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NEWS & LETTERS, JUNE 2003
Indonesia--stop bombing Acheh, pull out the troops!
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri began bombing
her countrymen May 19, as the military launched an all-out war in the far
northwestern province of Acheh against separatist rebels known as GAM. After
violating and then abrogating the peace accord signed last December, Megawati
(as she is known) imposed martial law and raised the number of troops in Acheh,
whose population is four million, from 30,000 to 45,000. In the first three days of the war on Acheh, 135
civilians were reported killed or missing and 23,000 civilians were displaced
from their homes. Food shortages were reported. The influx of military personnel and warships, along
with the bombing, constitute the biggest use of force since Indonesia's 1975
invasion of East Timor. Indonesia has failed to wipe out GAM despite 27 years of
fighting and periods of repression of the entire population, killing some 10,000
civilians and galvanizing a broad-based movement in support of independence. The military is employing new tactics, including using
civilians as human shields, assaulting women and burning down schools--about 300
in the first three days. Taking a page from the U.S. war on Iraq, the government
banned independent journalists and "embedded" 60 journalists trained
by the military. One journalist was expelled after he photographed a GAM member
attempting to put out a fire at a school; the government line is that GAM is
burning the schools. Megawati advised the independence movements in both
Acheh and West Papua to leave the country, although it is unlikely she will
allow those whose lives are in danger to exit. Moreover the surrounding
countries of Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines announced they
would not allow any refugees in, and began crackdowns on Achehnese already
there. Indonesia announced it will arrest all members of SIRA
and SMUR, the leading student groups working for a referendum on Acheh's status,
and KONTRAS, a human rights organization. A woman was arrested who works for the
Henri Dunant Centre, the Swiss conflict-resolution organization that was
monitoring the peace accord. The martial law declaration permits the arrest of
Achehnese outside of Acheh as well. The breakdown in the peace process may have been
inevitable, because the accord, signed under international pressure to stop the
killing, was broadly written and interpreted differently by the two sides. When
talks were scheduled to try to save the peace, the government insisted that GAM
renounce its long-term goal of independence, which had not been mentioned in the
accord, and then it arrested the GAM representatives on their way to the talks. Protests against the war were held within a few days in
Australia, East Timor, Malaysia, Holland and the U.S. Small numbers of Achehnese
refugees and supporters demonstrated in Washington May 21 and New York May 23. In New York, we picketed the UN to demand it intervene
(no chance), and the Indonesian Mission to the UN where we shouted, among other
slogans, "Free my mom" along with two men whose mother, a hotel owner
and activist, had just been arrested on charges of being a GAM leader. In Jakarta, where there have been pro-Acheh
demonstrations, four foreigners were deported for protesting the war, and a
student protest was held in spite of the repression against any demonstrations.
Most Indonesians are not sympathetic to the Achehnese, however, because the
government-controlled media paints them as "terrorists" and claims
Acheh's independence would destroy Indonesia. Part of a statement by Australian supporters declared: "Today, the people of Acheh are calling for peace,
and for their own democratic right to a peaceful process of self-determination,
through a UN-facilitated referendum. Calls for self-determination come from a
broad-based, non-violent civil society movement that includes farmers,
fishermen, women's organizations, student groups, religious leaders and
businessmen. "The people of Acheh are not harking back to a
traditional past, but to a future of peace and prosperity through democracy and
social justice. This future will not come as long as the Indonesian military
continues to act with impunity against the people of Acheh, Papua, Maluku and
its own citizens throughout the archipelago. It will not come as long as
governments around the world (including the U.S., Britain and Australia)
continue to give military aid to Indonesia." U.S. activists are asked to protest the war to the
Indonesian embassy and the U.S. State Department in Washington, and to join
support work aimed at educating Americans and Indonesians about Acheh and
establishing people-to-people solidarity. For more information, contact Acheh
Center in the U.S. at achehcenter@yahoo.com
or NEWS & LETTERS. --Anne Jaclard |
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