PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS, PEACE AND DEMOCRACY IN INDONESIA

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Aceh: moves to expel peace facilitator must be opposed by UK, says TAPOL

15 July 2002

TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign, has today written to the British Government, urging it to condemn current moves by the military commander of the Iskandar Muda regional military command to order the Henri Dunant Centre to leave Banda Aceh.

He claimed, during a press conference in Banda Aceh on 10 July that the Centre had failed to function as a facilitator of the talks and that it was 'supporting GAM'. The military commander also said that the GAM negotiators who, like the HDC, have offices in the Kuala Tripa Hotel in Banda Aceh, would also be told to leave.

TAPOL pointed out: 'No less a person than Wiryono Sastrohandoyo, Indonesia's chief negotiator in the talks with GAM, has said that the 'government's decision to step up military action in Aceh would put him in a difficult position to negotiate with GAM'. [Jakarta Post, 6 July 2002].

This followed a statement by Minister-Coordinator Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on 4 July in which he for the first time branded GAM as a 'terrorist' organisation, adding that it was therefore legitimate for the armed forces, the TNI, 'to crush GAM'.

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda has also been quoted as accusing the HDC of 'failing to stick to its mandate', that it could face charges of 'spying' because of its access to GAM.

These moves to accuse the HDC of exceeding its mandate for perfectly legitimate activities as the facilitator of talks between the Indonesian Government and GAM represent a serious threat not only to the position of the HDC and the future of the peace talks, but also to the safety of the GAM negotiators who currently enjoy the protection of the HDC as is their right under the terms of the ongoing talks process, said TAPOL.

The letter called upon the British Government to stress to the authorities in Jakarta that it is essential that the legitimacy of the role of the Henri Dunant Centre be upheld and to make it clear that nothing will be done to exert pressure on the Centre to leave Banda Aceh. Any such action should be condemned as a signal that the Indonesian Government is about to abandon its commitment to the talks process. This can only further intensify the descent into yet further casualties and destruction.

ENDS

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