[Kabar-indonesia] 5 Aceh updates: Thousands Accuse Govt Of Failing On Peace Deal

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

5 updates: 

- Tens of thousands mark year of peace in Indonesia's Aceh

- Thousands In Aceh Accuse Govt Of Failing On Peace Deal

- Former Aceh rebel group GAM seeks law amendments

- Finland's Ahtisaari feels like "godfather" of Aceh peace pact

- BBC: Aceh peace deal, one year on

Tens of thousands mark year of peace in Indonesia's Aceh

by Nurdin Hassan

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, August 15 (AFP) -- Tens of thousands rallied
Tuesday in Indonesia's Aceh, celebrating a full year of peace but
calling on Jakarta to honour the pact which ended three decades of
separatist warfare.

Crowds crying "Peace!" and "Long live the Acehnese!" converged around
the province's main mosque to mark the historic pact signed on August
15 last year between the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the
central government.

Muhammad Adam, a 32-year-old from North Aceh district, arrived in the
provincial capital Banda Aceh two days ahead of the event.

"We all just wish that this peace will last forever," he told AFP.

"During the conflict, people in my village could barely make a living
but now, after the MOU (memorandum of understanding, or peace pact),
we can go calmly to the rice fields without fear."

At a formal ceremony held at dusk, Acehnese dancers clad in black,
yellow and red braved rain to perform under fluttering white flags for
the chief mediator, ex-Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, Vice
President Yusuf Kalla, GAM's top negotiator Malik Mahmud and hundreds
of locals.

"I think we can now agree that what was gained was much more than what
was given up," Ahtisaari told the crowd gathered by the sea.

Kalla urged all sides to work to maintain the peace.

"The most important thing is that in our hearts, enmity must no longer
exist," he said.

The pact was signed in the wake of the catastrophic Indian Ocean
tsunami in 2004, which slammed into Aceh's coastlines killing some
168,000 people, and ended 29 years of fighting in the province at the
westernmost tip of Sumatra.

One of Asia's longest running separatist conflicts had seen the death
of an estimated 15,000 people, mostly civilians.

The formal ceremony was held at Banda Aceh's Ulee Lhee port, one of
the areas worst hit by the tsunami.

Under the deal signed in Helsinki, GAM dropped its demand for
independence in return for wide-ranging autonomy.

A law that was supposed to cement the peace deal was passed by the
government last month but has elicited criticism from former rebels as
well as ordinary Acehnese, who have already protested in their
thousands.

Tuesday's street rally was also held to urge the Indonesian government
to draft amendments to the law to bring it fully into line with the
Helsinki deal.

Critics say several articles effectively curtail the power of the
local administration in areas such as natural resource management,
while the role of the Indonesian military in Aceh remains unclear.

Muhammad Nazar, head of non-governmental organization the Aceh
People's Referendum Information Centre (SIRA), expressed the concern
of some Acehnese.

"Right now, Acehnese are very disappointed because the Aceh autonomy
law contradicts the Helsinki MOU," said Nazar, who served more than
three years in prison for sedition before the pact.

"Actually, Acehnese people are peace-loving and do not like war,
therefore the peace that we seek is an honest and fair peace," he told
the crowd.

Anwar, a 45-year-old farmer who took a 12-hour truck ride to attend
the rally, said demonstrating was a way for him to express his wishes.

"What I really want is for the Indonesian government to no longer
trick Acehnese because during the conflict, we truly suffered and
could not work peacefully," he told AFP.

Despite the unease over the new law and earlier predictions of
failure, former rebels have called the peace process "irreversible"
and insisted they will not return to fighting.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at an event marking the
anniversary in Jakarta on Monday that the peace process still needed
work and commitment to ensure it was permanent.

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Thousands In Aceh Accuse Govt Of Failing On Peace Deal

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, August 15 (AP)--Thousands of protesters accused
Indonesia's government Tuesday of failing to deliver on promises made
when separatist rebels signed an agreement a year ago to end decades
of fighting in Aceh province.

The demonstration in front of the provincial capital's 18th century
mosque was one of the largest in Aceh in recent years, highlighting
lingering challenges despite the success so far of the Aug. 15, 2005,
peace deal.

The separatists and Indonesian troops agreed to stop fighting months
after the 2004 Asian tsunami that killed 131,000 people in Aceh. Both
sides said they didn't want to add to the suffering or hinder the
reconstruction process.

