Militias to join TNI course after martial law

Militias to join TNI course after martial law

Tiarma Siboro and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta

More than 100 Acehnese claiming to be local people and members of
various anti-separatist movements met with officials of the
Ministry of Defense here on Wednesday as part of what seemed to
be a government-sponsored week-long course on national defense.

Briefing the press after the meeting, Yahya of the Association
of Students for Religious Propagation in Gayo Lues regency said
that the course was very useful for participants as "it teaches
us many things about nationalism and basic military training".

Yahya also said that during the course participants were
taught to sing the national anthem, Indonesia Raya, and recite
the principles of the country's ideology, Pancasila.

"In Aceh, there are a number of anti-separatist groups that
usually join troops patrolling in remote villages to hunt down
rebels. I frequently join them and have learnt that only a few
Acehnese people can sing the national anthem," he said.

Another Acehnese, Muslizar of the Struggle Against the
Separatist Free Aceh Movement Front (GPS GAM), described how
soldiers decided whether or not villagers were rebels.

"The soldiers usually order villagers, especially the youths,
to gather in a certain area and order them to sing Indonesia Raya
or to recite the principles Pancasila. If they can't do so, they
are considered to be rebels," said Yahya, adding that suspected
the rebels were "processed" afterwards.

Beginning last Friday, a total of 129 Acehnese started a
seven-day nationalism course sponsored by the Ministry of Defense
in the hilly Puncak area of West Java. They are the first batch
of Acehnese to join the program.

Most of the participants are leaders of pro-Jakarta militias,
such as the Anti-separatist Movement (Geurasa) and the Separatist
Hunters.

According to the ministry's director general for defense
capabilities, Rear Adm. Darmawan, the course would be held
regularly, saying that the government was responsible for
developing the spirit of nationalism among Acehnese people.

"The objective of the course is to create nationalist cadres
among the Acehnese who will share the same perceptions on the
development the province as part of the Unitary Republic of
Indonesia," he said.

Government troops are currently on the offensive against the
separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which has been fighting for
independence for resource-rich Aceh since 1976. Close to 15,000
people have been killed since then.

During the one year of martial law than ended on Tuesday (May
18), civilians were either mobilized or forcibly drafted into
militia groups across the province to help crush the guerrillas.

Members of these groups are equipped with sharpened bamboo
sticks and machetes, with some of them wearing red-and-white
headbands. Many claim they were the victims of violence that they
blamed on the rebels.

Indonesian Military (TNI) spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie
Sjamsoeddin once said that the members of the anti-separatist
movements were recruited from villages in the province and were
given basic training by soldiers.

Sjafrie argued that the establishment of the groups was aimed
at strengthening the ability of civilians to defend themselves
against the separatists. He refused, however, to call them
militia groups, despite the fact that their members were allowed
to carry sharp weapons.

Human rights activists have expressed concern over the
widespread establishment of militia groups in Aceh, saying that
the trend could precipitate a wider civil war there.

In 1999, the TNI backed the establishment of pro-integration
militia groups in the country's former province of East Timor
prior to a UN-sponsored independence vote there. The militiamen
were blamed for widespread intimidation, thuggery and carnage in
East Timor both before and after it voted for independence in
August 1999.