New ID requirements heaps more misery on Acehnese

New ID requirements heaps more misery on Acehnese

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak
The Jakarta Post
Lhokseumawe, Aceh

Tengku Hanafi, 65, was back at the Baktiya district office in
North Aceh for the seventh time this week desperately inquiring
as to when he could get his new red-and-white identity card.

As with other Indonesian sexagenarians, Hanafi, a resident of
Matang Reudeup hamlet, actually no longer needs to renew his ID
card, a privilege he was already aware of.

"I'm afraid because I'm always asked to produce the new ID
every time I go through a security checkpoint," he said
explaining why he had applied for a red-and-white ID card, the
type that has been made mandatory for Acehnese since early in the
military operation against Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels.

Another applicant, 26-year-old Rusli Jasmani of Matang Pineung
hamlet, expressed similar fears.

"On my way here, I was ordered to get off my bike and asked to
produce my ID. I could only show the soldiers a note from the
district office that my ID card was still being processed. As it
had no stamp from the administration, I got a kick on the ass,"
he told The Jakarta Post.

The martial law administration has required Acehnese to obtain
the special ID cards, which are aimed at separating civilians
from GAM members.

The administration has set a deadline of July 31 for residents
to obtain the new IDs, and has said it will launch a major ID
operation starting Aug. 1.

An applicant must go through a long process that may take two
weeks before he finally obtains the new ID card.

The ID must be signed by the chief of the district where the
applicant lives, the governor and the martial law administrator.

An applicant needs to first obtain a clearance from his
village chief and local military chief before the district
administration will issue the card. The applicant must then
submit the card to the local police station for the police
chief's signature before getting the district chief's signature.
Afterwards, the applicant must register his ID number with the
martial law administration.

But many said a Rp 5,000 (about 60 US cents) bribe to the
right person in the district administration office could
considerably speed up the process.

Although the new ID cards are supposed to be free, many
residents have complained about the length of time required and
the extra money they have to fork out on transportation.

"We were lucky as we applied for the IDs while we were still
in the refugee camp in Gede Amplah so we didn't have to go back
and forth to the district office like other people," said
Zainuddin, a resident of Bandar Kalifah hamlet, Alue Papeun
village, Nisam district, about one hour's drive from the district
administration office.

Getting the new IDs, however, by no means solves the security
problems plaguing the Acehnese as GAM members are reportedly
determined to thwart the new ID card arrangements.

A resident of Matang Reudeup, who was speaking on condition of
anonymity, claimed that a GAM member had seized his newly issued
ID card two weeks ago.

"He greeted me politely and asked me where I had been. I told
him I had just been getting my new ID card. He asked me to show
it and then took it off me, saying that these cards were
unacceptable. So I had to get another one made," he told the Post
at the Baktiya district administration offices on Thursday.

District chief Ismuhadi said that the process for those whose
new IDs had been seized by GAM would be shorter as there was no
need for both the civilian and the martial law administrations to
screen them for possible involvement in the rebel movement.

"As of today, we have issued 5,949 new IDs out of a total of
8,000 blank cards. Thus, we can say that 60 percent of residents
have obtained the new IDs," he added.

He said that as the military operation intensified and reached
remote villages, more and more applicants had been coming forward
in the last week. About 300 new applicants came to his office on
Thursday alone, Ismuhadi said.

As for the long delays in the issuing of the new IDs, Ismuhadi
explained that his office was short of staff as many officials
had been warned by GAM not to report for work. In addition, his
office only had six typewriters.

"I doubt if we can issue new IDs for all the residents by the
end of this month, unless we get help from both the police and
the military," he added.

Martial law administration spokesman Navy Col. Ditya
Soedarsono said rather disingenuously that ID card checks would
be held merely to ascertain whether the administration had its
their duty in providing service to the public.

"The residents should not be worried about these checks. They
won't face any difficulties," he said.

Try telling that to 65-year-old Hanafi.