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.