New Aceh military command: Quo vadis?

Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

The future of strife-torn Aceh has become unclear since the Iskandar Muda Military Command was reinstated on Feb. 5, 2002, which has raised mixed reactions from all sides, both at home and abroad.

The reinstatement of the military command has drawn skepticism among Acehnese people, non-governmental organizations, political observers and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), while the government, including the Indonesian Military (TNI), have hailed it as a progressive breakthrough to the prolonged conflict.

The military command has yet to announce its short- and long- term strategic plans in the restive province. They have insisted that the ongoing military operation will go on to maintain the province as part of the unitary state.

"We are currently undergoing consolidation to maintain security in the province and support the public administration," Lt. Col. Ch. Firdaus, spokesman for the newly established military command, told The Jakarta Post here on Wednesday.

He said Military Command chief. Brig. Gen. Djali Jusuf was still in Jakarta to coordinate with TNI Headquarters and the central government on how the new military organization, which has a total of 16,700 personnel, should be run.

Separately, the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) has condemned the government's decision on the military command as a setback to democratic reform in the country.

According to SIRA, the government should pay more attention to political dialog, socioeconomic development and law enforcement, instead of taking a militaristic approach.

"The revival of the military command is really a betrayal of the planned comprehensive and peaceful solution through dialog. We are sure it will not solve the problem, but will make the conflict more complicated," SIRA coordinator Nazar told the Post.

He said that if the government was committed to establishing a civil society, developing democracy and enforcing law, it should prioritize political dialog, return the military to their barracks, accelerate economic development and bring all servicemen who have abused human rights to court.

"The reinstatement of the military command is a setback and democratic reform is under threat because the military will play a dominant role in Aceh as it did during the New Order era," he said.

Nazar said GAM would gain support if the government continued to take a militaristic approach, because the majority of Acehnese oppose the presence of more soldiers in the province.

"It now looks impossible that the government's decision on the military command will be dropped so they must make sure that the military will deal with defense matters," he said.

The military command was first established on Dec. 22, 1956, and liquidated in 1985 under Bukit Barisan Military Command.

He said the future of the province remains dark because the government has made promises without making any effort to realize them. "This has disappointed and frustrated the people of Aceh," he added.

Bachrum Manyak, deputy chairman of the Aceh provincial legislature, questioned the government's decision because the provincial legislative council had never been consulted.

Manyak, however, said the military should be more introspective and learn more about the Islamic culture in Aceh to prevent the situation from getting worse.

But, the government has seemingly gone beyond its commitment to deploy a comprehensive long-term approach to solve the conflict, because, with the revival of the military command, it has given priority to a repressive or military approach, which seems to be a setback both to their initial commitment and to Aceh itself.

The government's initial commitment is based on the 2000 People's Consultative Assembly Decree on Aceh and ten recommendations for Aceh proposed by the House of Representatives in 1998.

According to the comprehensive approach, the government should give priority to political dialog, socioeconomic programs, law enforcement and security operation. However, the government has since placed greater emphasis on a militaristic approach, which so far, has yet to reduce the conflict.

Of the ten important points recommended by the House of Representatives to help solve the conflict, the government has only realized the revival of Sabang free port. The other recommendations, which have yet to be implemented, are the trial of military officers allegedly involved in human rights abuses during military operations from 1989 to 1998, the reestablishment of the Banda Aceh to Medan, North Sumatra railway, law enforcement and political dialog.