More than 10,000 protesters on Tuesday called on the government to
change a recently passed law that cements the terms of the accord,
saying it watered down the level of autonomy promised to the oil- and
gas-rich province.

"If the government does not respond to our demands, don't blame the
people of Aceh if they once again demand their freedom," Mohammed
Nazar, an activist twice imprisoned for organizing rallies in favor of
an independence referendum, told the crowd.

Some of those present said they turned out to mark the one-year
anniversary of the deal, and were unaware of the political dimension
of the rally. But many others held up banners saying "Save the peace"
and "Don't trick us again," a reference to what separatists say is a
string of failed promises in the past to allow the province self-rule.

The demonstration was called by a loose coalition of local rights
groups, some of whom have links to former members of the Free Aceh
Movement, which waged a 29-year war against the government that left
15,000 people dead.

The peace deal, signed in Finland, saw rebels hand in their weapons
and drop their independence demand, accepting greater self-rule for
the region and the withdrawal of most Indonesian troops.

Ex-rebels and government officials later Tuesday joined former Finish
president Martti Ahtisaari, who brokered the deal, at a ceremony in a
district of the provincial capital hit hard by the tsunami.

"For the first time the people of Aceh can breathe easily, and peace
has even reached the most remote village," said Malik Mahmud, the
separatist movement's former prime minister in exile.

The former rebels and activists have raised several complaints about
the recently passed law. The most serious is a clause that enables
Jakarta to make important decisions relating to Aceh after
"consulting" the province, rather than with the province's "consent,"
as agreed to in Helsinki.

The ex-guerillas have said they have no intention of taking up arms
again, but at least two have said they worry that if the complaints
aren't addressed, new rebel movements could rise up within the next
decade.

The government has said that the law can be amended in one or two years.

It says that the version of the clause agreed to in Finland would have
given Aceh's legislature more power than that of the national
parliament, which would have violated the constitution.

Peter Feith, the head of the European Union-led peace monitoring
mission, has said he considers the law "broadly in line" with the
terms of the deal and also noted that it can be amended.

"I am optimistic that the people of Aceh will enter 2007 with all the
preconditions for a comprehensive, sustainable and long lasting
peace," he said in a statement.

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Former Aceh rebel group GAM seeks law amendments

JAKARTA, August 5 (Xinhua) -- The former rebellious Free Aceh Movement
(GAM) is dissatisfied with several articles in the newly enacted law
on Aceh governance, but its leaders say the group will wait to see how
the law is put into practice, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

Former GAM negotiator Tengku Kamaruzzaman said several articles of the
law curtailed privileges that were granted to the Aceh administration
in the truce, including the ability to lure direct foreign investment
and to manage the province's natural resources.

"We are now discussing with the government possibilities of amending
the law ... The most important aspect is how the law is put into
regulations that can benefit the Acehnese. Several previous laws on
Aceh were useless because of the absence of regulations to implement
them," he was quoted by The Jakarta Post as saying.

Former self-styled GAM foreign minister Zaini Abdullah said several
articles in the law violated the truce signed last year to end three
decades of separatist fighting in Aceh.

But he emphasized that the peace deal has enabled the Acehnese people
to live in peace at last, free from the fear of being shot or
abducted.

"We see here and there in the law several things that still don 't
reflect the peace accord but we are very happy to see that compared to
a year ago, the Acehnese are now living a normal life, " he said

Zaini gave assurances that former rebels would not disrupt that peace,
and would discuss the contentious articles with the government to find
the best solution.

The Indonesian government argues that the law has made Aceh the envy
of other provinces due to its new powers.

The law, which was called for in the peace pact signed last Aug. 15 in
Helsinki, Finland, by the government and GAM leaders, was passed by
the House of Representatives early last month.

Under the peace accord, GAM dropped its demand for Acehnese
independence in return for greater autonomy and the right to form
local political parties, which are banned elsewhere in the country.

Meanwhile, former GAM armed forces chief Muzakkir Manaf said some
30,000 of his former military men were waiting for compensation from
the government to enable them to start rebuilding their lives, as
stipulated in the peace pact.

"Only 25 to 30 percent of the peace deal has been realized. My men
need jobs and plots of land to start over. We realize that it will
depend on their skills but we still have not received anything," he
said.

