Planned Tokyo meeting on Aceh hailed as good step

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.