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Aceh Martial Law Could
Set Back Prospects for U.S. Military Aid
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OneWorld
US
July
10, 2002 |
Aceh Martial Law Could Set Back
Prospects for U.S. Military Aid
Wed Jul 10, 9:26 AM ET
Jim Lobe,OneWorld
US
If Indonesia declares martial law
in oil-rich Aceh province, as suggested last weekend by top
military officials, the government of President Megawati
Sukarnoputri may find it more difficult to resume
military-to-military ties with the United States, according to
analysts in Washington.
Such a declaration, especially if
it is accompanied with increased repression, will also hurt
chances for a negotiated solution to the long-running conflict
between the Acehnese and the Megawati government, who have been
engaged in peace talks in Geneva for several months, although no
progress on key issues of autonomy and revenue-sharing has been
reported.
"The talk of martial law is
pretty ominous," said Mike Jendrzejczyk, an East Asia
specialist at Human Rights Watch (HRW) in Washington. "Nobody
seriously believes a military solution is possible, and any
increased offensive will only further distance Jakarta from the
Acehnese."
Speculation about Jakarta's
intentions for Aceh is intensifying as Megawati's top security
minister, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who last week for the first
time labeled the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) a "terrorist"
group, leads a government delegation to the northern province to
determine what to do.
The trip, and Bambang's latest
statements, follows a hardening of the government's stance against
GAM and an intensification of the conflict, including several
high-profile murders and GAM's abduction of 18 athletes and
sailors over the past month. GAM, which has waged a 26-year
struggle for independence from Jakarta, released all 18 last
weekend, claiming that they had been detained on suspicion of
being spies.
The latest developments come as the
Bush administration is pressing Congress to renew military ties
with the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) that were substantially
reduced during the 1990s and cut altogether in 1999 when TNI-organized
and -armed militias devastated East Timor ( news
- web
sites) after its inhabitants voted overwhelmingly for
independence in a United Nations ( news
- web
sites)-backed referendum. The former Portuguese colony, which
was invaded and annexed by Indonesia in 1975, formally gained its
independence earlier this year.
Under current U.S. law, Washington
can resume military-to-military relations, such as training, only
when Jakarta meets several conditions, including bringing to
justice those responsible for the mayhem in East Timor, as well as
other indications that the military has been brought under
civilian control and has improved its human rights record.
But the Pentagon ( news
- web
sites), particularly deputy defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz,
who served as U.S. ambassador to Jakarta in the 1980s, believes
that the Indonesian military has a key role to play in the Bush
administration's war on terrorism. Washington believes that
members of the al-Qaeda network have raised money and pursued some
other activities in Indonesia, which is the world's largest
predominantly Muslim nation.
The administration has asked
Congress to approve financing for a new "command and
control" unit that would act as a peacekeeping force in
ethnic and religious conflicts that have arisen in various parts
of the archipelago, as well as the supply of certain
"non-lethal" items, such as radios. It also has signaled
an interest in renewed training of TNI officers at a proposed
anti-terrorism institute to be established in Hawaii.
So far, however, the Pentagon has
not been able to get its way, as both houses of Congress, while
sympathetic to the administration's concern about radical Islamist
activity in Indonesia, have agreed to provide aid only to the
Indonesian police and rejected the proposal for training and
arming the peacekeepers.
While most opposition to renewing
military ties comes from Democratic lawmakers, they have been
joined by some on the Republican right who are particularly
concerned about the TNI's human rights record and reports that
army units have provided aid to radical Islamist groups involved
in fighting between Christian and Muslim communities in the Maluku
Islands.
Human rights advocates are
particularly worried about the conflict in Aceh, where Indonesian
forces have waged a brutal counter-insurgency campaign that has
included disappearances and summary executions of both suspected
GAM members and others, including rights activists and teachers.
GAM, too, has been criticized for summary executions of suspected
informers and prisoners and threatening non-Acehnese communities,
leading thousands to flee the province.
While Bambang himself is believed
to favor a state of civil emergency--that would give the local
governor powers to order arrests, ban the media, and restrict
assemblies or demonstrations--over a declaration of martial law,
even that, according to experts, is likely to reduce chances for
negotiations. Sidney Jones, Indonesia director of the
Brussels-based International Crisis Group, said such a move would
at the least cause "greater resentment" towards the
government.
But it would also harden opposition
to restoring military ties in Congress, according to one aide, who
asked not to be identified. "Despite the government's
efforts, it would be difficult to paint the GAM as a target in the
war on terrorism that would justify U.S. support and it would add
to fears that we were backing an abusive military," he said.
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