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Finland's Ahtisaari feels like "godfather" of Aceh peace pact

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, August 15 (AFP) -- Former Finnish president
Martti Ahtisaari said Tuesday he felt like a "godfather" of a peace
pact between rebels and Jakarta, during celebrations marking the
one-year anniversary of the deal.

"I intend to come back. I feel like a godfather of this peace
agreement," the chief mediator of the pact said at a press conference
to launch a research publication as part of events marking the day.

"I am 70 now and I will be back before I am 80," he vowed, to check on the 
pact.

But Ahtisaari, who has been nominated for the 2006 Nobel peace prize
for his international negotiating work including with Aceh's
separatist rebels, also said that if the peace was disrupted he could
be back sooner.

"If you are not doing well, then the godfather will come back and tell
you that you didn't do very well," he warned.

Despite some predictions of doom, the peace pact signed in Helsinki in
the wake of the December 2004 tsunami, which killed 168,000 people in
Aceh, has held solidly.

The historic deal ended nearly three decades of conflict in the
resource-rich province at the tip of Sumatra which had led to 15,000
deaths.

While both sides remain optimistic of the peace holding, ex-rebels and
many Acehnese want a new law cementing the pact passed by the
government to be amended, saying it does not give the province the
autonomy it was promised.

Ahtisaari has spent three decades as a diplomat and is a former United
Nations under secretary-general.

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BBC News Online
August 15, 2006

Aceh peace deal, one year on

One year has passed since the Indonesian government and separatist
rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (Gam) signed a peace deal to end
nearly three decades of fighting in the province.

Here people from across Aceh give their assessment of the year so far.

M KAHAR, TEACHER IN AN ISLAMIC SCHOOL, BANDA ACEH

Life is very good these days. We are very happy because of the
ceasefire and wherever we go now, we feel this happiness.

There is no longer any fear in our region because there is such a
thing as peace.

Before the peace agreement of last year, we would be afraid when
travelling the roads outside Banda Aceh.

Now, we can go everywhere and the violence we used to see in our
district is no more.

Before, I was never able to go and visit my father-in-law. He lived in
a remote area

The situation was not very good. But with the reduction in violence,
life has become freer.

I think the tsunami was important. It changed the attitudes of people,
so everyone wanted to make peace in our region. Now, I think there is
a good chance for us to progress.

I know there are worries about exactly how much autonomy we have.

Because I am a teacher, I don't care about autonomy and about what the
government do and what is happening with the peace accord.

As a teacher, my primary desire is that peace prevails so the
education system can run smoothly.

We need education in this country. It is important for our future peace.

IRAWAN ABDULLAH, POLITICIAN, ACEH

Promises have not been fulfilled.

The Indonesian government and Gam have different perceptions of the
results of the negotiations of last year. Gam was hoping for more
powers, more recognition, but they never got it.

After years of war and the tsunami, there was finally hope for Aceh.
There was hope that our people could be better educated, would get a
chance to progress.

But I see little of that now.

I feel that the government of Indonesia has broken its promises to Aceh.

Aceh has no money, we don't have enough local power to make decisions
about the money that is due to us. We feel that the riches of Aceh are
going to be diverted to Jakarta.

I feel angry because it feels as if Indonesia has taken money that we
should have.

Even though Aceh has peace and autonomy, Aceh will remain poor.

Perhaps the only way to deal with this is to press even harder for
full independence. It's very difficult to get that and I don't see the
government of Indonesia will do that.

Maybe Aceh needs full independence. It will be very difficult to get
more independence for Aceh but I think this is what the people want.

Alternatively, Jakarta must give us greater financial control so
people like myself, who have the representation of local people, can
make decisions about the people in our own area.

NASRUDDIN ABU BAKKAR, ADMINISTRATOR, BANDA ACEH

I feel good. Thousands and thousands of people have come to Banda Aceh
for a major demonstration.

We are campaigning on the deal about Aceh's government. Peace has been
good but we need more. We feel there are many problems with the deal,
many crucial points relating to how government works, relating to
authority.

We need to be clear about where the real authority with Aceh lies. The
government kept all the authority. Indonesia, Jakarta is the master.

We need change so the balance of authority is given to Aceh.

We want to force all the parties and campaigning groups to pressure
the Indonesian government to back our demands. We don't want them to
change their mind on the peace deal. We want them to do right by us.

If Indonesia doesn't listen to our demands for greater autonomy, for
greater power over our own regions, then the Acehnese will come to
know about their true intentions.

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