[nasional_list] [ppiindia] Aceh militias lose protection, so are they still a threat
- From: "Ambon" <sea@xxxxxxxxxx>
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- Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2005 01:24:35 +0100
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Aceh militias lose protection, so are they still a threat?
Aboeprijadi Santoso, Langsa, Aceh
A new chapter has begun for the region along the southeastern coast of Aceh, a
district with a tumultuous past, which has long been the bastion of
pro-government militias. Similar conditions occurred in the ethnically more
diverse highland of Central Aceh. But what made eastern Aceh unique is, unlike
Central Aceh, it had been an important stronghold of GAM (Aceh Free Movement)
rebels as well.
Now, with a considerable number of Indonesian Army and police units being
withdrawn in accordance with the Helsinki peace accord, the militias -- much to
the relief of local human rights workers -- are losing their protective
umbrella. Still, it isn't clear whether they will no longer pose a threat to
peace.
Real peace has finally arrived even if local worries remain. Serious incidents,
as in Peudawa, have still occurred. Reports said, soldiers, including members
of the joint military intelligence unit (SGI), now often sit together with
former GAM rebels in cafes and marines no longer extort fishermen, indicating a
new atmosphere in the town. SGI, a typical Army institution in conflict areas,
has renamed its "office" in Langsa, where they used to train informants, "Pos
Kodim" (military checkpoint). Faces of the SGI agents are known to all as are
the black-clothed militias, but the latter are now conspicuous by their
absence, "They used to exhibit a show of force in the town, now they are
silent," say locals.
GAM too has changed. As its fighters return home, it has reportedly instructed
its members to halt the collection of pajak nanggroe (state tax) on behalf of
the GAM, an extortion that continued until late August. The second phase of the
decommissioning of GAM weapons and the redeployment of the non-local army units
last week means that this region, arguably one of Aceh's most strategic areas,
has been demilitarized -- save the illegally armed militias.
Militias, of course, have become an embarrassment, a dirty word worldwide since
they went on a killing spree in East Timor in 1999. But that's not the reason
why the authorities adamantly deny their existence. The militias are viewed as
a spontaneous initiative that would help defend the country and preserve
national security in the best tradition of Indonesia's people's army during the
independence struggle -- as if, sixty years on, we are still fighting against
the Japanese and the Dutch. However, it serves to justify and support military
campaign. Hence, like in the 1940s, they are called "front" and "laskar"
(people's unit).
In reality, though, they are armed civilian units, which grew out of
state-linked militant organizations such as the Pemuda Pancasila (Pancasila
Youth). Like in East Timor, they are organized by area and basically function
as proxies. Unlike in East Timor, they consist of close circuits, and are often
organized along ethnic lines. They are very secretive, and fanatical in terms
of their "patriotism".
A group of journalists, including this writer, who visited Takengon, Central
Aceh in 2003, noted the militias' strong links, like in Eastern Aceh, with
local civil and military authorities. Acting as the Army's front line in the
search and persecution of rebels, they become part and parcel of
counterinsurgency operations in areas around the urban centers -- like in the
Philippines and Latin America in the 1980s.
In Aceh, however, they had been particularly active during every military
campaign since the Red Net Operation began in 1989. Unlike a regular army, they
cannot be expected to make distinctions between combatants and non-combatant
civilians and are not subject to any formal convention. A considerable number
of civilians have consequently been the victims of militia actions.
According to the International Crisis Group and Kontras, there are at present
about 17 to 18 militia groups in Aceh, mostly founded in 2003, totaling, they
claim, thousands of members.
What exactly the two biggest militia units in Eastern Aceh -- the Front of
Red-White Defenders (FPMP) and Go Parang (Hold the Cleaver) -- are doing now is
unclear. Typical of militias' secrecy, their organizations are hard to access.
But one experienced local human rights activist, Jusuf Puteh, better known as
Ne' Suh, is quite sure that they are now caught by fear.
"They no longer have any activity, no more loud actions. I'm sure they are
afraid. After all, they did bad things in the past. They used to persecute
people and bring them to the military. They were even worse than the Army. So,
they are afraid of retribution, but also of the AMM (the European Union-Asean
led Aceh Monitoring Mission) who are now in charge," explained Jusuf.
Yet, given their past atrocities, many remain worried about what the militias
plan. Few dare to enter the militia controlled area of Rantau Peurelak and Paya
Bili, where past massacres are said to have taken place as late as July, when
the Helsinki deal was only waiting to be signed, they brutally killed one of
their own fellows they suspected of treason.
The militias have thus failed to keep pace with peace. The kind of loyalty the
Army insisted on has apparently not resulted in respect for the Helsinki pact
the two parties on the ground have generally shown. Most likely, the militias
would be left in limbo, if those who should share responsibility for what they
did, either leave Aceh or simply ignore them.
Observers like Jusuf Puteh believe, once peace is institutionalized and ex-GAM
members settled, there will be no more space for the militias. But there are
fears that the local elections (Pilkada) next April might open new chances for
the militias to disrupt the peace as they did in Langsa and Takengon in 2003.
If what happened to the forgotten former East Timorese militias, who were
offered a lot of counterfeit money but subsequently neglected in West Timor, is
any indication, a similar prospect might await the Acehnese militias. That
could be a bad omen.
Since the Helsinki deal doesn't allow the existence of any civilian armed
group, the AMM should prevent any militia action and solve the problem before
they leave Aceh in March 2006. It's a litmus test for the local civilian and
military authorities' commitment to the deal, to dissolve them.
The writer is journalist with Radio Netherlands.
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