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Government asked to control military in Aceh

Aceh Kita - July 12, 2005

AK-38, Jakarta – The Aceh Working Group (AWG) says there have been systematic efforts to ensure that the peace negotiations with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) fail. This effort has being launched by a small section of People Representative Assembly and TNI (armed forces) military officers. "We see there are systematic efforts to thwart the Helsinki negotiations", said AWG activist C. Anam at a press conference at the offices of Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) on Tuesday July 12.

Anam added that it is the military, which has most consistently opposed to the Helsinki negotiations, which are expected to end in a peace agreement in the fifth round. This can be seen from the increasing number of armed clashes over the last few weeks in Aceh. AWG is of the view that the security situation is becoming more dangerous is being used by the TNI to strengthen its bargaining position in relation to the government in order continue the military operation in Aceh.

"Armed criminality is increasing. Militia groups are taking civilians hostage. Humanitarian volunteers are being shot. Mysterious shooters are free to spread their terror. This is all being used by the TNI in order for them to request deeper involvement in the post-tsunami rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in Aceh", he explained.

In relation to indications that the peace process may fail, AWG is proposing that the government needs to take a firm position with regard to those parities that are trying to thwart the peace process. In addition to this, the government also needs to push for the involvement of civil society to create peace, which will be a basis for the rehabilitation and reconstruction in Aceh.

"The government must take a firm position against parties who oppose the peace process in Aceh. The government must control the TNI by making clear regulations on operations being organised in Aceh so that are peaceful not military operations", explained another AWG activist Otto Syamsudin Ishak.

According to Ishak, if the government does not take a firm position there is a possibility that there will be a repeat of the efforts to thwart the peace process during the period of CoHA or the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement¹. It is believed that efforts to thwart the peace process after the fifth round of the Helsinki negotiations include mobilising the public to oppose peace zones, opposing monitoring teams, increasing the level of violence and the strengthening of militia groups.

The second possibility of failure explained Ishak, is the debate over the basic rules for the joint team, which will be formed following a peace agreement. This debate will result in the joint committee being unable to work optimally. “Without government control over the military, the failure of the peace process in Aceh is looming. The failure of the peace process during the CoHA period will be repeated”, he asserted. [dzie]

Notes:

1. COHA: On December 9, 2003, Indonesia and GAM signed the historic Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA) in Geneva, facilitated by the Geneva-based Henry Dunant Centre (HDC). The agreement required both sides to begin demilitarisation within two months and a Joint Security Committee (JSC) was tasked with monitoring the peace process. Although there were numerous violations of the agreement, the first two months saw a dramatic decline in violence. Jakarta however complained that GAM was taking advantage of the cease-fire and following a series of attacks by TNI backed militia on the JSC offices peace monitors were forced to withdraw from Aceh. In late April, Jakarta seized on a request by GAM for a postponement of negotiations to call off talks altogether. When talks finally resumed on May 18, Jakarta set out to sabotage the process by arresting five GAM negotiators the day before then introducing a new set of conditions which GAM could not possibly agree to and which were never covered in the original the agreement. Claiming that GAM was refusing to talk about "substantive issues", government negotiators walked out and on the following day President Megawati Sukarnoputri signed a decree declaring a status of martial law and launching a six-month military offensive.

[Translated by James Balowski.]
 

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