RI, GAM EXPECTED TO UNVEIL DEMILITARIZATION PLANS

The Government of Indonesia (RI) and the Free Acheh Movement (GAM) are expected in the end of the week to exchange detailed plans for the demilitarization of Acheh and discuss them in the Joint Security Committee (JSC).

"We are anticipating serious, solid plans from the two parties and for them to work out their concerns in the JSC so we can move the process forward as quickly as possible and keep our promises to the people of Acheh," said Maj. Gen. Tanongsuk Tuvinun, JSC Senior Envoy.

The Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA), signed by the two parties December 9 in Geneva, calls for GAM to place its weapons in secret, designated locations monitored by international weapons verifiers.

In exchange, RI has agreed to relocate its TNI troops to defensive positions and reformulate its BRIMOB paramilitary units into "a normally functioning police force."

The GAM placement sites are subject to no-notice inspections by the weapons verifiers.

"The demilitarization process needs to move ahead to maintain confidence in the agreement. I hope the two parties are prepared to fulfill their obligations under the CoHA," said David Gorman, Banda Acheh representative for the Henry Dunant Centre (HDC), which brokered the three-month-old truce.

The broad outlines of the demilitarization plan call for a five-month
phased, balanced and simultaneous.

Both parties presented rough blueprints to each other February 8. Since then, each party has been finalizing plans that the other will accept.

TNA denies its soldiers surrender and condemns severely certain parties who are creating an anti-peace condition

here is no TNA soldier surrendering in Acheh Besar district as reported by the Metro-TV on Sunday afternoon, March 23, 2003. That report was nothing but a propaganda material issued by the Indonesian authorities who have become more and more pathetic every day for failing to capture the heart and mind of the majority of the Achenese people.

We protest in the strongest terms the instruction issued by the Lilawangsa Military Resort Commander (Danrem), Col. AY. Nasution, to all organic/territorial members of the TNI to register all family members of GAM and supporters in villages. This instruction may have a fatal result for the organic (local) TNI members, most of whom were living normally among the Achenese society. Such an instruction may be regarded as an intelligent military operation and thus justifying any preventive and if necessary pre-emptive action to be taken by TNA.

There are indications that the TNI are planning to mobilize the masses, especially the militia, to carry out anti Peace Zones, anti-TNI relocations, and anti-JSC demonstrations during the visit of the KASAD (Army chief) to Pidie district next week. The TNA deplore this evil intention, because provocative efforts like that will not be beneficial for the peace process in Acheh. The mobilization of the militia from Central and East Acheh to Pidie has started already.

On Sunday March 23, 2003, a unit of BRIMOB and members of KOPASSUS in BRIMOB uniforms launched an offensive operation at Juli village, along the km 2-7 on the Bireuen-Takengon trunk road. They COHA violators wanted to build a new command post in this village where several TNA units are stationed. Armed contacts took place all morning until 2 pm.

On Saturday night, March 22, at 10 pm., a MIXED platoon of BRIMOB and KOPASSUS carried out a criminal act within the Peace Zone of Pesangan District, in a small town called Balee Seutui. This platoon confiscated 15 units of motorcycles belonging to members of the public that were parked on a roadside and in front of shops. Members of TNA assigned to guard the security of the people in that town carried out a punishing action against the criminals when they left the Peace Zone, that is upon reaching the Pulo Iboih village. In the armed contact that took place several members of the criminal unit were hit; all members of TNA return to base without any casualty.

On Friday March 21, at 10 am, a TNA marine patrol unit ran across a group of bandits armed with FNC rifles produced by the Indonesian Army's arms factory, Pindad in Bandung. The sea bandits were trying to smuggle 2 units of luxury cars by boat from the Sabang Freeport to Acheh mainland. An order to stop by the TNI patrol boat answered with shots from the smugglers' automatic rifle, resulting in a duel that lasted an hour. The two cars on the boat caught fire that engulf the boat as well. Three bandits in the boat were shot, but it is not know if any of them were killed. No casualty on the TNA side; the patrol boat suffering a slight damage on the engine cover that does not affect the operational capacity of the boat.

Also, TNA condemns severely certain parties who are creating an anti-peace condition in Acheh by mobilizing a number of trained civilians to demonstrate against and harass the JSC and the peace process in Acheh.

