Painter urges end to repression in Aceh

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): Teuku Umar, the Acehnese hero, stands intrepidly with a rencong cleaver in his hand and his face, painted in red, is filled with rage. Passages from the Hikayat Perang Sabil (the Prose of the Sabil War) fill the background.

An Acehese expression in Arabic script is written in bold red and stretches across the width of the canvas, as if exclaiming a provocative message: "It is better to die on the front line than die in your sleep!"

The work of the Acehnese painter Abdul Djalil Pirous, Once There was a Holy War in Aceh, an Homage to the Hero Teuku Umar, was one of the nine paintings about Aceh exhibited recently at the Sahid Jaya Hotel in conjunction with the Children of the Nation's Solidarity for the Victims of Violence Charity Evening on Sept. 16.

The artist explains that the themes of the paintings that were exhibited depart from a reaction toward the violent handling of the Aceh problem, which has continued until today, even after President Habibie offered promises to improve the region's condition. However, even after the Military Operation District status of Aceh was supposedly terminated, the violence continues and in the words of the artist, it has "transformed into a culture of power that is frightening and is apparently filled with violations of human rights".

As conveyed by The chairman of the Concern for Aceh Human Rights Forum, Syarifuddin Bantarsyah, during Military Operation District 1989-1998, the human rights violations involving the Indonesian Armed Forces included 1,321 deaths, 1,958 cases of missing persons, 3,430 of torture, 128 of rape, 81 of sexual harassment, 597 of arson, and hundreds of looting. Ironically, the numbers did not decrease after the termination of the Military Operation District status. As a result, since 1989, there has been a total of 8,107 cases of military violence in Aceh, including 1,457 deaths.

Through his paintings, Pirous urges an end to the violence which is happening in Aceh, and suggests that it be replaced with a cultural and humanitarian approach. Violence will only result in more violence, he says.

At the charity event, a total of over Rp 360 million was raised from the auction of works of art and personal items, including the kopiah (Muslim cap) of Abdurrahman Wahid and Amien Rais's prayer mat. The funds obtained from this event is expected to help heal some of the wounds that the Acehnese have suffered from the inflicted violence.