Wiranto pledges to pardon separatist rebels in Aceh
Wiranto pledges to pardon separatist rebels in Aceh
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Defense and Security/Indonesian
Military (TNI) chief Gen. Wiranto offered on Friday a general
amnesty to separatist rebels in Aceh in exchange for an end to
their guerrilla war.
"We remind the armed disturbance group not to shoot, terrorize
the people, damage strategic installations and fly the Free Aceh
flag," Wiranto told a meeting with editors in chief of the local
media.
"We are preparing a general amnesty, and we remind them not to
repeat their acts anymore. In addition, for those who are strong
(fighters), we will recruit them to become a part of the
Indonesian military in Aceh."
The statement came as human rights activists lashed out at the
planned reestablishment of a military command in the troubled
province.
"Acehnese are still traumatized by the military atrocities, so
reestablishing a military command here would only complicate the
situation," Yakob Hamzah of the Iskandarmuda Legal Aid Institute
told The Jakarta Post on Friday by phone from the North Aceh
capital of Lhokseumawe.
Yakob was referring to the anti-rebel operations in Aceh from
1989 to 1998, of which the military has been accused of serious
human rights abuses.
"What we now need is the protection of human rights and the
prosecution of the rights violators during the military
operations."
Wiranto said during a one-day Wednesday visit to Aceh that a
military command would soon be reestablished in the province.
On Friday he defended the plan, saying the Acehnese community
supported the move. "Everyone said it was necessary," Wiranto
said of some 200 local officials, legislators, Muslim clerics and
student leaders that he met on Wednesday in Banda Aceh.
"I asked them for their opinion, I would not want to make
unilateral decisions after what happened in the past, especially
in Aceh," he told Antara.
He argued the establishment of a military command was not an
equivalent measure to the 10-year military operation. He
regretted comments that opposed the plan. "If people do not yet
understand what the problems are, they should not make rash
judgments."
The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence
(Kontras) said on Thursday the planned military command was
"irrelevant because what people want is the withdrawal of troops
from the province, an end to military operations and violence and
strict measures against perpetrators of past rights abuses".
A decade-long military campaign against the separatist
movement in Aceh left more than 1,000 people dead, with hundreds
of others still listed as missing.
Chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights Marzuki
Darusman, however, earlier this year said a military command was
needed to control Army personnel and prevent rogue elements from
operating in the area without direct supervision.
Meanwhile, Antara reported that members of an "armed
disturbance group" in Bayu village, Tanah Luas district in North
Aceh, ambushed late Thursday a vehicle with security personnel
returning to their barracks.
Two security members suffered gunshot wounds, while one of the
alleged assailants died, according to Lt. Col. Amrin Karim, the
provincial spokesman for police operations.
He said in a media statement the security personnel also
seized 10 military knapsacks, seven black berets, six military
uniforms and one large plastic tent from the attackers. Also
confiscated were a cellular phone, a walkie-talkie, an AK-47
magazine with 60 bullets, a machinegun magazine with 29 bullets,
a motorbike, and four cars: an Opel Blazer, a Taft Rocky, Taft GT
and Taft Hiline.
Following Wiranto's promise to withdraw riot troops from
residential areas, thousands of refugees began returning on
Friday to their homes in Aceh, Antara reported.
"Ever since General Wiranto said riot troops would be
retracted from rural areas in Pidie, North and East Aceh
districts, thousands of refugees have begun returning home,"
Pidie resident Tarmidin Usman was quoted as saying.
Usman said about 40,000 residents in Pidie district's Ulee
Glee refugee center immediately began making preparations to
return home after hearing news of Wiranto's pledge.
"They all left simultaneously," Usman said, adding that
thousands more in Merdu subdistrict departed on Thursday for
their homes.
Since May, an estimated 150,000 people have fled their
villages fearing violence from soldiers and separatist rebels,
packing mosques and makeshift refugee centers in several Acehnese
towns.
Hundreds of buildings, including schools, have been set ablaze
by unidentified groups across Aceh. At least 228 people,
including soldiers and policemen, have also been killed.
(byg/swe)