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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Aceh province |
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| BroHanif |
| 08/17/03 at 12:27:56 |
| Salaams, Does anyone know what the situation of the Muslims is in the Aceh province near Indonesia?. The following pciture brought sighs upon sighs in me. Bros only one look is allowed!. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/photo_gallery/3158243.stm Look at image number 4 Salaams Hanif |
| NS |
| 08/17/03 at 12:28:49 |
| BroHanif |
| Re: Aceh province |
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| Maliha |
| 08/17/03 at 23:23:20 |
| [slm] i found this brief history on the Amnesty International Website..but i don't get it..aren't both sides Muslims??? What's this madness? A brief human rights history of Aceh Summary The current outbreak of hostilities between the Indonesian government and the separatist rebels in Aceh is the culmination of a long-running struggle, which has seen many lives lost on both sides. Throughout its history Aceh has shown a desire for independence - initially against the Dutch, who by 1799 controlled most of the area today recognised as Indonesia, the 1824 Treaty of London, however, allowed Aceh to remain independent. When the Dutch decided to invade in 1873 they found themselves involved in the longest war they had ever fought with 10,000 lives being lost. Similarly, when the Japanese invaded Aceh on 12 March 1942 the initial welcome soon changed to rebellion when they failed to keep their promise of freeing the Acehenese from colonisation. During this time Aceh played an important part in building up the Indonesian National Movement. The history of the independence movement The province of Aceh was incorporated into the Republic of Indonesia in 1949 and initially there was much hope and enthusiasm. However, it was not long before this hope was replaced by disillusionment with the central government in Jakarta. The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) was founded in December 1976 to try and win independence from Indonesia. This began a 26 year struggle in which the Indonesian Government has attempted to use its military superiority - 20,000 troops compared to 2,000 rebels - to get rid of GAM because it regards Aceh as economically and strategically vital. Although GAM had little grassroot support when it first started, by the late 1970s the Indonesian government was worried enough to take action. Under President Suharto it began carrying out mass arrests of GAM members in Aceh and the result was that GAM was pushed underground. However, although the rebels disappeared from sight their organisation was not destroyed and in 1989 they came out of hiding to attack police and military installations. This use of violence was matched by the Indonesian government who declared Aceh a Military Operation Zone (DOM). Violations of human rights during the independence movement Amnesty International has been reporting on concerns in Aceh for a long time. Between 1989 and 1998, investigations found evidence of at least 781 deaths, 163 "disappearances", 368 cases of torture and 102 cases of rape. Since 1998 Amnesty International has issued Urgent Actions on over 130 people who have "disappeared" or been killed in Aceh, either by Indonesian security forces with with the acquiesence of the government. Some estimates indicate that in the last few decades 10,000 people, mainly civilians, have been killed in the ongoing conflict. Many of these were human rights defenders and political activists such as Musliadi, a 25-year-old human rights and political activist, whose body was discovered near a bridge over a river in Lembah Seulawah Sub-district, Aceh Besar District on the 3rd of December 2002. His body had large bruises on the legs, back and chest, burns on the face and right wrist, and a stab wound at the back of the head. Although reports of threats and intimidation by GAM are very difficult to verify, they have also been responsible for serious human rights abuses, including unlawful killings, abductions, and intimidating and threatening activists. One humanitarian group in Banda Aceh reported in May 2000 that its members had been threatened with death and told that their office would be bombed by individuals who identified themselves as members of GAM. Following this, several staff members of the organization received threats by letter and telephone. Recently, arson attacks on over 370 schools and trucks carrying aid into Aceh province have been blamed on both GAM and Indonesian forces. Amnesty International is concerned that the recent break-down of the peace process will see civilians will bear the brunt of this conflict, and that it will create an environment in which both members of the security forces and GAM are able to commit violations without fear of being held accountable. This may lead to an escalation of human rights violations and a return to the situation of Aceh's recent past where extrajudicial executions, ''disappearances'', arbitrary arrests and torture by the military were common place. Peace initiatives