BY IGGY KIM
The Indonesian government has again violated the December 10 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA). The agreement was supposed to bring an end to violence in Aceh.
Indonesian authorities have arrested Acehnese civil rights activists and unleashed military raids into territory controlled by the Acehnese independence movement.
Pip Hinman, national coordinator of Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific (ASAP), told Green Left Weekly that Jakarta's actions have revealed the Indonesian government's commitment to peace in Aceh to be a sham.
On February 12, Indonesian forces arrested Muhammad Nazar, chairperson of the Information Centre for a Referendum in Aceh. Authorities are also hunting down Kautsar, deputy chairperson of Students' Solidarity for Acehnese People. On February 16, police issued an arrest warrant for Nasruddin Abubakar, secretary-general of the Aceh Student Front for Reform.
All three activists were targeted for leading a peaceful demonstration on January 9, which called for a referendum to be held on the question of Aceh's independence from Indonesia.
Indonesia's coordinating minister for political and security affairs, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, told the February 15 Straits Times that "peace is on the brink of collapse". He cited the referendum call as the cause, despite the COHA assuring the right of "civil society to express [its views] without hindrance to democratic rights".
Then on February 16, an armed clash lasting almost four hours occurred in Trumon, south Aceh, when the Indonesian military launched an offensive operation into an area held by the Free Acheh Armed Forces (TNA), again in violation of the peace accord. During the skirmish, one civilian was shot dead, another wounded and three were captured and tortured by the Indonesian military.
There are fears of wider military offensives. A TNA commander has called on the Joint Security Committee, which oversees the cease-fire and is composed of representatives from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the Indonesian military and the Swiss-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, to investigate the Indonesian attack.
Despite such violations of the peace accord in Aceh, both the US and Australian governments have been steadily restoring military ties with Jakarta.
ASAP has called on the Australian government to press Jakarta for the immediate release of Muhammad Nazar and the dropping of charges against the organisers of the January 9 demonstration. ASAP also demands that Canberra end all military ties with Indonesia and push for a full withdrawal of its military from Aceh.
In March, ASAP will host forums in Melbourne and Sydney with researcher Dr Lesley McCulloch, recently released from jail in Aceh, and Nurdin Abdul Rahman, a twice-imprisoned veteran human rights campaigner from Aceh.
[Visit ASAP's web site at < http://www.asia-pacific-A HREF="mailto:action.org"><action.org>.]
From Green Left Weekly, February 26, 2003.
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