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NEWS & LETTERS, March-April 2005Achenese struggle continues in aftermath of tsunami
New York--Acheh Center NYC was founded at a meeting here
on Feb. 23, at which Munawar Zainal of Acheh Center USA discussed the history of
Acheh's grassroots movements for self-determination and the post-tsunami
conditions in Acheh. His remarks follow. * * * The grassroots movements started in 1998 after Suharto
fell from the presidency. Students, women and people in many professions formed
strong, widespread movements. They told Indonesia and the Free Acheh Movement
(the guerrilla independence movement called GAM): with regard to everything
concerning the future of Acheh, please come to us and ask our opinion. A
congress of high school and university student organizations called SIRA
mobilized people in support of a referendum on Acheh’s political status. Even
the rickshaw drivers formed an organization. In 1999 and 2000, the grassroots
movements held huge demonstrations calling for a referendum. The response from
Indonesia was severe military repression, and after martial law was imposed in
May 2003, the movements were crushed. Activists had to flee Acheh for their
lives; people who remained were intimidated by the military and, some say, by
GAM too. Since May 2003, the only thing that those of us in exile
can do is distribute information about the repressive situation. Acheh Center
USA has been doing that work. Then suddenly the tsunami hit (Dec. 26), and now
many people want to support Acheh, but only by giving humanitarian aid for the
victims. We need people to think also about the root of the conflict and the
violence by the military that is still going on. In the two years I have been in
the U.S., I've been to Washington many times to lobby for the U.S. to pressure
Indonesia about its human rights abuses. I've been told by friends not to talk
about a referendum, just to talk about human rights violations and tsunami aid.
It makes me sad to see democratic activists trying to limit democracy. In
addition to humanitarian aid, it is very important to support the resolution of
the conflict. Most Achenese want a referendum; we should support this
perspective. Achenese want to determine our own future. Our
experience with Indonesia is that everything is planned from the top down. Even
the tsunami aid is being handled in that way. For example, Indonesia has made a
master plan for the reconstruction of Acheh, without asking the Achenese
anything about it. The government is building settlement camps for the refugees,
but is refusing to rebuild their villages. It plans to forbid living within two
kilometers of the sea. This will destroy countless communities and livelihoods. Many American and European aid agencies have the same
attitude. They send foreign-made fishing boats and equipment, but the Achenese
have their own traditional ways of building boats and nets. What they need is
help in rebuilding things their own way. First, we need the basic infrastructure
rebuilt. With their houses and ability to work restored, people could support
themselves. Today, the military has divided up Acheh into sections
in order to destroy the community structures in which resistance to Indonesian
rule was based, and to create conflicts between the Achenese and Javanese
populations of Acheh. Right after the tsunami, soldiers went to the refugee
camps, found the heads of villages and demanded that they sign over their land
to the military part of the plan to relocate people and to divide the province. The refugees want to go home, not to the military
barracks that are being built for them. People are pitching tents over the
rubble of their houses as a way of preserving their right to return. All they
want is a few building materials to rebuild their houses. Indonesia is still interfering with the aid sent for the
refugees from around the world. A thousand tons of supplies are said to be in
storage in the airport, under military control. People need the permission of
the military to resume fishing, to open a shop, to get married, to do anything.
And the military is still hunting and killing GAM and civil society activists.
Recently an American journalist in Acheh got some help from a local activist,
and after the American left, the activist and his entire family were kidnapped.
I am trying to help the journalist find them. Negotiations between Indonesia and GAM for a cease-fire
have not succeeded; GAM declared a cease- fire right after the tsunami, but
Indonesia refuses to do so. I was interviewed on the radio about the latest
meetings in Helsinki, and I said, "Acheh is like a woman. Indonesia says
the woman belongs to Indonesia, and GAM says she belongs to GAM. I say, why not
allow the woman to decide who she wants to be with?" * * * Please help Acheh Center to deliver humanitarian aid
directly to grassroots organizations, and to keep alive the idea of Acheh's
right to self-determination. Acheh Center USA |
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