December 1999
After East Timor, Aceh demands independence
Two million people came to Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province, Nov. 8
to demonstrate in favor of a referendum on Aceh's independence from
Indonesia. Following a statement by Abdurrahman Wahid, the new president of
Indonesia, that he agreed in principle that Aceh deserved a referendum,
nearly half the entire population of 4.3 million turned out to demand that
a referendum be scheduled by Dec. 4. If it is not scheduled and held soon,
student leaders say they will hold it themselves, no matter-"we are
prepared to die."
Before now, little was heard internationally about Aceh-it is the
northwestern tip of Indonesia, on the island of Sumatra-but it has a long
history of Indonesian military repression and a short, new history of
civilian mobilization.
Aceh was an independent country for centuries. From 1873 to 1942, it was at
war with the Dutch, who colonized most of Indonesia. Occupied by the
Japanese during World War II, it then continued to resist colonization, but
the U.N. added Aceh to Indonesia when that state was created. Aceh
initially supported the popular government of Sukarno, who promised it some
autonomy, but he betrayed his promise. Aceh then suffered under the 32
years of Suharto's dictatorship, especially 1988-98, when it was designated
a military enclave in order to combat the guerrilla independence force.
This year, the student movement combined with workers', farmers', women's,
religious, ethnic and community organizations to build the demand for a
referendum. Within two months after a student conference in February, the
demand appeared on banners and graffiti in the streets of every village.
Just three months ago, Indonesia allowed such a referendum in East Timor,
and when the population voted overwhelmingly against remaining a part of
Indonesia, the military slaughtered thousands of people. The Acehnese
understand very well that this can happen to them-in the past 10 years, the
Indonesian army has inflicted almost 3,000 deaths, 2,800 disappearances,
4,663 tortured, 186 rapes and sexual assaults, and created 90,000 refugees
in Aceh.
NEWS & LETTERS interviewed a leading student activist, 22-year old
Aguswandi, who visited New York after receiving a rash of death threats at
home. Just before the Nov. 8 demonstration, he told us:
"People outside of Aceh don't understand the extent of the grassroots
movement there. They may have heard of the "Free Aceh" (guerrilla)
movement, but the largest movement is that of civil society. The whole
population is resisting the government of Indonesia. The motor of the
movement is the pro-democracy groups: students, those Muslim clerics who
are close to the people, intellectuals, and others. They are carrying out
an unarmed movement. Their first target is to get a referendum on whether
to remain a part of Indonesia or become independent. Whichever wins, the
referendum must free Aceh from repression. We want the brutal activities of
the army stopped,and the army out of Aceh. Another goal is to investigate
human rights abuses and bring the perpetrators before an international
tribunal. The civilian movement supports democracy and peaceful change.
"My organization is Student Solidarity for the People, called SMUR. We are
university students who do community organizing, helping grassroots groups
that are resisting the military. One is called Victims of Military Cruelty.
Others are composed of farmers, laborers, traditional (tribal)
organizations, public transport drivers (of bicycles), middle and high
school students.
"We started holding community meetings. People were scared to participate
in actions, but we told them the students couldn't solve the problem alone.
The killing and kidnapping is still going on, so the villagers know they
can't trust the government. SMUR planted ideas about how to fight
peacefully by organizing the farmers, workers, everyone. The groups grew
and reached every part of society. The ideas of what to do came from the
villagers themselves. That made people radical and involved. Almost every
village is now opposed to the government.
"We have been holding strikes, boycotts and demonstrations. We had a
general strike Aug.4 and 5. No one went to work or school for two days. It
was 90% effective. The only people who didn't go on strike were the
military and high officials.
"Because I am secretary-general of SMUR, I've become a target for the
military. In May, a military commander in Aceh said publicly I was an enemy
of the state, and soon after my life was threatened for the first time.
More threats followed. The government said we were Communists and enemies
of the state. This actually gave us legitimacy and our organizing efforts
became more successful. One group conducted a poll to see who the Acehnese
would most like to represent them, and I was number one!
"The Indonesian government may try to coopt the radical elements of the
movement. For example, knowing that most people are religious, they may
offer a status within Indonesia that allows Islamic law to apply. They are
appointing a few Acehnese to high government positions and spreading
propaganda to create fissures between groups.
"The East Timor struggle was important to our development. We've learned
from it to be aware of how the Indonesian government tries to split a
movement. We have to make sure that doesn't happen in Aceh. East Timor is
receiving so much attention from the international community, whereas the
human rights violations in Aceh have received very little. The crimes
against humanity in both places are the same.
"We have relations with some of the student groups in Jakarta. We're all
pro-democracy and want to get the military out of the government. But we
don't share their views on elections. We boycotted the recent elections,
because it was not safe in Aceh to conduct a fair election. The boycott was
a way of showing we are for a referendum rather than electing new
officials. Only 30% of the people voted, and we think the army forced a lot
of them to vote."
On Nov. 12, Aguswandi and members of the International Forum for Aceh met
in Washington, D.C., with Indonesian President Wahid, who was visiting
President Clinton. He refused to set a date for the referendum, saying it
will be "when the time is right." He admitted that the military's presence
in Aceh is a problem, but again refused to set a date for its withdrawal.
Jakarta also faces growing independence movements in West Papua (Irian
Jaya), the Moluccan Islands, and other areas as well. Recently, thousands
of West Papuans from all over the country met to organize mass
demonstrations for Dec. 1. They will demand independence, which they were
supposed to get from the Dutch on Dec. 1, 1961.
-A.J.
Nov. 27, 1999
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