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.