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NEWS & LETTERS, March 2003
Indonesia violates peace accords with Acheh
The Indonesian government arrested Muhammad Nazar, the
chairman of SIRA (Acheh Referendum Information Center) on Feb. 12, indicating a
renewed crackdown on peaceful organizations that seek to end the military
repression and advocate a referendum on Acheh's status. The government and the Free Acheh guerrilla movement (GAM)
signed peace accords Dec. 9 that were supposed to end killing in the province
and restore the right to conduct meetings and demonstrations, but so far neither
provision has been realized. A few weeks after the accords were signed, SIRA
held its first above ground meeting in some time, and soon after that, the
police came for Nazar in the middle of the night. Nazar, his wife and child were sleeping when seven
policmen with long-barrel guns leaped over fences and broke into the house.
Handcuffed and wearing only shorts without a shirt, he was taken to the Banda
Acheh Regency Police office at gunpoint. Nazar is accused of attending a rally
in January without a permit, even though a permit is not supposed to be
necessary under the accords, only that the police be informed. It was not even a
SIRA rally; he was an invited speaker at the illegal rally organized by SURA, an
organization of Achehnese Ulama. But the police had another more serious allegation:
"The accused has mobilized and provoked the masses since January,"
said Adj. Sr. Comr. Sayed Husaini, spokesman for the Acheh Police. "It is
part of acts of treason," they said. If he is tried for treason, Nazar
could receive life in prison. Two years ago the government tried him for
"inciting hatred and hostility against the government" for his
political activity in promoting a peaceful settlement in Acheh. He was sentenced
to 10 years in prison and served 10 months. Other Acheh activists are also in
danger, including Kautzar bin Muhammad Yus, who spoke at a peace demonstration
with Nazar in Lhokseumawe, in the oil and gas producing region, in January (see
January-February N&L). Acheh Police Chief Inspector General Bahrumsyah accused
both men of aiding GAM, in spite of their advocacy of non-violence. "They
were talking about referendum and freedom for Acheh," Bahrumsyah said.
"We must take action against them. There's no other choice." Kautzar
stated, "What we said reflected the Achehnese people's aspirations to human
rights and democracy." On Feb. 16, three more SIRA Presidium members were
summoned for police interrogation. It thus appears that the government is
intensifying a campaign to wipe out SIRA. SIRA was founded by various civil
society groups and helped sponsor an Achehnese student and youth congress in
1999. Over the past few years, as mass grassroots
organizations have emerged in Acheh, many non-violent activists were killed
after being arrested or abducted by the military. Just before the ceasefire
agreement was signed, on Nov. 30, 2002, Musliadi, a coordinator of the Coalition
for West Acheh Students Movement and SIRA member, was abducted by six armed
plain-clothes men and later found tortured to death. SIRA is seeking help for Nazar's release from the Joint
Security Committee that is monitoring the peace accords, but that body has
little power against the Indonesian government. The Joint Security Committee
recently reported three serious violations of the ceasefire by the government
and one by GAM, but it lacks a mechanism to sanction either group. The official
monitoring team has only 150 monitors. Indonesia must be exposed, and Nazar must
be saved! Please write the chief of police for Acheh, Inspector
General Bahrumsyah, and fax to 011 62 651 22488. To get involved in Acheh
support work in the U.S., contact Acheh Center, PO Box 6356, Harrisburg, PA
17112. --Compiled by Anne Jaclard |
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