James Balowski, Jakarta
Hundreds of Acehnese residing in the Indonesian capital Jakarta demonstrated on July 4 in support of the current peace negotiations being held in Helsinki, Finland, between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
Wearing headbands reading "self-government", the Acehnese demonstrators marched from the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in central Jakarta to the State Palace, stopping at the UN offices, the US embassy and the offices of the security minister.
Although representatives of the marchers were able to discuss their demands with UN staff, US embassy officials refused to meet with them.
The march was organised by the Aceh Peoples Association (Ikara), People for Peace (Mukad) and Traders Solidarity for Peace (Sepakad).
Ikara chairperson Faisal Saifuddin called on the Indonesian government not to be stubborn over special autonomy for Aceh as the only option to resolve the conflict in the province.
"We want the government to continue the Helsinki [negotiations]. The government mustn't be too rigid on the offer of special autonomy, because GAM has already withdrawn its demand [for independence] in favour of self-government", Saifuddin said.
Saifuddin expressed disappointment at the attitude taken by some members of the Indonesian parliament who have called for the negotiations to be ended and expressed concern that the issue is being internationalised.
The Ikara leader called on the UN and countries providing humanitarian aid to Aceh following the December 26 tsunami to support the negotiations. He argued that without peace, reconstruction and rehabilitation will be impossible.
Thamrin Ananda, the chairperson of the Acehnese Popular Democratic Resistance Front (FPDRA), told Green Left Weekly that the Aceh conflict should be of concern to all nations and there is absolutely no reason for this to worry Indonesian lawmakers.
"What has made the Aceh question become an international issue is the presence of the TNI [Indonesian armed forces]", Ananda said. "They continue to commit human rights violations and are undermining the process of reconstruction and rehabilitation."
Despite the parliamentary opposition and the TNI's refusal to end military operations against GAM, the government seems determined to make the negotiations a success. On July 5, communications minister Sofyan Djalil announced that the next round of negotiations, to be held on July 11-18, would focus on drafting an agreement aimed at resolving the conflict peacefully and permanently.
Djalil also said that one of the points of the agreement would be the withdrawal of Indonesian troops from Aceh. "In the next [round of] negotiations a MOU [memorandum of understanding] will be signed which will include no more illegal weapons being present in Aceh", Djalil was quoted as saying in the Jakarta daily Kompas.
"If the conflict is ended permanently, what else are these illegal weapons for. The TNI will also no longer be present in Aceh, except troops that are normally [deployed at the provincial level] or the organic [troops] there", he said.
Djalil added that "90%" of the issues had been agreed on by the two sides and the remainder will be resolved in the next round of talks.
The TNI has responded cautiously, saying it will wait for a decision by the government. While claiming to support a peaceful resolution, the head of the TNI's information centre, Major General Kohirin Suganda, said that the TNI's basic task remains to crush GAM, although he could not say how long this would take.
From Green Left Weekly, July 13, 2005.
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