Peace talks between govt and GAM should lead to peace in Aceh: Leaders

Ibnu Mat Noor and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh/Jakarta

A cessation of hostilities, law enforcement and corruption eradication are a prerequisite to the reconstruction of postwar Aceh, leading Acehnese figures and scholars say.

Tengku Yusni Sabi, director of the postgraduate program at the Ar-Raniry Islamic Teaching Institute in Banda Aceh, said problems in Aceh would not solved simply by signing the proposed peace accord.

"Aceh will need funds to get the conflict stopped. The most important things are that the law must be upheld and all human rights abuses in the past must be brought to court. There will never be true reconciliation in Aceh without these three important factors.

"The rebuilding of infrastructure damaged during the war and the economic development program will follow suit. Not only the international community but also Acehnese people want to see peace reign in Aceh," he told The Jakarta Post here on Wednesday.

A number of foreign countries, including Japan, the United States and Australia, and the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank expressed a commitment during a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday to give financial support to the rebuilding of Aceh after the signing of the peace accord in Geneva on Dec. 9.

Yusni, who chairs Security Monitoring Team for Aceh, suggested the government and GAM leaders give people hope for a peaceful settlement.

He said the most serious problem the international community should address immediately was the education of children. A large percentage of children in the province no longer attend school as thousands of school buildings have been destroyed during the 26- year-old war.

"If the tens of thousands of school dropouts are not well managed, a new conflict could erupt in the next decade," Yusni said, adding Aceh would face a lost generation unless education was addressed.

Separately, director of the Lhokseumawe College of Technology, Yuhanis Yunus, called on the Henry Dunant Center (HDC) to not only facilitate peace talks between the two conflicting sides but also help alleviate the conflict's impact, such as providing social rehabilitation for Acehnese refugees.

A community leader in East Aceh regency, Bachtiar Harun, concurred and said all sides, including the HDC, should pay serious attention to the true cessation of hostilities to avoid any violence in the future.

Yuhanis said dozens of children and their parents were still taking refuge in shelters as it was impossible for them to live in their villages, which were besieged by security personnel.

A HDC official in Geneva, who asked for anonymity, told The Jakarta Post that the Indonesian government and GAM had indicated they would attend the Dec. 9 Geneva meeting for the signing of the peace agreement.

"We are still planning the Dec. 9 meeting, and there is a strong indication both sides will come for the signing of the agreement," the official said.

The official said that despite the celebration of GAM's anniversary and Hassan Tiro's independence speech, no changes were made to the original schedule.

"We are still confirming the names of the delegation members from both sides and they will send much larger delegations than before," the official added.

Regarding the contentious issues of the agreement, he said that both sides had agreed to the principles of the peace deal.

"There will be discussions of the details of the agreement on Dec. 9, but the final document looks ready for the signing," he said.

He said that though the meeting would be in Geneva, there was still no confirmation about whether Tiro would attend.