[Kabar-indonesia] 3 Updates: GAM Wants Aceh Law Revised to Meet Peace Deal

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

also: Ex-rebels in Indonesia's Aceh to lodge complaint 
over autonomy law; and Aceh Kita: Acehnese in Denmark 
disappointed with Aceh Governance Law

The Jakarta Post
Thursday, August 3, 2006

GAM wants Aceh governance law revised to meet peace deal 

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has demanded the immediate revision of a number 
of articles of the Aceh Governance Law that are not in compliance with the 
Helsinki peace deal.

After five months of deliberations, the House of Representatives passed the 
Aceh governance bill into law in July to a cold reception, although legislators 
said the law would bring greater autonomy and peace to the conflict-torn 
province. 

The law was drafted following the signing of a peace deal in Helsinki, 
Finland, in August last year. 

"There are several articles that are not in compliance with the peace deal. 
We want those articles to be revised just as stipulated by the peace deal," 
GAM's senior representative Irwandi Yusuf said in a press conference in Banda 
Aceh on Wednesday. 

The event was attended by Muhammad Nazar from the Aceh Referendum Information 
Center (SIRA), GAM's spokesman Munawarliza Zain and Bahtiar Abdullah. 

Irwandi said GAM had studied the law as well as discussed it with legal 
experts in Malaysia and found articles that were not in accordance with the peace 
deal. 

For instance, the peace deal states that all policies made by the central 
government that are related to Aceh must be approved by the Aceh government and 
legislative council, whereas the law says it need only be consultation. 

"These changes are critical," Irwandi said. 

Moreover, GAM found more articles in the law that curtail the Aceh 
government's authority. For instance, Article 11 of the law allows the central 
government to directly intervene in Aceh, whereas the peace deal divides authority 
between the central government and Aceh. 

"That single article could block other articles, which is dangerous," Irwandi 
said. 

GAM also questioned the articles on the role of the Indonesian Military (TNI) 
in Aceh and on a human rights court that will only try violations after the 
bill was made into law. 

"According to the peace deal, there should be only 14,500 TNI personnel in 
Aceh for defense purpose. But the law did not say that. In fact, the TNI has 
another role, involvement in the reconstruction process (following the December 
2004 tsunami)," Irwandi said. 

The law, he said, had also failed to touch on several issues disclosed in the 
peace deal, such as Aceh's access to the international community and a civil 
court for the military. 

He said GAM would ask the government to amend the articles it objected to. 
GAM will also bring the case to the Aceh Monitoring Mission, which will raise 
the matter with the government. 

"For articles that are OK, please go ahead and implement them. But for those 
that need revision, revise them first," Irwandi said. 

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Ex-rebels in Indonesia's Aceh to lodge complaint over autonomy law

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, August 3 (AFP) -- Former separatist rebels in
Indonesia's Aceh are ready to submit to foreign peace monitors their
grievances over a new law giving the province greater self-rule, their
spokesman said Thursday.

The former members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) are unhappy with
several articles in the law passed last month which they say are "not
in line" with a peace pact signed with Jakarta, spokesman Bakhtiar
Abdullah told AFP.

The historic pact was signed in Helsinki in August 2005, ending a
29-year conflict between the separatists and the central government
which had claimed the lives of some 15,000 people, mostly civilians.

Abdullah said that in particular GAM wanted the government to clarify
an article on its role in Aceh, which he argued could be interpreted
to allow it to interfere in Aceh's regional affairs.

"In fact, the memorandum of understanding (MOU, or peace pact) clearly
outlined the separation of authority between the central government
and the Acehnese government," he said.

He said the law also failed to include a figure for military troops
that can be stationed in Aceh by Jakarta, a contradiction to the
14,700 soldiers stipulated in the peace pact.

Abdullah said the former fighters would take their grievances to the
European-led Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), which is tasked with
overseeing the peace pact and mediating any disputes.

"We will give it to them as soon as possible. Hopefully we will give
it to them today (Thursday) because the drafting of it has been
completed," he said.

The head of the AMM, Pieter Feith, said last month that the law was
"broadly in line with the MOU" but there were some parts the monitors
wanted to see improved through amendments.

AMM spokesman Juri Laas told AFP nothing had yet been submitted. He
said that a process of mediation was ongoing with both parties, with
two meetings already specifically focusing on the new law.

"This will of course continue. We will continue to have consultations
with the parties and we'll see where we get from there ... We're
trying to get them to talk to each other, find solutions," he said.

So far, he added, "it has been done in a positive spirit and a good 
atmosphere".

Former rebels have already said that returning to arms is not an
option they would consider.

The peace pact was was spurred on by the devastating 2004 tsunami
which left some 168,000 Acehnese dead.

GAM agreed to drop its demand for independence in return for, among
other concessions, the right to form local political parties which are
banned elsewhere in Indonesia.

Local elections are expected to be held in Aceh in November and
Indonesia has asked the AMM to extend its mandate, which is currently
due to expire in September, until then.

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Aceh Kita
August 1, 2006

Acehnese in Denmark disappointed with Aceh Governance Law

Denmark -- On Monday July 31, members of the Acehnese community residing
in Denmark sent a special letter to the High Representative of the
European Union Javier Solana and the secretary general of the United
Nations Kofi Annan.

The letter, which was signed by representatives of the Acehnese
community in Denmark, was expressing their dissatisfaction with a
number of articles in the Aceh Governance Law (UU-PA) that they
believe are not in compliance with the Helsinki Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU). The letter also protested several acts of
violence that have taken
place in Aceh since the peace deal was signed.

"In the letter [we] also asked that the CMI [Crisis Management
Initiative], the European Union, the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) and
the international community to continue to use the Helsinki MoU as a
reference in supporting a resolution to the Aceh question", said
Acehnese community representative Adnan Daud when speaking with Aceh Kita.

The letter was also sent to the chairperson of the CMI (the mediator
and facilitator of the peace negotiations), former Finnish president
Martti Ahtisaari, the head of the AMM Pieter Feith, Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch and a number of European Union
member states and countries in South-East Asia that are involved in
the AMM. [dzie]

[Translated by James Balowski.]

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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