Military to continue operations in Aceh: Army chief

Military to continue operations in Aceh: Army chief

Lela E. Madjiah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A unit commander orders his troops to set fire to a house and
shoot its unarmed occupants to death. The attackers get away with
the crime.

The incident, or one perhaps similar to it, took place during
the American Civil War as depicted in Glory, a 1989 movie on the
war.

Of course, in the real war, in the 1860s, there was no such
thing as the Geneva Convention and rights groups were unheard of.
But the message of the movie was clear: The Union side was
determined to win the war against the Confederates at all costs.

Statistics available at the United States Civil War Center
website reveal that during the 1861-1865 Civil War a total of
110,070 Union soldiers were killed in combat, another 249,458
died of non-combat causes including diseases, and 275,175 were
wounded. The Confederates lost 74,524 soldiers in combat deaths,
124,000 in non-combat deaths, with another 137,000 wounded in
battle. This is not to mention civilian casualties and material
damages: burned or plundered homes, pillaged countryside, untold
losses in crops and farm animals, ruined buildings and bridges,
devastated college campuses and neglected roads all left the
South in ruins.

War causes death, wounds, suffering and material losses. That
is why the Indonesian government's plan to launch a full-scale
military operation against separatists rebels in Aceh has raised
concern. Since Acehnese separatists began fighting for
independence from the Unitary Republic of Indonesia in 1976,
thousands have been killed, many of them civilians.

The military, too, shares these concerns.

"Of course war has its impacts, including loss of lives, not
only those of civilians but also military lives. We sincerely try
our best to avoid civilian casualties because we are in Aceh to
protect the people from the rebels," Army Chief Gen. Ryamizard
Ryacudu said in an interview with The Jakarta Post earlier this
week.

Ryamizard stressed that the Indonesian Military (TNI) was only
doing its job, which is to defend the country's sovereignty and
safeguard the nation's unity.

"I don't understand why there are demands for us to cease
operations in Aceh while nobody asks the armed rebels to stop
their activities, including kidnapping and killing civilians and
extorting money," he said.

He was referring to an agreement signed by the government in
December which calls for TNI to withdraw its troops from
offensive operations in Aceh.

Ryamizard said the government's decision to resume talks with
the Acehnese negotiators in Tokyo, scheduled to take place on
Saturday, would not affect military activities in the province.

"As long as the rebels continue killing and kidnapping people,
we will fight them because it is our duty to protect the people,"
Ryamizard said in an interview with SCTV on Friday.

Ryamizard claimed that the media was partly responsible for
the negative image of the Indonesian government, including the
TNI, while all they were doing was keeping the nation intact. He
urged the media to be "fair" in reporting the events in Aceh.

He was responding to a question about media coverage in Aceh
and of frequent reports about human rights abuses in the
province. He admitted that the media had been quite unfair,
noting that the media accepted the U.S. explanation of the
civilian casualties in its invasion of Iraq as collateral damage,
while in the case of Aceh the media claimed civilian casualties
as victims of human rights abuses.

There is also the trauma of the East Timor debacle, which has
resulted in a number of military and police officers to be tried
at the East Timor ad hoc rights trial in Jakarta.

In fact, there is reluctance among some in the military's top
brass to take the necessary steps in dealing with the Acehnese
fighters for fear of losing their jobs and ending up in court as
human rights abusers.

Even President Megawati Soekarnoputri has taken note of the
seeming reluctance and has given assurances that she alone would
be responsible.

"The TNI is only doing its job as mandated by the
Constitution. All the consequences will be mine alone to bear," a
high-ranking military officer quoted the President as saying.

Ryamizard stressed that military action alone would not solve
the problem in Aceh.

"I realize that ideology, religion or ethnic issues cannot be
solved by armed action. Therefore, it is important to keep in
mind that the TNI only deals with the armed elements of the
Acehnese separatist rebels. It is our duty to eliminate any armed
rebellion. We don't deal with other matters such as social and
political issues, which are for other state bodies to solve," he
said.

Former Army deputy chief Lt. Gen. (ret) Kiki Syahnakri agreed,
saying a military operation would not be effective on its own.

"Our history has shown that military action only serves to
pressure the rebels to return to the negotiating table," Kiki
said.

Kiki also said concerns for civilian casualties were
understandable, given the military's past record. However, he
gave assurances that the TNI had changed a lot from that of the
DOM (military operation) period, where the military was accused
of causing tens of thousands of civilian deaths and
disappearances.

"Today the troops are better trained, including in the laws of
war. They have a better understanding of human rights and are
also better trained in dealing with situations where rebels use
human shields. When in doubt, don't fire unless their lives are
threatened. That's an important lesson they have been taught,"
Kiki said.

Unfortunately, there is a general perception that the Aceh
issue is an exclusively military problem.

"Aceh is not only our problem, it is a national problem. The
Acehnese rebels are trying to break away from the Unitary
Republic of Indonesia; they are actually confronting the rest of
the nation of over 200 million," said Ryamizard.

Ryamizard said as long as other civilian government
institutions in Aceh did not perform their tasks well, the
problem would persist and the military would continue to be seen
as having vested interests in Aceh.

In fact, even the Acehnese have grievances about the civilian
government leaders, many of whom are corrupt and spend more time
in Jakarta than in their own offices in Aceh.

Corruption is rampant and in January the coordinator of the
Working Committee for People's Solidarity Against Corruption, J.
Kamal Farza, ranked Aceh as the most corrupt province in the
country.

Last year, for example, there were 392 corruption cases and
none of the suspects have been brought to court or questioned by
the police, said Kamal as quoted by Antara.

One of the largest corruption allegations involves the Aceh
provincial administration. According to Kamal, the provincial
administration has yet to present its 2000 budget accountability
report.

The corrupt bureaucracy is believed to have undermined the
government's efforts to eliminate the armed separatist rebels.

"They (corrupt officials) have caused the people to lose faith
in the government and have only boosted the rebel strength," said
a retired military general.

Ryamizard stressed that the planned military action was aimed
at providing security for the Acehnese people, given the fact
that rebels had increased the number of their fighters and
weapons.

"They have an additional 2,140 armed members and 516 weapons
since the signing of the truce," said Ryamizard.

According to the latest TNI figures, the rebels have 5,246
armed members and 2,126 weapons.

"Many of their weapons are more sophisticated than ours," said
an Army major, who asked not to be named.

As a result, the rebels have strengthened their grip on many
cities and villages, forcing many villagers to flee their homes.
Meanwhile, around 30 percent of city and district administrations
have been become inactive due to intimidation from rebels.

The armed rebels are concentrated in North Aceh, East Aceh,
Birueun and Pidie.

"Our presence in Aceh is to help restore security and order so
that Acehnese can have a peaceful life. I'm aware that there are
members of the Army who commit violations and whose conduct is
not acceptable to the Acehnese. For that, I apologize and I
assure you that they will be punished," said Ryamizard.