Waging War in the
name of Peace: Is Military Action the Only Solution to
Aceh Problem?
Current Situation
continued acts of armed violence and terrorism perpetrated by the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM), the Indonesian Government declared in May 18, 2003, a six-month
state of martial rule throughout the
of
operations between the government troops and the secessionist group’s military
arm, the Angkatan Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (AGAM).
Peace efforts had once again proved futile.
over a year ago have since then crumbled. Already, the number of casualties has
reached alarming proportions. To date, the military reports that about 230
troopers have been killed, 206 of which
were rebels.title="">
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'>[2]
In July 8, it claimed to have killed 21 GAM fighters in a span of 24 hours.
Amid
the intensifying conflict springs new concerns over human rights
violations. Countless are feared caught
in the cross-fires. International rights groups have accused both sides of
serious rights abuses. The Indonesian Red Cross says it has recovered 176
bodies in civilian clothes. Almost
42,000 civilians have fled their homes for safety. And their numbers are
expected to reach 100,000 as the war is expected to rage for months to come.
Inevitably, concerns over humanitarian issues are mounting. There have
been reports of food and water shortages in one camp housing some 15,000
people.
Once
again, violence has prevailed over the province torn by war for more than 27
years. The bloody war between the Indonesian forces and the Free Aceh Movement
has been raging since GAM declared independence in 1976. An estimated 10,000
people, mostly civilians, have already been killed. [3] Prior to the Geneva
Peace Agreement of 2002, killings were averaging five persons a day. As a
negotiator lamented: “Enormous damage had been
wreaked on the economic and social life of this resource-rich province. The
people of Aceh were weary of the conflict.”href="#_edn4" name="_ednref4" title="">
history. It played a significant role in
as an Islamic nation. Islam gained its first foothold here.
earliest international trading activities took place in its ports as well.
militancy. Under the Dutch rule, the Acehnese began to forge cooperation with
other areas in
and were involved in various national and political movements.
It
was pacified by the Dutch colonizers only in the 1930s, shortly before the
outbreak of war.title="">
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'>[6]
In fact, it was one of the strong
supporters of the unitary
of
years of the country's independence.
support to the young
In 1946, Acehnese bought national bonds issued by
provisional government in
denominations of Rp 100, Rp 500 and Rp 1,000. In addition, the Acehnese also
donated cash to help finance the Indonesian government in
to run its operations and open representative offices abroad. In 1949, the
Acehnese donated two airplanes, one of which was the famous Seulawah
plane that later became a pioneer in the establishment of national flag-carrier
Garuda
Because of these donations in the early period of
first president Sukarno described Aceh as a capital of
However, a series of political
events took place that somehow sowed seeds of violence throughout the province.
Aceh’s role in the development of independent
elevating its status into a province. By a decree issued on 1949,
However, the council of ministers disregarded the resolution on establishing
the
joined the United Nations and became a
republic, the dissolution of the Aceh province was announced.
Angered
by the series of setbacks experienced by the province, Daud Beureuech declared
Aceh’s independence from
With numerous Acehnese backing this rebellion, it took a while before it was
crushed.
To
assuage the hatred felt by many Acehnese, the central government gave Aceh the
status of special territory in 1959. This decree conferred an unusually high
degree of autonomy in religious, educational and cultural matters. A certain
level of prosperity in the province
shortly after, but the secessionist sentiment of many Acehnese has never
abated. On Dec. 4, 1976, Teungku Hasan M. di Tiro founded the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM). Not long after, a cycle of violence started to unravel. GAM
members, calling itself the Aceh-Sumatra National Liberation Front (ASNLF),
attacked police and military installations. The Government responded by
declaring Aceh a Military Operation Zone (DOM). The DOM status remained for
nine years until it was lifted due to rising protests from human rights
activists. It is claimed that the imposition of DOM only worsened the situation
in Aceh as it facilitated massive human rights violations by military and
police personnel. At least 1,600 cases of human rights violations have been
reported during the nine-year period. Deaths and disappearances of at least 760
people have been documented. In sum, a total of six hundred women were reported
widowed, 10 raped and 1,960 children orphaned during the military operations.
