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Background information on the conflict in Aceh
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- Introduction
- The roots of the conflict
- Widespread human rights abuses
- Collapse of the peace process and renewed military offensive
- Emergency aid and the military
- Looking to the future
- Six immediate needs
- Further background from KAIROS
- Background from other organizations
See also
- Ending Impunity and Defending Human Rights in Timor Leste and Indonesia: KAIROS Submission to the FAC-NGO Annual Human Rights Consultations in preparation for 61st Session of the UNCHR
- Excerpt from the Written Statement to the 61st Session of UN Commission on Human Rights March-April 2005 by The Human Rights Working Group (Indonesia)
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 Map of Aceh |
Over the past two decades, thousands of people have died in a simmering war in Indonesia's Aceh province (pronounced AH-cheh). The world has heard little about the roots and fallout of this conflict, as foreign aid workers, human rights defenders and journalists were banned from working in the region for one and a half years until the earthquake tsunami disaster struck on December 26, 2004. In fact, North Americans generally have limited contact with Indonesia, a largely Muslim nation of 230 million that is geographically far-flung, extremely diverse and still emerging from decades of brutal dictatorship. This backgrounder offers some basic information on the conflict in Aceh, and lays out concerns about the military’s role in Aceh following the massive loss of life, and devastation caused by the Boxing Day earthquake and tsunami.
KAIROS is a coalition of eleven Canadian churches, with a long
history of involvement in South East Asia. We work with both church
and secular groups, and have a number of partners in Indonesia.
One of these partners is based in Aceh, working at the community
level to monitor and report human rights abuses. We are in regular
contact with them, and with other Indonesian faith groups and human
rights organizations who have people on the ground in Aceh. All
data on the current situation is carefully verified.
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The roots of the conflict |
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Located in the northernmost part of the island of Sumatra, Aceh is home to about 5 million people and has a long history of struggle against colonizers, including the Dutch and English. Aceh was promised special autonomy status within Indonesia in the 1950’s, but this never satisfactorily materialized. This, along with the central government’s control of Aceh’s lucrative offshore natural gas fields, resulted in the birth of an armed Free Aceh Movement (known as GAM) in 1976. Since then, Indonesia’s military campaign against the GAM has resulted in a lengthy and bloody conflict.
The conflict in Aceh is often portrayed as a religious war: Aceh
is generally considered to be the most devoutly Islamic province
of Indonesia. But GAM is not an Islamic organization, it is an independence
movement. The Indonesian government has tried to link GAM to terrorism,
but there is absolutely no evidence for this. This is not a religious
war or a war about terror. It is a conflict about local control,
natural resources, and self-determination.
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Widespread human rights abuses |
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The war in Aceh has resulted in widespread human rights violations
and civilian casualties. In 1989, the Indonesian armed forces intensified
their operations in an effort to crush the separatists, and Aceh
was designated a “military operations zone” (known as
“DOM”) for almost ten years. Thousands of people were
killed and human rights violations, including torture, rape, forced
disappearances, and murder were widespread. Hunger and poverty worsened
as families could not reach their fields for fear of being shot
on sight. Estimates of deaths vary widely; official government statistics
claim 2000 - 4000 dead during the ten year DOM period. Independent
estimates put the total much higher.
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Collapse of the peace process and renewed military offensive |
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After the fall of the dictator Suharto in 1998, a small space for dialogue opened up, bringing hope that peace negotiations would result in a non-military solution to the conflict. A cease fire was reached in December 2002, leading to a brief respite from hostilities and the re-emergence of a free press and civil society. KAIROS partners speak of the importance of this all too brief period of openness, citing a much-needed space for civil society and civilian governance to grow. But pressure from the military to launch a new offensive led to an abrupt end to the peace negotiations and the imprisonment of the GAM leaders present at the peace talks. In May 2003, martial law was imposed on Aceh and approximately 40,000 more troops were deployed to the province in the Indonesian military’s largest operation since the invasion of East Timor in 1975.
Foreign media and NGOs were forced to leave Aceh, and access by Indonesian media and civil society was strictly limited. Civil liberties were curtailed, and many non-governmental organizations, students and politicians were labeled and subsequently targeted as GAM sympathizers. Human rights organizations such as KAIROS’ partner, suffered violent persecution and were driven out of the province or forced underground. Under these difficult circumstances, our partner and other groups continued to monitor and report human rights violations,and train on-site volunteers who risked detention and torture by documenting abuses.
Although martial law was downgraded to a state of civil emergency,
military operations continued and approximately 2,000 people have
been killed since May 2003. While the military claims that most
past and current casualties are GAM combatants, Indonesian and international
human right groups, including the government’s own human rights
commission, assert that most of the dead and tortured are civilians.
KAIROS partners and human rights organizations have documented evidence
that the military often did not distinguish between GAM members
and non-combatants. Their investigations have also shown that while
the GAM is also guilty of atrocities, the majority of human rights
violations against the civilian population are committed by Indonesian
security forces.
Army members continue to operate with impunity; it has long been
virtually impossible to bring to trial any member of the Indonesian
military. In the few cases where trials have taken place, they have
involved lower-ranking soldiers who have argued that they were simply
following orders.