The demonstration carried out by a few dozens people against the JSC in Sigli was definitely masterminded by the TNI (Indonesian National Armed Forces). Admissions made by some of the demonstrators themselves as well as the jargon used in the posters carried by the demonstrators were clearly point to the TNI's role behind the scene. These are solid proofs that the TNI was the mastermind behind the anti-peace demo. The demonstration carried out by a score of people in Bireuen also presented the marks of TNI's handy work. The same with the mass riots perpetrated in Takengon (Central Acheh) and in Langsa (East Acheh) last week; they all pointed to the TNI's created militias.

The TNI is the only party that has openly opposed the peace process in Acheh. The rejection by the TNI of the peace process was loudly voiced from the very beginning, even before the signature of the COHA, by none other than the Commander-in-Chief of the TNI, Endriartono, and by the Indonesian Army's chief, Ryamizard Ryacudu. It is not thus surprising if today they are also the ones very actively conducting underground movements to derail the peace process, by, among other things, mobilizing the mass riots in order to intimidate the JSC teams to leave their posts, especially those representing GAM and the international party. The TNA condemns in the strongest terms all forms of this dirty play performed by the Indonesian authority.

We take this opportunity to warn the people who let themselves be used by the Indonesian authorities for the purpose of derailing the peace process in Acheh to stop their activities immediately and to no longer listen to the evil whispers of the war criminals. If the peace process in Acheh broke down due to the work of these evil elements, a new war will break and these people will be used by the Indonesian authorities as supplement to their combat forces. TNA Intelligence has obtained a list of names of the chief provocateurs and manipulators who were behind several demonstrations against the peace process in Acheh. Very firms actions will be taken against them in due course. The TNI/Polri will not be able to protect these traitors of peace from the long arms of the revolutionary laws of GAM.

The TNA condemns in the strongest terms the extortion rackets being perpetuated along the trunk roads of Medan-Banda Acheh through the Eastern or Western coast of the country. Extortions of road users are notably carried out at night. On the East Coast, extortions are being carried out openly and brutally within the newly solemnized Peace Zone area of Paya Kareueng, Kecamatan (sub-district) of Peusangan. Several public bus and truck drivers have been robbed and brutalized in this area by members of the TNI who set up a command post at the Workshop complex and at the defunct Puspa Cotgapu matches factory, Bireuen. The Cotgapu-Cotbada pass in the Kecamatan Peusangan has become a very risky area for road users at night. TNI commanders should have controlled their troops in the field and not to let them continue their act as parasites against the civilian population. The TNI should have shared the security pay-offs from the protection racket amounting to billions of Rupiahs obtained from the Freeport McMoran Company's operation in Papua and from the Exxon-Mobil Company's business in Acheh; these funds are clearly not channeled to the soldiers in the field by their officers, hence the necessity to extort money to cover their need from the public.

Detention of the Presidium Council chairman of SIRA (Acheh Referendum Information Centre)

rom Mr. Hamzah – member of the Presidium Council of Acheh Referendum Information Centre (SIRA) expresses the current development concerning his colleague, Muhammad Nazar:

To all peace and freedom loving activists world-wide,

Herewith is a letter from the President of the Presidium Council of SIRA, Muhammad Nazar, who was arrested by the Indonesian police on Wednesday February 12 2003 and held ever since at the Acheh Police Headquarters (Mapolda) detention centre in Kutaraja (Banda Acheh).

This letter was written on March 2, but was smuggled out only today. M. Nazar is only allowed visits from his wife and lawyer. He is placed under a very tightly guarded cell.

We would like to take this occasion to call for solidarity and support from all who receive this letter in order to get an immediate and no-condition release of Muhammad Nazar, and for the Achenese people to be allowed to express their democratic rights freely and to determine their own political status and future peacefully through a Referendum or other forms of popular opinion gathering.

Your open solidarity and support in the form of letters, recommendations, press releases, conferences, demonstrations, campaigns and any other legal means will be very useful in helping to free Muhammad Nazar and in assisting SIRA and the Achenese people in their just struggle.

Please address your protest messages to the Indonesian authorities in Jakarta as well as in Kutaraja, especially to the President of the Indonesian Republic, to the Indonesian Governor in Acheh, the Indonesian national police Chief , to the Indonesian police chief in Acheh, to the commander of the Indonesian armed forces (TNI), to the chief of the TNI contingent in Acheh (KODAM), the HDC in Switzerland and its representative in Kutaraja. Please also send messages to the foreign diplomatic missions in Jakarta and to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs in your countries, to the United Nations Human Rights Commission and to the press.--Thanking you for your solidarity and help.

(Proceed to read the letter from Mr. Nazar)