Negotiation the only option for settling Aceh question

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Negotiation has emerged as the only option for the government to resolve the Aceh question after provincial councillors rejected the imposition of either a civil emergency or martial law there.

Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid on Thursday urged the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to return to the negotiation table, stressing that negotiation was the only way to put an end to the bloody conflict in Aceh.

"The best solution to the Aceh question is negotiation," Gus Dur said when asked to comment on the possibility of imposing a state of emergency in Aceh, where GAM has been fighting for an independent state since the 1970s.

The administration of President Megawati Soekarnoputri is considering imposing either a civil emergency or martial law in Aceh as armed clashes between government troops and GAM members have risen sharply.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had been sent to Aceh to assess whether or not the situation there warranted the imposition of a civil emergency or martial law in the province.

Susilo has been holding a series of meetings with provincial councillors, non-governmental organizations, and security personnel, since his arrival there last Tuesday.

Aceh councillors told Susilo on Wednesday that they did not want the central government to impose either a civil emergency or martial law in the troubled province.

According to Gus Dur, the military was to blame for the rising violence in Aceh.

"It is the fault of the military itself. Who is killing people in Aceh now?" Gus Dur asked provocatively.

Political observer Rizal Sukma from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said on Thursday that dialog was the only solution to end the conflict in Aceh.

"To make the dialog meaningful a monitoring body should be set up to ensure the implementation of agreements in the field," said Rizal, adding that the absence of such an agency rendered the Geneva agreements useless.

During peace talks in Geneva in May, the government and GAM rebels agreed "to work with all speed on an agreement on the cessation of hostilities with an adequate mechanism for accountability of the parties to such an agreement".

Both parties also agreed that an autonomy package offered by the government for the province could be a starting point for negotiations on a political settlement.

"In the coming talks, there is an agenda to stop all violence by 2002 and a mechanism to enforce the agreement in Aceh. We have to pursue the arrangement," Rizal said.

He also called for prosecution of military personnel responsible for human rights violations during the 1989-1998 military operation in the province.

"Many Acehnese want to see justice served but so far there is no assurance that those perpetrators will be punished," said Rizal, adding that there should be no impunity for military personnel.

In Banda Aceh, Susilo said on Wednesday evening that three things needed to be taken into account in settling problems in the province.

"These are: improving the effectivity of peace restoration operations, improving the economic welfare of the people, and redesigning the form of the dialog between the government and GAM if dialog is still considered necessary," Susilo said without elaborating.

Asked about the neutrality of the Henry Dunant Centre (HDC), Susilo said the centre had so far tended to take GAM's side rather than the government's side.

He noted, after an armed clash takes place between the two sides, the centre always justifies what GAM has done.

"And thus the role of HDC as facilitator and mediator (of the dialog between the government and GAM) will be reviewed," he added.

He also said that many foreign non-governmental organizations operating in Aceh in cooperation with local NGOs were against the government.

"It indicates that these NGOs tend to take sides with GAM. We do not reject them, but (we only hope) they won't take sides," he added.

Aceh has been facing the separatist movement for more than 25 years, during which thousands of people have been killed. Last year, more than 1,600 people were killed in Aceh, including rebels, civilians and security personnel.

The government has granted oil-rich Aceh special autonomy status, which gives the province greater powers to manage its own affairs, including the authority to implement syariah (Islamic law).