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'Who are the real terrorists in Acheh?'
Australians for a Free Acheh Media Release - February 21, 2005
The Australian government has put out warnings to its citizens to avoid Acheh because of an undefined terrorist threat, which apparently is not believed by either the US or Indonesian governments.
We call on the Australian government to provide more detail of this alleged threat, because quite frankly we believe this warning is playing into the hands of the real terrorists, and contributes to the demonisation of GAM.
And who are the real terrorists of Acheh? Answer, as for East Timor in 1998/99 and for West Papua today, the Indonesian Military the TNI and their surrogate militias. Why, even many of the same personnel are involved eg various senior TNI officers charged with Human Rights abuses either in sham trials in Jakarta or indicted in powerless Dili, and Militia leaders such as Eurico Guterres.
In 1998/99 Australian government figures John Bonsai Howard, Alexander Downer and Robert Hill, repeatedly denied there was a security problem in Esat Timor and supported the TNI to be the only security force, denying the need for armed UN peacekeepers, despite overwhelming eveidence to the contrary. Frankly even the US did not believe this and set up more if its own intelligence gathering, but too late to prevent the destruction of the nation. Deja Vu?
The Australian government has done NOTHING to try to resolve the 30+ years conflict in Acheh, leaving that to European nations. eg "The Second Round of Peace Talks between GAM (Free Acheh Movement) and the Government of Indonesia (GoI) will be held from 21-23 February 2005 under the auspices of the Crisis Management Institute in Helsinki, Finland. The GoI has stipulated that that ceasefire is conditional on GAM's acceptance of special autonomy.
AHRO does not believe it is appropriate to negotiate political outcomes until a ceasefire agreement on urgent humanitarian grounds has been reached." On the other hand, I (RW-S) have suggested that GAM try to attain autonomy based on withdrawal of the TNI -- anything less is hardly autonomy -- and get on the front foot with initiatives. This is hard as international media is so much on side with Indonesian and Australian Governments' views.
The Tsunami has been a 'heaven-sent' opportunity for TNI to profit, to control people and supplies, and to exert more control over the rich countryside and its obdurate people. Australian government and many NGOs play into their hands by helping set up Vietnam and East Timor style "controlled hamlets", to assist TNI control, when the resources could just as easily go to building villages and houses all over the place.
The Australian Military similarly it is sad to say also play this role by their supine cooperation with the TNI. The TNI should be about guarding their country from external threat, instead their modus operandi is they create internal threats to justify their cruel existence.
Should Australia stand back and allow the most corrupt organisation in the region continue its vast unethical behaviour in Acheh, in Indonesia, and West Papua where it controls the felling of the last remaining Rainforest wilderness in West Papua at a rate equal to areas the size of say Switzerland or Wales annually? This has clear implications for world environment health let alone for the peoples of that region. WE would say we MUST intervene. Yet on the contrary we (Aust) argue to lift any previously imposed US minor sanctions on the TNI.
This country is sinking to the level of the TNI in supporting its activities. Why, it too thieves the oil and gas from the waters of the poorest country in the region, East Timor, while its people die of starvation and associated parasites and disease. For.. sake, enough is enough.
Rob Wesley-Smith
AFFA Darwin
08 89832113/0419 807175
I appeal to you to urge the Government of Indonesia to immediately agree to a ceasefire with GAM within the essential framework of peace to alleviate the dire humanitarian tragedy of the people of Acheh.
A comprehensive ceasefire is necessary to:
1. create a secure environment which supports the mission of foreign and local humanitarian aid workers allowing unrestricted movement throughout the entire of Acheh to deliver aid supplies to the needy particularly in the remotest areas of Acheh.
2. advance efficient cooperation and communication between NGOs to streamline aid, rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes.
3. ensure ALL Achehnese in need will receive relief assistance as the military?s attempt to withhold relief food and medicine from GAM is depriving hapless villagers of survival and medical necessities. On 1st February, in Tepin (Batee-Pante Bidari, East Acheh) the TNI Raiders 900 issued a regulation that every household would only receive 6oz of rice per day when at least 1.5k meets the daily needs.
4. allow all Achehnese, without political distinction, to access medical treatment in hospital and other health facilities without being suspected as GAM members, families or sympathizers. With the ceasefire, the so-called 'security risks' will end and the hundreds of thousands of injured and ill civilians should have access to foreign medical facilities which are more efficient than local services. It of great concern, that in the military?s rush to remove the foreign aid presence, the Indonesian Red Crescent claims there is an oversupply of "do-gooders" who "do not speak the language" -- has said it wants all foreign doctors helping the Indian Ocean tsunami survivors in Acheh to leave?. On the contrary, it was stated that ?the foreign doctors are more popular than local ones because the bureaucracy of the Indonesian medical services is really notorious," (Inter Press Service, 3 Feb, 2005)
5. eliminate the inconvenience to and time wasting for relief workers having to obtain special permission and military escorts when traveling to disaster-stricken areas because their will no longer be 'security risks'.
6. prevent the intimidation of aid workers. The recent false accusations of corruption, arrest and beating of Farid Faqih, who heads the Government Watch group and had been working for the UN World Food Program, may be warning and an act of intimidation to all aid workers to refrain from criticizing corrupt military practices.