This pattern of abuse and violence, committed by both the military and the
rebels eventually prevailed up to this day.
On
December 9, 2002 in
GAM signed a peace agreement ending the 26 years of hostility between the two
parties. The agreement stated that GAM
would disarm and in return, the government would withdraw most of its troops
and would grant Aceh wide regional autonomy and the Acehnese control over the
region’s natural resources and permission to hold elections for an Acehnese
legislature. Although this peace agreement was perceived to be the solution to
the conflict, it only served its purpose temporarily as the conflict in Aceh
was renewed in May of this year.name="_ednref8" title="">
Indonesian
President, Megawati Sukarnoputri sent military troops in Aceh when the
separatist movement refused to disarm their weapons. Indonesian government
deployed thousands of soldiers and Brimob to fight against the 5000 members of
GAM. Although this conflict in Aceh is not as huge as compared to the conflict
in East Timor, the stake for
as a country is high. The conflict is a threat to
territorial integrity is at risk. Furthermore, GAM is believed to be a
murderous and extremist group that is involved in narcotic trades and human
rights abuses.title="">
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'>[9]
The
International Crisis Group listed four possible actions which the Indonesian
government could execute. The following were to: negotiate with GAM; buy
off GAM; marginalize GAM; or pursue military operations. The Indonesian
government opted to pursue its military operations when President Sukarnoputri
declared martial law in Aceh after negotiations with GAM failed. GAM did not
comply to the May-12 deadline given by the government to disarm and abandon
their independence goal given. The government was firm not grant GAM full
independence of Aceh. What the government was only willing to grant GAM was an
autonomy package that would guarantee Aceh a part of the resource revenues and
allow the region to implement its sharia law.href="#_edn10" name="_ednref10" title="">
to declare war against the GAM may have resulted to the need to obliterate the
separatist group to end the hostility in Aceh. The failure of the peace
agreement and renewed negotiations forced the government to declare war as its
last resort. GAM was not willing to concede to the government’s conditions. All
that GAM demanded for was independence and nothing else. Had the government
succumb to GAM’s condition, the integrity of
jeopardy. The demand to have an independent Aceh should not be considered the
sentiment of all the people of Aceh since the ones who are advocating for an
independent Aceh are only those who belong to the movement as well as those who
support it. The government chose to solve the chaos in Aceh by addressing the
underlying cause which is the separatist movement.
considered a threat not only to
but a threat to the whole
that the
in a period of instability, further turmoil and uprising such as that of Aceh
will only encourage other separatist movements to organize themselves and
revolt against their respective governments. The need for an urgent solution
and end to the hostility in
is a challenge that Indonesian government faces at the moment.
href="#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title="">
"Arial Unicode MS"'>Presidential Decree No. 28/2003 On The Declaration of a
State of Emergency with the Status of Martial Law in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam
Province
Could Last 5 Months, Create 100,000 Refugees
href="#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title="">
take years to subdue Aceh Rebellion: Official - Additional Reporting By Kazi
Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent
href="#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title="">
Sastrohandoyo, The Aceh Conflict: The
Long Road to Peace
humane dialogue Printed in The
Post
Thursday, September 28, 2000
[http://www.thejakartapost.com/special/os_7_news.asp?FileID=20000928.C01]
[http://www.thejakartapost.com/special/os_7_history.asp] Northwestern tip of
name="_edn8" title="">
"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;
mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'>[8]
“Indonesia, Acehnese rebels sign pact to end 26-year war,” Associated
Press,
[http://www.iht.com/ihtsearch.php?id
=79647&owner=(Associated%20Press)&date=20021210125536], 9 December
2002.
name="_edn9" title="">
"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;
mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'>[9]
Australian: Big trouble in Little Aceh,”
[http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,6472161%255E25377,00.html],
22 May 2003.
"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;
mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'>[10]
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