We don't need empty promises: Aceh students
JAKARTA (JP): Students and human rights activists in Banda Aceh told seven visiting ministers on Saturday the Acehnese wanted concrete evidence the government was serious in dealing with the province's problems, and not empty promises or charity.
When Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and Poverty Eradication Haryono Suyono presented a list of projects to be developed in Aceh, a student interrupted him, saying, "We want the government to bring human rights abusers to court, not charity."
Haryono had said the government extended Rp 1.5 trillion (about US$ 200 million) to fund several projects in Aceh.
"The projects will be carried out in three programs -- environment, human needs, and business," Haryono said, as quoted by Antara.
The government, he said, will also give an assistance amounting to Rp 5 billion to help businesses, while students in Jakarta have donated Rp 172 million for the Acehnese.
The assistance and donations were formally received by Aceh Governor Syamsuddin Mahmud.
A local journalist said the student making the interruption, Agus Wardi, secretary-general of Student Solidarity for Acehnese People (SMUR), told Haryono that people wanted the government to fulfill its promise to punish military personnel guilty of rights abuses during the military operation in Aceh which lasted from 1989 to last September.
Agus reminded Haryono that during his visit to Aceh in March, President B.J. Habibie promised to enforce justice. Agus said people did not need railways or the expansion of Iskandar Muda Airport if the government did not end violence in the province.
Haryono's delegation included Minister of Education and Culture Juwono Sudarsono and Indonesian Military deputy chief Admiral Widodo A.S.
Soon after their arrival at Iskandar Muda Airport, the delegation was taken to Anjong Monmata, a government hall near the governor's office, to meet students, government officials and ulema. Three hundred meters from the hall, some 300 students demonstrated and attempted to enter the building.
Minister of Home Affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid was explaining the government's plan to grant Aceh special autonomy when a student, Alfian, interrupted him.
"You are also responsible for the violence," Alfian, a student at Ar-Raniry Darussalam State Institute of Islamic Studies, told Syarwan. Syarwan was a military commander overseeing North Aceh and other regencies in the early 1990s.
Muhammad Saleh of SMUR read out a declaration from the students and demanded the ministers relay the message to the President.
In the declaration, the students rejected the plan to reestablish the Iskandar Muda Military Command overseeing Aceh, scheduled to resume operations on Sept. 1, saying this move would only prolong the people's suffering.
They also demanded the government hold a referendum in Aceh to enable people to decide whether Aceh would remain a part of Indonesia or become an independent state.
One of the students also presented a referendum flag to Haryono, who promised to convey the students' demands to the President.
The protesters outside the hall continued their demonstration until the ministers left the venue in the afternoon. Police blocked off the nearby streets.
Chanting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great), the protesters held banners calling for the indictment of soldiers suspected of killing thousands of civilians in Aceh. Dozens of security personnel have also been killed by unidentified armed people.
Antara also reported Saturday that the Indonesian military have taken over control of airports in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, besides Dili's airport in the East Timor capital following continuing violence in the provinces.
Air Force Chief's Operational Assistant, Maj. Gen. Kusbeni said the takeover was temporary while many airport staff had fled.
An estimated 90,000 Acehnese are still sheltering in mosques and schools, mainly in the regencies of Pidie, East and North Aceh. This is a sharp drop from the earlier estimated 180,000 displaced people, officials said on Thursday.
But overwhelmed volunteers fear a return of refugees back to shelters if there is a lack of security in their villages. A number of refugees have had their homes broken into and their valuables stolen by unknown persons. (prb)