War in Aceh enters phase of lawlessness

War in Aceh enters phase of lawlessness

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Lhokseumawe, Aceh

After two months of martial law in war-ridden Aceh, the situation
in the province turned more uncertain as pro-Jakarta groups of
Acehnese took the law into their own hands.

Many groups of residents have held hostage relatives of
several suspected members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), in
retaliation for the kidnap of family members under the nose of
security authorities.

The latest incident took place over the weekend, when
residents of Kuala district, West Aceh regency, arrested 36
people, said to be relatives of two rebels in Nagan Raya, who had
earlier reportedly kidnapped four members of their families.

The local military regretted such retaliatory action but
failed to bring the kidnappers to justice.

The hostages, who on Sunday were taken to the local military
command headquarters, have now been handed over to the police for
further investigation on their possible involvement in the
movement, said spokesman for Aceh Military Operation Command Maj.
Edi Sulistiadie on Monday.

"The law does not allow civilians to hold the relatives of GAM
members as hostages, and cannot say that the relatives of GAM
members are automatically GAM members. We cannot justify people's
retaliatory action.

"However, the abductions should be seen as action to express
their struggle in fighting against GAM, and loyalty to the
government," he said in an evaluation of the two-month integrated
operation aimed at restoring security and order in the resources-
rich province.

Besides crushing the separatist movement, the integrated
operation also aims to enforce the law and uphold the civil
administration.

The martial law administration has so far arrested 383
suspected members of the separatist movement, who were not
allowed to be accompanied by lawyers during their investigation.
Only five former GAM negotiators were allowed to be represented
by lawyers from the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) when
they underwent police interrogation.

In a media statement released on Monday, the military
operation command claimed that security authorities had succeeded
in taking control of almost all territory in Aceh, suppressing
rebels and enforcing the law.

It said that the military's targets were to destroy GAM
strongholds, isolate rebels from civilians and increase the
Acehnese people's acceptance of the Indonesian unitary state.

The media release also stated that all GAM strongholds
identified during the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA)
had been occupied by the Indonesian Military (TNI) and that GAM
members were now "besieged."

As many as 1,082 GAM members had been killed or arrested,
while 224 weapons had been confiscated, the release stated.
The military also claimed that "territorial, information and
psychological operations" had intensified residents' support for
the operation to quell the movement.

"The separation, which was requested by residents, and the
operations planned by the military command to take residents into
refuge had met with success with the arrest of 17 GAM members in
refugee shelters," the media release said.