TNI says no to demilitarization in Aceh for vote
The Jakarta Post Banda Aceh
The Indonesian Military (TNI) turned a deaf ear to the increasing calls for a limited demilitarization in war-torn Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam ahead of this year's elections so the Acehnese could cast their votes without the threat of gun battles each day.
Chief spokesman for the martial law administration in Aceh Col. Ditya Sudarsono insisted here over the weekend that both the government and the military had no plan for a cease-fire with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) nor would it demilitarize certain districts considered to be free of rebels, during the elections, which begin on April 5.
"The proposed demilitarization of government-held areas in the province is not a possibility, because rebels will use such a window of opportunity to create disturbances. We can't do it," he explained.
He also said that the martial law administration had pledged not to violate the people's freedom during the elections and had been committed to making it a success.
Following increasing intimidation, both by rebels and security personnel, many political analysts, Acehnese politicians and other leaders have called on the military and GAM to respect a cease-fire to allow the General Elections Commission (KPU) to organize democratic elections in the province.
Col. Ditya added that the martial law administration had decided to deploy 35,000 security personnel tasked to quell the separatist group, to enhance security during the election campaign season and each of the voting days, a process that could last for seven months.
He also denied that martial law authorities had interfered with the KPU's work by barring some legislative candidates that it did not like.
"The military has no authority to delist troubled legislative candidates. We'll let the people do the selection at the ballot box," he avowed.
Jakarta imposed martial law and launched major military operations to hunt for an estimated 5,000 GAM fighters on May 19, 2003, when it deemed that the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) was a failure. The CoHA, signed by both Jakarta and GAM in Dec. 2002 in Geneva, was facilitated by the conflict resolution organization Henri Dunant Centre (HDC). So far, the military has claimed to have killed and/or arrested approximately 2,000 rebels and those considered their supporters.
The armed conflict broke out in 1976 when a group led by Hasan Tiro, decided to take up arms to fight for the province's independence after the government had failed to fulfill many of its promises to grant the province greater freedoms and a share of Aceh's natural resource profits.
An estimated 12,000 Acehnese people were killed in the sporadic conflict between 1976 and 2002, and most of those occurred during the time that former president Soeharto declared Aceh a military operation territory (DOM) between 1989 and 1998.
Despite reformasi and brief glimpses of hope for a better future, many Acehnese no longer have faith in the government due largely to Jakarta's failure to penalize or try any of the military officials presumed responsible for human rights abuses during the DOM period as well as the impeded implementation of special autonomy.
Photo caption:
ACEHNESE VOTERS: Two university students walk by a newly painted billboard near their campus in Banda Aceh that tries to assure the Acehnese that the elections will be fair and honest. In addition to government posters and billboards, several political party flags have been raised to get voters' attention.