Talk cheap, war takes lives, drains state coffers

Talk cheap, war takes lives, drains state coffers

Harry Bhaskara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The fourth round of peace talks in Helsinki ended last Tuesday
without a deal being struck to end the 30-year conflict in Aceh.
But President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono said in Tokyo on Thursday
that the prospect was promising. Earlier, Vice President Jusuf
Kalla said that Indonesia was "on the right track". This is so
despite the government's statement before the talks that it would
not entertain further talks.

Former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaar who mediated the
talks with the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) under his
leadership, was equally upbeat. He said he was optimistic that a
deal could be reached between the Indonesian government and the
Aceh rebels.

The six-day unofficial talks covered the issues of self-
government, amnesty and reintegration into society, human rights
and justice, the economy and security arrangements.

CMI is preparing basic documents that could form the basis of
the eventual agreement. Discussion on these documents is slated
for the next round of talks on July 12. The documents are
scheduled to be submitted to President Susilo after his return
from his overseas trip on Friday.

As in any conflict there are bound to be dissenting voices.
Lawmakers in Jakarta say they are against the presence of foreign
representatives in Aceh to monitor an eventual peace agreement.
They also object to another round of talks, asserting that the
Free Aceh Movement (GAM) could take the chance to consolidate
itself during the duration of the talks.

On his return from Helsinki, government negotiator Sofyan
Djalil told this newspaper that a monitoring team involving a
foreign country would be necessary to supervise and observe
whether or not each party follows the agreement. He dismissed the
idea that it was a form of intervention.

The legislators' argument that by having a foreign monitoring
team the Aceh problem has been turned into an international issue
is interesting since they should know that a human rights issue
is by definition an international issue.

Under the mediation of the Henry Dunant Centre the government
and GAM reached a peace accord in 2002 and foreign observers from
neighboring countries were deployed to monitor the cease-fire.
The truce only lasted several months and in 2003 the government
resumed its military operation in the troubled province.

This time, the question is rather where is the place for the
local civil society elements as they should also be included in
the monitoring process. They are the ones who really knows their
environment best.

Certainly, several bones of contention remain. Acehnese
activist and sociologist Otto Syamsuddin said last week that the
government should allow the Acehnese to establish local political
parties and to hold direct local elections. A similar sentiment
was echoed by GAM senior political leader Mohammad Nur Djuli.
However, since the Constitution only recognizes national
political parties with branches in more than half of the country
provinces, it would be difficult for the government to go along
with the proposal.

Anything could be said about this fourth round of peace talks
but it is hard to deny that the atmosphere in the talks has
improved a lot since the first round of talks in January. Mud-
slinging and arguments conveyed in bad faith have seemed to take
the back seat.

The lawmakers' objection to another round of peace talks
implies that they are for a military approach. This is puzzling
since that approach has been in place for three decades. The
government has also rejected a proposed cease-fire during the
peace talks.

Hence, peace talks do not count much for the Acehnese since
killing continues unabated. The government argues that GAM
constitutes a permanent security threat. GAM has dismissed this
argument.

Killing also continues even after the lifting of the civil
emergency on May 19, 2005. In fact, locals said there was not
much difference between the one-year martial law period (May 2003
to May 2004) and the civil emergency period (from May 2004 to May
2005) as war kept raging. Even since the Dec. 26 tsunami, more
than 200 people have been killed in gunfights between government
troops and the rebels.

In the end, what counts for the Acehnese is a complete
cessation of hostilities and nothing less than genuine peace in
their resource-rich province. This can only be achieved through a
comprehensive settlement in peace talks, no matter how tough and
time consuming this process may be because the alternative is
war. Are the 12,000 people killed in the three-decades war, not
enough?

Talk is cheap while war takes lives and drains the state's
coffers. Hence, talks have to be pursued relentlessly even if it
takes another 10 rounds of talks.

The tsunami that killed more than 129,000 Acehnese has
prompted the belligerent parties to start the new round of talks
after a previous attempt failed in May 2003. Both parties should
consider peace a prerequisite for any reconstruction work in
Aceh.

The scale of reconstruction work in the province is so big it
calls for total participation of all of those who care for Aceh.
They are not only foreign or local elements of the society but
also the Acehnese exiles as well.

Let the tsunami become a milestone toward peace.