March 2000
Freedom movement strengthens as Aceh crisis deepens
Acehnese student groups, religious scholars, and civil society have joined
forces to call for a non-violent dialogue to find a solution to the
deepening crisis in this resource-rich province seeking independence from
Indonesia. The growing movement for peace and democratization emerges even
as the situation in Aceh deteriorates rapidly.
Violence has erupted since the end of the holy month of Ramadan in early
January, with killing, tortures and disappearances occurring on a daily
basis. At least 191 people have been confirmed killed since the beginning
of the year, threatening to quickly surpass last year's total death count
of 293. While a small percentage of those killed in the province are
Indonesian police and military officers, the overwhelming majority of
victims are civilians, including an alarming number of women and children.
Besides those killed, thousands have been tortured, traumatized and
dislocated, while thousands more remain unaccounted for.
Thousands of student activists, local NGOs (non-governmental
organizations), youth and civilians held demonstrations in Aceh's capital
on Jan. 30, calling for a cease-fire among all armed parties in the
troubled province, including the Free Aceh Movement, the province's armed
guerrilla group. Representatives from Non-Violence International, an NGO
based in Washington, D.C., were in Aceh last month to provide nonviolence
training to 21 student leaders at the request of student activist groups.
Michael Beer, Director of Training at the organization's international
office, was deeply impressed by the expanding civil movement in Aceh.
"Although we played a catalytic role, the movement for nonviolence in Aceh
was really initiated by the students themselves," says Beer. "We came
because we were invited by student groups here. There is enormous
mobilization for change." There are presently 110 organizations in the
formal NGO coalition in Aceh, and new ones are being formed constantly as
the population experiences an awakening of social and political
self-consciousness.
The Support Committee for Human Rights in Aceh (SCHRA) held a two-day
conference in Banda Aceh in mid-January. The conference was attended by
some 70 people, including many foreign representatives from NGOs such as
International Forum for Aceh, U.S. Committee for Refugees, Asian Human
Rights Commission, Non-violence International, and Asian Network for
Democracy in Indonesia.
After the conference, 12 SCHRA delegates embarked on an observer mission to
Pidie, North Aceh, and East Aceh, areas which have been afflicted with the
worst poverty and slaughter. As the team neared their destination the
military launched an attack on a Free Aceh Movement base in Pidie, halting
the SCHRA bus at a checkpoint and directing it to a police station. After
two hours of interrogation the team was released and allowed to continue on
condition that they not disembark the vehicle and not make any stops and
were accompanied thereafter by two military trucks. At the border of North
Aceh, in a display of hostility, military officers fired shots from their
machine guns into the air. The SCHRA team was also restricted from
providing humanitarian assistance in the form of food to displaced and
malnourished Acehnese at a refugee camp near Lhoksumawe, North Aceh.
Systematically conducted repression, which is increasingly being directed
against activists and humanitarian workers, has become routine in Aceh.
In a surprise move last week, Indonesian President Abdurrahaman Wahid
(popularly known as Gus Dur) suspended the nation's chief of armed forces,
General Wiranto, after the latter was named in a report about human rights
abuses in East Timor. While Wahid's attempts at reform draw support from
international human rights groups and governments alike, some fear that the
country's ongoing conflicts will be obscured.
"The situation is very deceiving," says Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, chairman of
the New York-based International Forum for Aceh. "Gus Dur's sacking of
Wiranto has the international community now believing that human rights is
a central concern of the new Indonesian government. Meanwhile the
atrocities continue day after day in Aceh, as well as other regions of the
archipelago, without admonishment from the outside world. We Acehnese feel
very sad that the United States has allowed this to happen so easily."
Indeed, this month the U.S. Defense Department has quietly resumed training
Indonesian military officers in the U.S. The U.S. suspended its training of
Indonesian soldiers after the East Timor bloodbaths last year, in which the
Indonesian military played an instrumental role.
In Aceh, however, the call for self-determination continues to swell.
Throughout the province people are experiencing an extraordinary surge of
consciousness in their Acehnese identity. For a people whose identity was
crushed by a repressive Jakarta regime for decades, this cultural
reclamation is both liberating and profoundly empowering.
February saw the publication of Su Aceh (meaning "Voice of Aceh"), the
first ever Acehnese-language newspaper. The first 3,000 copies of the
paper's first issue sold out quickly, drawing thousands of demands for more
copies, while another 1,000 copies were ordered by neighboring Malaysia.
The bimonthly newspaper provides investigative reports and includes a
two-page section in English. Along with providing analysis on current local
issues, Su Aceh intends to print stories and correspondence from around the
world.
The paper is currently working on translating a number of articles on the
Zapatista movement in Chiapas, Mexico. "We want to build solidarity with
movements and individuals around the world," says Jafar, who is one of the
founders of the newspaper. "It is important that we realize that our
struggles for a better world are not isolated. There is so much that we can
learn from each other." The Acehnese are realizing that their struggle for
freedom is not just regional, but of global significance as well.
-Lilianne Fan
Feb. 20, 2000
International Forum for Aceh acehforum@aol.com
Student Coalition for Aceh studentsforaceh@hotmail.com
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