Reporters urged to discard military uniforms
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) has urged reporters embedded with the Indonesian Military (TNI) in Aceh to avoid wearing military uniforms, warning that the separatists may target the reporters in any gunfight.
AJI called on journalists to wear civilian clothes with a label clearly reading "press" to avoid being shot at by Free Aceh Movement (GAM) soldiers.
"By wearing the uniform of the TNI, GAM will identify journalists as part of the TNI and will not protect them but instead make them a shooting target," the association said in a statement on Saturday.
AJI's warning came after 54 reporters from some of Indonesia's leading media organizations underwent four days of military training with the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) in Kerawang, West Java.
During the training reporters must wear Army fatigues, consisting of trousers, a jacket, a shirt, a pair of boots and socks, a belt and a hat.
The reporters were trained on, among other things, how to react under fire, how to move within a military patrol, distinguish enemy fire from friendly fire, first aid and basic survival techniques in the forest.
More are expected to join the training.
Only reporters who have passed the training will be allowed to cover the war using TNI facilities and join their military operations. The TNI has also prepared an armed personnel carrier for transporting reporters for interviews in hotspots.
But there is apprehension among GAM, which fears the reporters may have been indoctrinated by the TNI.
AJI warned that GAM could consider such reporters as siding with the TNI. Reporters embedded with the TNI "would be viewed as not adhering to the principles of independent journalism," AJI said, quoting GAM's deputy military spokesman Teungku Isnandar Al Pase.
AJI said its members in Aceh reported that GAM had obtained the names of the 54 trained reporters. They said that the rebels were already suspicious of any reporter entering the province.
TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said that embedded reporters were free to wear civilian clothes. However, he echoed GAM's warning, saying the TNI could not be held responsible for attacks against reporters if they failed to camouflage themselves during a military operation.
Sjafrie said that reporters must sign a statement declaring that they choose to wear civilian clothes over Army fatigues.
A number of TNI officers also warned that GAM considered any person traveling with soldiers as an enemy and thus a legitimate target.
Asked about the safety of reporters covering the war from GAM's side, Sjafrie answered by questioning the integrity of such reporters. "What are they (reporters) doing over there," he asked.