Planned Tokyo meeting on Aceh hailed as good step

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Acehnese politician Gazhali Abbas and human rights campaigner Munir have welcomed a planned meeting between the government, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and donor countries in Tokyo next month, but warned that security and human rights issues must be addressed before the province can be rebuilt.

They also urged Japan and the United States, the sponsors of the Tokyo meeting, to set up an independent committee to channel assistance funds to the province, where GAM has been fighting for independence since 1976.

"I welcome the concerns of these foreign countries in settling the Aceh question, as we all know that many schools and houses have been damaged in the armed conflict between the Indonesian government and GAM.

"Nevertheless, I don't expect aid to bring more suffering to the Acehnese. So, I suggest that Japan and the U.S. set up an independent team consisting of individuals with high personal integrity to monitor the funds and to make sure that people in Aceh receive it directly," Gazhali told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Munir, co-founder of the National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said rebuilding, finding a political solution to the conflict and investigating rights abuses should take place simultaneously.

"The root cause of the prolonged conflict in Aceh is a political conflict between the government and GAM, and a distrust among the Acehnese to the policies the central government has introduced," Munir said.

"As long as all parties fail to find a solution to these problems, I don't think any other steps will benefit the province," Munir said over the weekend.

Japan and the U.S. plan to organize a meeting between GAM, the Indonesian government and donor countries in Tokyo on Dec. 3. The meeting will discuss possible financial aid for Aceh and rebuilding the province once a peace accord between GAM and Jakarta is signed.

Facilitated by Swiss-based non-governmental organization Henry Dunant Centre (HDC), the government and GAM have held a series of talks on a peace accord for Aceh.

Barring the unexpected, the two parties are to sign a peace agreement on Dec. 9.

Gazhali expressed concern any financial aid for Aceh would wind up in the military's pockets if Japan and the U.S. did not set up an independent committee to channel the funds.

And Munir said the question of human rights abuses had to be dealt with.

From 1989 to 1998, Aceh was designated a special military operations area (DOM). During this period thousands of people were killed, tortured and raped by the security forces, and many more simply disappeared. And the killings, disappearances, rapes and torture were not confined to the DOM era, and they continue today.

Highlighting the government's security approach to Aceh, President Megawati Soekarnoputri reinstated in 2002 the Iskandar Muda Military Command overseeing the province.