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.