceh military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Yani Basuki said.
Troops shot dead two rebels in East Aceh distrcit on the same day and another guerrilla during a clash in Southwest Aceh, on Wednesday, he said.
Soldiers also exchanged fire with rebels in Cot Girek, North Aceh on the same day but there were no casualties, he said.
Villagers in North Aceh, on Wednesday also found the body of a dead man with gunshot wounds, he said.
Basuki said that on Tuesday, a suspected member of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) was shot dead during a raid in Bireun district around midnight.
Government troops also shot dead two suspected rebels during a raid on a hideout in East Aceh district on Tuesday while another rebel was shot dead later on the same day in East Aceh, Basuki said.
Five rebels were arrested during raids while 15 other surrendered to the authorities across Aceh, the spokesman said.
Basuki also accused GAM rebels of having shot a civilian, a former rebel who had surrendered, in West Aceh late Tuesday. The man was seriously wounded.
The government on May 19 imposed martial law after a five-month ceasefire broke down and launched a campaign to crush the guerrillas who have been fighting for independence since 1976.
The military says more than 2,000 suspected rebels have been arrested or have surrendered and around 1,200 others have been shot dead since May. It says some 300 civilians have also been killed but blames this on GAM.
str/bs/nj
Indonesia-Aceh
AFP
GetAFP 2.10 -- DEC 25, 2003 14:13:34