Voices from below the ground

By Barbara Leigh

SYDNEY, Australia (JP): Last month at the National Art Gallery of Indonesia was an exhibition of young women's paintings. One of them was a quite beautiful and yet terrifying installation by a woman who was born and grew up in Aceh, Endang Lestari.

The plaque on the installation stated "Beek Gilho Na Leung" -- "Don't Step on the Grass". My imagination took me below the grass. All that was visible above were masses of tiny "plants". But instead of plants I saw voice boxes and in my imagination they were crying at what was happening to their land.

Hanging above the "grass" was a tirei (Acehnese hanging that is used for all rites of passage) that was adorned not with gold thread embroidery, but with red stained tiny plaques of remembrance.

Since I was last in Aceh in 1999, attitudes on all sides have hardened considerably. In the early years, reformasi opened many boxes where lids had been locked tight for decades. The calls for a referendum were earsplitting.

When former president B.J. Habibie visited Aceh, he continually stressed the concern of the central government for the people of Aceh. Apologizing profusely for the violence of the army against the people, he said that he would revive the rail link to Medan and revive the economy of Sabang, but much to the chagrin of most of those there, he did not call for a referendum.

As a result of his visit, 85 religious schools were given government status. Not long after that visit, Abdurrahman Wahid, or Gus Dur, became President. He mentioned in one of his statements that Aceh could have a referendum.

On the strength of such a Presidential statement, the then Governor felt free to also come out in favor of a referendum. The groundswell of support for a referendum then jumped exponentially. Young people who were reluctant to be part of what might be seen as a radical fringe group began to join the ranks of the committed. The word "referendum" was used not just in student radical groups, but also in serious discussions among the middle class in major Acehnese towns.

Letting the people decide was seen to have merit and was seen to be a just way of settling the issue. Such a position is still maintained by a number of leading Acehnese, with the only question being appropriate timing.

Back in Jakarta, alarm bells were ringing loudly within the ranks of the army. There was no way that the army leadership in Jakarta could tolerate such a move. They had just suffered the ignominy of a defeat in East Timor. There were moves for independence in a number of other regions. The army would lose its whole raison d'etre if the republic began splintering.

Besides there was the issue of Exxon Mobil and the contribution it makes to government coffers. The result was that a decision was made to increase the number of troops in Aceh. The rationale was protecting "the unity of the nation".

By the beginning of 2001, 30,000 troops had been sent to Aceh. The population of Aceh is only 4 million, so that makes a soldier or policeman for every 133 persons. Imagine the gender imbalance of the situation and the complete failure of the law, and it is easy to see why sexual violence is now a weapon of war within Aceh.

Everyday human constraints are breached in the most dreadful ways. The law is completely corrupt and unable to deal with any of these cases. One of the most outstanding cases of blatant disregard of the law is the case that took place beginning on Dec. 6, 2000.

Four young volunteer field workers for the group called Rehabilitation for Torture Victims of Aceh (RATA) were stopped by an army vehicle and taken to an abandoned house to be executed, one of the young men survived. He later testified to the police. This led to the arrest of eight men. Four were civilian informers for the military (cuak): Ampon Thaib Geudong 48, known as Teunku Pon; Abdullah bin Yusof, known as Guru, 37; Maimun, known as Buyong, 44, and Madiah, 44. These four mysteriously "escaped" last month on March 22, 2001. The army detainees are reportedly still is custody in the Bukit Barisan regional military command in Medan -- Maj. Jerry Patras, intelligence chief for military resort (Korem) 001 in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh and three of his subordinates. There is no proof that these men are still in custody.

The Indonesian National Human Rights Commission had planned to use the RATA killings as a test cast before a new Human Rights Court established in Medan on March 12, 2001. However the Banda Aceh police turned the case over to the High Court in Aceh for prosecution in a koneksitas court, a much less powerful court involving civilian and military judges.

In a Human Rights Court, they could be prosecuted for the serious charge of crimes against humanity if it could be shown that the killings are part of a broader pattern of state- sponsored abuse. As the New York based Director of Human Rights Watch, Sidney Jones stated, "This was a test case for the capacity of the government to prosecute human rights violators. If the security forces can't even hold high profile thugs like these, what hope is there for justice in Indonesia?"

She went on to say, "If the reports are true, this escape means that no civilian between Medan and Lhokseumawe is safe." Recent reports coming out of Aceh would indicate that civilians throughout Aceh feel under threat.

The navy now controls the ports in Aceh. Militia groups, as in Timor Leste, have sprung up to add their intelligence to the "dirty" work of the army. The military informers are notorious, and are frequently those who are killed for their lack of loyalty. If they are not killed, the financial rewards are more than they could expect otherwise. As shown above, the capacity of those in power to protect these informers (who are often blatant abusers of human rights) means that there is an increasing bravado and lack of concern for being brought to justice. Indeed, justice itself becomes a term that begins to lose all meaning.

Reports indicate that many of the Acehnese who are forced to flee their homes and reside in mosques are those who live in the mountains. One could be cynical and question whether the rich source of income provided to the military by coffee in Timor Leste is now being replaced by their access to fertile coffee and ganja growing areas of Aceh.

Reports said truck drivers between Medan and Banda Aceh went on strike in May, due to the frequent stopping and extortion of drivers. Trees are placed across the road, forcing the vehicles to show down and stop. When traveling by bus, every passenger has to be examined showing his or her identity card. This can happen every half hour or 20 minutes along the journey.

Many of those who are suffering the most are the villagers who are forced to leave their homes, bicycles, motorbikes, chickens, small gardens, and rice fields, and who now have nothing and must live in the mosques and rely on the goodwill of those in the towns. Those in the towns are paying dearly for basic foodstuffs. The army does not know a GAM (Free Aceh Movement) supporter from a non-GAM supporter, and yet every day six or seven killings take place. Silence and fear that is much more repressive than that endured during the Soeharto years has now dropped like a blanket on Aceh.

As the former rector of IAIN (State Institute of Islamic Studies) Jamiah Ar-Raniry in Banda Aceh, Professor Dr Safwan Idris said in a high level briefing meeting when he was last in Jakarta, "It is necessary for the military to be withdrawn from Aceh if a solution is to be found." Professor Idris, a gentle scholar who had studied in the United States, a person who was seen as a candidate for Governor, and who was close to his people, was shot at close range in his house last year.

The person who came to his house claimed to be a student when he arrived at the door at 7 a.m. That claim is believed by no one. No arrests have ever been made. His recommendation from below the soil to the government in Jakarta is still the soundest advice that exists. Withdrawing the Indonesian Military and the Mobile Brigade from Aceh is an absolutely necessary pre-requisite to constructive dialog.

The voices from below the ground cannot be silenced.

Barbara Leigh PhD, of the University of Technology, Sydney in Australia, is a former lecturer at IAIN Jamiah Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh (State Institute of Islamic Studies). She is author of Tangan-tangan Trampil: Seni Kerajinan Aceh (Hands of Time: The Crafts of Aceh), Jakarta: Djambatan, 1989.