No peace in Aceh without rights tribunal, activists maintain
No peace in Aceh without rights tribunal, activists maintain
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Banda Aceh
The Indonesian Military (TNI) wants to bury the hatchet following
the Aceh peace agreement but human rights activists are seeking
the trial of all past human rights abusers in Aceh.
Top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said the
government will propose a reconciliation between the Acehnese
people and the security authorities, instead of taking the human
rights abusers to court, in the spirit of the peace accord.
"Given the peace agreement's spirit of truth and justice, the
possible trial of abusers should also be evenhanded ... but thus
far, there has yet to be a mechanism to take to court GAM members
who also committed acts of violence against civilians.
"The government did not close its eyes to these cases. In
certain instances, military officers have been punished for their
violations," Susilo said.
A number of low-ranking soldiers who killed dozens of students
at an Islamic Boarding School in Beutang Ateuh in 1999 have
already been jailed.
He said that human rights violations that occurred in the past
would be resolved via reconciliation under Acehnese traditional
custom and sharia law.
"There will be a mechanism to settle human rights abuses ...
in the case of gross violations of human rights there will be a
fair trial before reconciliation is achieved," he said.
More than 10,000 Acehnese people, mostly civilians, were
killed during 26 years of conflict, especially during the
military operation between 1989 and 1999.
The minister said that the government would cooperate with the
National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and other non-
government organizations to determine the form of the settlement.
Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh was of the same opinion, saying,
"Under sharia, life could be paid with life as compensation, but
punishment could be avoided should victims' families accept
perpetrators' pleas for forgiveness," he said.
Syaifuddin and Muhammad Nazar, two human rights activists in
Banda Aceh, demanded a fair trial of all security personnel who
had abused Acehnese people's human rights, saying that peace
would fail to materialize in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province
unless human rights abusers were brought to justice.
Syaifuddin, also executive director of the Human Rights
Foundation (YPHAM), rejected the government's proposal, saying
the Acehnese people would seek the trial of human rights abusers
through the planned all-inclusive dialog.
Muhammad Nazar, chairman of the Aceh Referendum Information
Center (SIRA), warned the government not to forget human rights
abuses, despite the signing of the cessation of hostility
agreement, saying, "We should put all sins and violations behind
us but we should not forget them to avoid committing similar sins
in the future."
Aceh politician Gazhali Abbas concurred, saying, "We would
only be creating a pseudo-peace and be waiting for a new and
major conflict," he said.
The trial of human rights violations will likely face a fate
similar to the trial of human rights abuses in East Timor, as the
two cases involved military and police officials.
Almost all military, police and civilian officials charged
with failing to prevent the 1999 East Timor violence were
acquitted of the charges.
International pressure on the government to try human rights
cases has subsided, as democratic and developed countries are
focusing their attention on the global war against terrorism.