Media slammed for sidelining in Aceh issue

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Lhokseumawe/Medan

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, 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.

Meanwhile, 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.

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.

At least 14 people, including a military marine, have been killed in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh since Tuesday, the armed forces said on Thursday.

Six rebels and one marine were killed during a clash in the marshy area of Bireuen district on Wednesday, Aceh military spokesman Lt. Col. Ahmad Yani Basuki said, quoted as saying by AFP.