Message from Aceh

Message from Aceh

Judging by the hostile reception given to him, President B.J.
Habibie failed to impress the people of Aceh during his brief
peace mission to the province on Friday. This was in spite of
saying Friday prayers with thousands of Acehnese at the grand
mosque in Banda Aceh, holding a dialog with them afterwards, and
making a public apology for past military atrocities. Habibie
promised to build a railway system in the province, a longer
runway for Banda Aceh's airport, offered to reimburse the funeral
costs of those killed during eight years of military operations,
and provide scholarships for children left orphan by these
operations.

These goodwill gestures failed to sooth the anger of the
Acehnese who had been at the wrong end of many military abuses.
The President was booed and jeered during the dialog even as he
was making those peace offerings.

Outside the mosque, thousands of students protested against
his visit, and they were involved in ugly clashes with security
officers. Ironically, security officers were beating students
just as Habibie was making the apology for past brutal military
actions. Banners and posters calling for a referendum to review
the status of Aceh in the republic were displayed in various
spots in Banda Aceh to make sure that their message reached
Habibie. The demand for referendum was also raised by some
participants during the dialog with the President.

So what went wrong with Habibie's peace mission?

His apology, whether sincere or not, did not go down well
among the Acehnese people because they have heard it before.
Armed Forces Commander/Minister of Defense and Security Gen.
Wiranto made an apology in August when the atrocities of the nine
years of military operations were coming to light. This gesture,
hailed by many at first because it was unprecedented, was not
followed up with prosecutions of the guilty commanders. This
would have gone a long way in assuring Acehnese that the gesture
was sincere and that the military truly felt remorse for its past
mistakes. Instead, there were even more atrocities a few weeks
later, enough to make Acehnese suspicious next time someone from
Jakarta comes and offers another apology.

Habibie's gesture to channel more funds for infrastructure
development and social causes went down as arrogant and
insulting. He left the impression that money could wipe out the
suffering the Acehnese have had to endure all this time.

The meeting with the Acehnese at the grand mosque could hardly
be called a dialog. It sounded more like a monolog, with Habibie
dominating the forum. A genuine dialog is only possible if every
one attends as equals, without their official attributes. How
could Habibie expect to have a real dialog with the Acehnese if
state protocols required such a heavy security arrangement? He
could not have heard the real aspirations of the Aceh people from
the hundreds of guests vetted by the organizers of the meeting.
The students protesting outside and demanding referendum probably
reflect better the views of the Aceh people than those inside.

It would be a mistake to dismiss the demand for a referendum
as representing the views of the minority. The Acehnese are not
demanding a separate state, although this could the result of a
referendum. They just want a vote to determine their status in
this republic in view of the long history of abuses by Jakarta.

The real message they sent to Habibie on Friday was their
discontent at the central government. Even Aceh Governor
Syamsuddin Mahmud reflected on this last month when he suggested,
uncharacteristically for a governor who was appointed by Jakarta,
that Indonesia should become a federal state whereby each
province had a large autonomy to manage its own affairs.

One would suspect that many other regions outside Java share
the sentiments of the Aceh people. It is unclear, however, if
this message is received by officials in Jakarta. The bill on
regional administration now being deliberated by the House of
Representatives falls short of offering real autonomy and power
to the regions, while the bill on fiscal balance is blurred about
the portion each region is allowed to keep from the income
generated by the exploitation of natural resources in its area.

Habibie's visit to Aceh has not been entirely a waste of time.
The Acehnese have sent a loud and clear message of a province
unhappy with the policies and attitudes of the central
administration. Whether Habibie and other officials in Jakarta
realize this is another matter.