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Emergency aid and the military |
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In the wake of the tsunami-earthquake disaster, the Indonesian military has taken a leading role in relief operations while continuing its offensive against GAM. Although the military has the best organization and infrastructure in Aceh, it is highly inappropriate for a party to an ongoing conflict to play an unsupervised or managerial aid function. As affirmed in the 23 Principles and Good Practices of Humanitarian Donorship, which Canada has endorsed, civilian organizations must perform a leading role to ensure effective, safe and fair access to humanitarian assistance in conflict situations. (see link to Good Humanitarian Donorship Principles)
On December 31, the Indonesian military headquarters information centre announced that operations against separatist rebels would continue during this time of humanitarian crisis. This is a reversal of the military’s earlier declaration of a cease-fire which would free up all personnel to carry out relief efforts. In addition to diverting equipment and resources away from responding to this emergency, media and community groups report that the Indonesian military is continuing its operations against civilians and raiding villages believed to support the separatist rebels.
Needless to say, the military's lead role in aid delivery is also problematic given its responsibility for well documented human rights violations against the civilian population.
Aggravating this are equally well-founded reports of corruption within the military, which has limited funding within Indonesia’s national budget and is actually mandated to “find” operating funds elsewhere. Indonesia already ranks as one of the world’s most corrupt nations, and the military’s iron grip on Aceh, combined with its involvement in legal and illegal business activities, and the province’s natural gas industry, creates enormous potential for abuse of aid.
Media and local non-governmental organizations are also now reporting
the systematic misappropriation of aid by the military. KAIROS has
received accounts of theft of food aid and logistical supplies,
and military involvement in the sale of aid to victims in Banda
Aceh, Bireun and Meulaboh.
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Looking to the future |
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The situation in Aceh was a little-known crisis long before the tsunamis struck. The humanitarian crisis will test the newly elected Indonesian government’s ability to separate itself from military structures—and from a mindset that has seen a militarized approach as the only solution to tensions in Aceh. History has proven, however, that Indonesia's brutal campaigns have only served to strengthen GAM by engendering more anger and resentment toward the military and central government.
The continued offensive will not bring peace to the region, violates the basic human rights of all people in Aceh, and poses a threat to effective aid delivery and long-term recovery. It also holds the future of Indonesia's fragile democracy in the balance. Indeed, both Indonesian and foreign analysts have suggested that the army remains the power behind the throne throughout Indonesia, despite a new veneer of democracy and an apparent weakening of the army’s power.
Now more than ever a return to a serious peace process is urgently
needed. Recovery from the natural disaster will take years, and
demand the efforts and goodwill of Acehnese, wider Indonesian society,
and the world community. Recovery from years of violence and trauma
may take even longer, and a peace process is a first and crucial
step in that long journey. That process must include legitimate
representatives of Acehnese civil society, and must be preceded
by a long-term cease fire and a return to normal civilian governance.
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Six immediate needs |
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KAIROS and other Canadian groups have proposed to the Canadian government and public that the following six points guide Canada’s and the global community’s responses to the humanitarian crisis:
- Press the Indonesian government to unequivocally declare a
cease fire and lift the state of civil emergency in Aceh. These
immediate steps should be followed by negotiations with the armed
separatist movement (GAM) to ensure that a ceasefire is upheld
and long term peace can be achieved. This peace process should
include civil society involvement and be conducted under some
form of international guarantee.
- Deliver foreign aid as directly as possible to the affected
populace. International organizations should be allowed to provide
assistance outside of military channels and to distribute aid
directly and through local NGOs. Only if the military is disarmed
and placed under civilian oversight should it be allowed to carry
out humanitarian and reconstruction tasks.
- Channel all Canadian aid through effective mechanisms with
a priority to international, Canadian and local civil society
organizations until Aceh is demilitarized.
- Press the Indonesian government to allow unrestricted access
to the
entire province by international and Indonesian civil society
organizations for an unlimited length of time, and to allow for international monitoring and media reporting on relief efforts and human rights conditions.
- Take rigorous steps to ensure that aid efforts are not compromised
by military and government corruption.
- Guarantee that Canadian aid is not used for military purposes.
For more information about the situation in Aceh, please contact
Nancy Slamet Program Coordinator, Human Rights ( Asia and the Middle
East), 416 463 5312 x226 or nslamet@kairoscanada.org
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Further background from KAIROS |
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Urgent action:
KAIROS letter: Ongoing Indonesian military operations and the military’s role in the delivery of aid to the tsunami-affected people of Aceh
News release: Canadian Coalition Demands Demilitarization of Aid in Aceh, as Indonesian Military Continues Attacks
Archived
urgent action, July 2003: KAIROS Partner Detained in Aceh, Indonesia
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Background from other organizations |
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Good Humanitarian Donorship Principles:
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/foreign_policy/human-rights/ha-GHD-principles-en.asp
Foreign Policy in Focus: http://www.fpif.org/papers/PR2005aceh_body.html
Indonesian Alert: Aceh’s Dual Disasters: The Tsunami and Military Rule http://www.indonesiaalert.org/article.php?id=89
Tapol: The Indonesia Human Rights Campaign: http://tapol.gn.apc.org
Tapol Aceh Backgrounder: http://www.tapol.gn.apc.org/st020131.htm
Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=asia&c=aceh
Stop Violence after the end of Martial Law http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/05/26/indone8618.htm
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