Thirty-two years of authoritarian rule in Indonesia ended in May 1998 when former President Suharto was forced to resign in the face of massive popular opposition. The fall of the Suharto government heralded a new era of reform leading to expectations for change throughout Indonesia, including in Aceh. A number of government statements and initiatives provided some basis for optimism. On 7 August 1998, General Wiranto, the Armed Forces Commander at the time, offered an apology for the actions of members of the armed forces in Aceh. He also announced that Aceh's status as a military operations area (Daerah Operasi Militer - DOM) would be lifted and that all non-organic troops would be withdrawn. Although DOM had never been officially declared, it is generally assumed to have begun in 1990. In May 2000 an accord was signed under which both parties agreed to halt offensive operations to allow the distribution of humanitarian aid and prepare the ground for further negotiations on ending the conflict. Known as the Joint Understanding on Humanitarian Pause for Aceh, it came into force on 2 June 2000 for a period of three months. The agreement initially appeared to result in a decrease in the level of human rights violations. However, within a matter of weeks reported incidents of abuses by both the security forces and GAM escalated once again. On 24 September 2000 the agreement was extended by an additional three months, until 15 January 2001. At the same time both sides agreed to take all necessary measures to improve the effectiveness of the ''humanitarian pause'' and reconfirmed their commitment to the early and safe return of internally displaced persons (IDPs), to prevent any new exodus and to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers. On the 9th of December 2002, the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) was signed between representatives of the Government of Indonesia and GAM in Geneva, Switzerland. Mediated by the Swiss-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, the agreement was intended as the first step towards negotiating a political resolution to the 26-year-old conflict. Although always fragile, the CoHA did bring about a significant reduction of violence in the province and for a period of a few months the numbers of reported human rights violations dropped. The CoHA, however, did not specifically address human rights protection and justice for the thousands of unresolved human rights violations committed during the past two decades. Amnesty International believes that these issues will have to be addressed if any peace process is to be successful and durable. In the past, the failure of the Indonesian government to address human rights violations has undermined efforts to bring an end to the conflict in NAD. In particular, a reluctance to investigate and bring to justice members of the security forces who commit human rights violations has contributed to distrust of the policies of the Indonesian authorities among the civilian population. It has also created an environment in which both members of the security forces and GAM have been able to commit violations without fear of being held accountable. Although the vast majority of cases of human rights abuse remain unresolved, a few cases have been investigated and brought to trial. In a welcome development, the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission (Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia, Komnas HAM) announced its intention to investigate human rights violations committed between 1989 and 1998 when NAD was designated as a Military Operations Area (Daerah Operasi Militer, DOM). Investigations were carried out by Komnas HAM and other bodies into violations during this period in the past. However, only one of the cases investigated was ever brought to trial. An Independent Commission for the Investigation of Violence in Aceh (Komisi Independen Pengusutan Tindak Kekerasan di Aceh, KPTKA) was subsequently established in June 1999. It reported that it had collected information about 5,000 cases of human rights violations committed in NAD in the past ten years. The way forward Lack of political will is regarded as having been one of the main obstacles to bringing to justice those suspected of human rights violations. While an end to the violence is the immediate priority, the dialogue process will only have a chance of success if past violations are also addressed. The Government's failure to deal with the thousands of documented cases of violations in Aceh -- the majority of which were committed by its own security forces during counter-insurgency operations over the last decade -- has fuelled resentment in the province and provided fertile ground for the growth of violent opposition. The Free Aceh Movement will also need to cooperate with any investigation of abuses committed by its members. In turn the government will need to guarantee the rights to fair trial of any GAM members suspected of involvement in abuses. http://www.amnesty.org.nz/web/pages/home.nsf/0/69f71454eba2a3b8cc256d3a000b8149?OpenDocument |
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