http://www.ft.com/cms/s/c51ad290-2afb-11db-b77c-0000779e2340.html
Aceh marks year of peace but frustration grows By Shawn Donnan in Banda Aceh Published: August 13 2006 19:54 | Last updated: August 13 2006 19:54 For the first time in 30 years the people of Indonesia's Aceh province will celebrate on Tuesday the conclusion of a full year of peace, in a hopeful anniversary for one of Asia's most traumatised corners. A European Union-led monitoring mission is due to be cut back significantly next month and leave altogether after December elections. Diplomats are also eager to cite Aceh - where more than 160,000 died in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and a further 20,000 are believed to have been killed in three decades of conflict - as an example of Europe's peacemaking potential. There is little doubt the agreement signed on August 15, 2005, in Helsinki by rebels from the Free Aceh Movement, or GAM, and the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has brought significant change to Aceh. So has the multi-billion-dollar tsunami reconstruction effort now under way. These days, once terrified civilian activists move freely around the capital, Banda Aceh, without fear of being killed, kidnapped, or tortured by the security forces. So, too, do leaders of GAM, some of whom are plotting a political future even as they try to acclimatise children born in exile in Sweden to the tropical sun and malarial mosquitoes. "Things are moving in the right direction," says Bakhtiar Abdullah, GAM's long-standing spokesman and the father of two young children now struggling to learn Indonesian after years in Stockholm. Yet even as Aceh's 4m people grow used to peace, there are growing concerns the viability of the peace deal may be under threat. GAM leaders continue to grumble that a law passed by Indonesia's parliament last month does not give Aceh as much control over its own affairs as promised. Others are also concerned that there has been no attempt even to establish a human rights court called for in the peace agreement. Also emerging as a potential threat, say people involved in the peace process, is the stalling of a $165m (?130m, £87m) three-year "reintegration" plan meant to give GAM combatants a viable economic alternative to the conflict and compensate civilians who suffered during the war. The Aceh Peace Reintegration Agency, or BRA, formed in February to administer the funds allocated by Jakarta, is widely considered a shambles and people close to the peace process are worried that it could become little more than a political slush fund. GAM leaders decided in June to withdraw from the committee running it and most of its $22m 2005 budget remains unspent. People close to the peace process say they also have concerns over what little has been spent. GAM has refused to provide a complete list of the 3,000 combatants meant to receive Rp25m ($2,750, ?2,165, £1,500) each in compensation. About $1.3m was handed over to GAM commanders earlier this year to fund projects such as brick factories and chilli farms, meant to benefit 965 former rebels. But "it's unclear if any projects have started", one person close to the peace process told the FT. In one district where funds were distributed, foreign peace monitors were able to verify only one of the five projects listed actually existed. There are also signs that local government officials are faking or inflating lists of affected civilians in their districts. When the BRA solicited proposals in April from affected civilians seeking compensation, it received almost 49,000 applications covering more than 256,000 people. But people close to the peace process say up to 80 per cent were believed to be fraudulent. The BRA has since abandoned that approach. Instead, it is now working with the World Bank to get people already in a bank-funded rural development programme to organise village meetings, to decide who deserves compensation and how to spend the funds. Many Acehnese are becoming increasingly frustrated by the process, and some warn that if it doesn't work, or is abused by local government officials, it could just reinforce long-held Acehnese grudges against Jakarta - seeding the next violent chapter in a battle for independence that goes back to the 19th century and a bloody war against the Dutch. "One of the biggest reasons for the conflict in Aceh is injustice. As long as people don't feel they are being treated justly, the conflict will continue," Nur Djuli, a senior GAM leader, said. "We are old. We are finished fighting. But what about our children? We fought because we thought our parents were cheated. Now what will happen when our children say 'look at you who went to Helsinki - you are stupid'??.?.?.?They will fight again." Additional reporting by Taufan Hidayat Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Reading only, http://dear.to/ppi 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! 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