7. prevent the intimidation of voluntary workers. On 10 January 2005, in front of TVRI relay station, Mata Ie, Banda Acheh, a volunteer of natural disaster relief post, Anggi Teguh Wibowo, was beaten by TNI soldier till his face bleeding and his lips having to stitched (Tempo Interaktif, 10-1-2005) From reports in the field, there are indications that the posts of civilian volunteers have often been visited by SGI (Unit of Joint Intelligence) personnel from Military Command of Security Restoration in Acheh, and coerced to report to the military the deliveries of aid must be reported to the military.
8. terminate the military operation of espionage and the infiltration of Kopassus personnel in aid NGOs. This also can be perceived as an act of intimidation as it is public knowledge that the military does not want outsiders to stay in Acheh.
9. allow unrestricted movement by Achehnese civilians to search for relatives, to access medical attention, to return to their villages: the cease fire will lessen the TNI?s security role which should be only one of security and protection and not one of controlling and limiting people's movement at free will. People are afraid to travel out of their areas because of the complex system of identity checks military and police posts at each village and militia informers. When people don?t have identity cards, and many were destroyed in the disaster, people are accused of being GAM and are beaten or arrested.
10. remove the night curfews and military night patrols allowing freedom of movement day and night for NGOs and Achehnese.
11. guarantee free access for aid and student groups to all villages to identify tsunami survivors who have been sheltered by relatives in an effort to ensure survivors do not become economic burden on their poverty-ridden relatives;
12. guarantee unrestricted access to registration workers to conduct a transparent census of survivors and the registration of deaths without fear of intimidation and corrupt exploitation of figures that would advantage the Indonesian government at the expense of needy survivors.
13. facilitate the establishment of standardized monitoring procedures to prevent the malfeasance in the management of public donations and disbursement of funds by giving the Achehnese population freedom from fear of reporting malpractice. In Calang locals complained that the best quality food had been confiscated by the Indonesian military, which was controlling aid storage in the town. (The Age 30-1-05)
14. eliminate the endemic, lucrative military and police practice of extortion levies especially at this time when the disaster has made a detrimental impact on Acheh?s economy adding another burden to families so that the staple materials can reach the people at purchasable prices. To facilitate this all military posts and checkpoints on all roads connecting one city or town must be dismantled.
15. prevent the TNI from plundering and selling aid supplies: (Aid workers in the region report relief supplies have been stolen by the military, sold instead of given away, and used as a political weapon against the people of Acheh, Leita Teyler, Newsday, 3 February 2005); as corruption is integral to the TNI and GoI's notorious culture; aid deliveries must be carried out by international aid organizations;
16. guarantee the safety and freedom of movement of displaced persons occupying military built relocation centers until repairs are made or electricity, roads and other infrastructure restored? ?aid workers and refugees acknowledged they remained wary of the role the Indonesian military would play in guarding and perhaps supervising the sites. In recent years, the military has frequently herded Achehnese from their homes into camps so soldiers could hunt rebel fighters who have been battling for an independent homeland on the tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island since 1976. Villagers complained that they were often mistreated in these camps during periods of martial law and were prevented from carrying on their daily activities, including working the fields. (WP 31-1-05)
17. guarantee real freedom of housing and rebuilding options so that the people can rebuild and resettle on their own land and not be coerced by the military to be relocated in supervised barracks. Field workers are reporting outbreaks of malaria and dengue fever in the refugee camps which are dangerously overcrowded. At Mesjid Geudong, Malikul Saleh, North Acheh, which is typical of the camps elsewhere, there are 4952 refugees, half of whom are school-age children. World Vision stated to the ABC Four Corners Program (7-2-05) that if the people were forced into camps against their will by the military, it would be an encroachment of humanitarian space and humanitarian operations would be unable to be continued.
18. guarantee land and property ownership in the tsunami-hit areas will be restored to the inheritors of those property owners killed in the tsunami disaster and not confiscated by the Indonesian government to be allocated to transmigrant expansion.
19. ensure that the contracts for rebuilding or reconstruction of post-tsunami Acheh are not infiltrated by the TNI or its backed elements so that the contracts will be objectively and fairly handled under international supervision.
20. promote an atmosphere of normalization in which all social and cultural functions can take place without military directives and not under military observation.
21. promote the process of building confidence in the Achehnese toward the Indonesian government without military interference. The trauma of military operations and atrocities remains serious part of the suffering of the people. In spite of the rhetoric to the contrary, the TNI and Brimob remain a frightening element in the mind of the population. Many political analysts (see ABC?s Four Corners interview Monday 7 February) indicate that it will take a long time for the Indonesian government to rebuild trust in the Achehnese toward Indonesian regime; something that has been absent in Achehnese political life. As the core agent of the distrust has been the TNI and all military elements, the trust building without military interference will show the Indonesian government?s good will in action.
22. ensure civilians can talk freely to human rights defenders and journalists about ongoing atrocities inflicted on them by the TNI and police.
23. prevent the military from exploiting the tsunami to further decimate GAM, instead of focusing efforts on relief and reconstruction.
Acheh Human Rights Online (AHRO) and Acheh Women in Crisis (AWIC) are subsidiaries of Achehnese Community of Australia (ACA) achehcomaust@hotmail.com
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