In Aceh, Calls for Independence From Indonesia Are Growing Louder

Emboldened by East Timor’s breakaway, the people of Aceh have embarked on a dangerous journey that could determine the fate of Indonesia itself. It is a passage, born of the collective memory of military abuses and broken promises, that is leading this bloodied province to one of three extremes: war, autonomy or independence.

Day by day, the killing continues, in twos and threes, interspersed with an occasional massacre by army soldiers. Anti-government rebels, trained in Libya, grow more confident. The appeal of fundamentalist Islam spreads. And as politicians in Jakarta, the capital, dither over the fate of Indonesia’s resource-rich, westernmost province in northern Sumatra, the calls for independence become louder. Last month, on the 23rd anniversary of the Free Aceh Movement’s founding, 1 million people--one-fourth of all Acehnese--rallied in this sleepy city to support a split from Indonesia.

“Politically, the loss of Aceh could ruin Indonesia’s fragile democracy and restore the power of the armed forces,” said Jeffrey Winters, an Indonesia expert at Northwestern University. “Indonesia needs Aceh more than Aceh needs Indonesia. Aceh has the potential to become a viable country whose GDP per capita would be higher than the rest of Indonesia and would probably grow faster.”

Indonesia’s new president, Abdurrahman Wahid, has taken personal responsibility for resolving the Aceh crisis. However, so far he has only muddied the waters by whetting the Acehnese’s appetite with a pledge he can’t deliver on--a referendum that included the choice of independence--then backtracking in the face of opposition from generals and politicians at home.

“Any act to separate Aceh from Indonesia cannot be tolerated,” he declared. “Aceh is part of our domain.” Now Wahid is offering a referendum on autonomy.

Unlike East Timor, a province whose vote in August for independence led to an orgy of bloodshed, Aceh has no charismatic leader and its rebels have virtually no international support. But like East Timor, Aceh’s disdain for the government is rooted in the army’s penchant for brutal suppression and the politicians’ tradition of siphoning the province’s resources. The Arun natural gas fields in northern Aceh, for example, generate $4 million a day--almost all of which goes straight into the pockets of the government in Jakarta, 1,100 miles to the east.

“It’s hard to say where we are headed,” said Ahmad Humam Hamid, a university professor and human rights activist, “but what you are seeing today is an expression of the betrayal and injustice everyone feels. Ever since [Indonesian] independence, Indonesia has treated us like dogs. They just do whatever they want to here. There is no accountability.”

Added Yusany Saby, a respected moderate Muslim scholar: “Oh, my goodness, you have no idea how uncivilized the army’s behavior is. They have no pity on the people. It is like a soldier’s prestige is based on having done something bad in Aceh.”

Last year, armed forces chief Gen. Wiranto went to Aceh and apologized for the military’s actions, which had claimed an estimated 2,000 civilian lives over nine years. But little changed. In July, soldiers surrounded the home of religious leader Tengku Bantaqiah in the town of Beutong Ateuh. They lined up women and children as spectators and gunned down Bantaqiah and 56 Free Aceh Movement supporters.

The armed forces have 16,000 soldiers and police officers in Aceh, and top commanders told the government late last year that they needed more troops and a declaration of martial law to regain control. Wahid turned them down. It was one of many gestures he has made in an attempt to build goodwill with the Acehnese.

Among them: An Acehnese has been appointed deputy military commander; a $60-million railway project in Aceh is about to get off the ground; the provincial island of Sabang, north of Banda Aceh, will become a free-trade zone; a deal is on the table to let Aceh keep 75% of its forestry, agriculture, oil and gas earnings. Perhaps most important, in an effort to convince the Acehnese that it wants to make amends for past misdeeds, the government has established a civilian-military tribunal to prosecute soldiers accused of human rights abuses.

Wahid has been criticized for scurrying off to 15 countries in the first months of his presidency and not spending more time on Aceh, which many analysts consider the biggest threat to Indonesia’s unity. But Wahid came home with important dividends. At each stop, from Washington to Manila, he received pledges supporting a unified Indonesia and backing the notion that Aceh is a domestic issue--pledges that in effect internationally isolated the Free Aceh Movement.

“It’s rather late in the game for the government to win the people’s confidence, because of human rights and all the violence done by the military,” said Syamsuddin Mahmud, an Acehnese who is the Jakarta-appointed governor of the province. “Still, a solution is possible, as complex as the situation is. Everyone says there must be dialogue, but who do we start the dialogue with, especially since the rebels say they won’t negotiate?”

The founder of the independence movement, Hasan di Tiro, who is 77 and has been living comfortably in a Stockholm suburb since 1979, is irrelevant to most Acehnese, many of whom would settle for a life free of fear and intimidation in lieu of independence. The Acehnese are divided over whether an independent Aceh should be an Islamic state, a tightly controlled monarchy or a democracy. The rebel movement is far from unified in vision or strategy, and rebel commander Abdullah Syafie, 47, is adamant that separatists not even speak to any Indonesian official until Aceh achieves sovereignty.

“What we’re hoping for is support from the international community, especially the United States,” he said at a rebel-controlled village near his mountain hideaway. “We want an international group to come and see how much killing and suffering and torture has been inflicted on Aceh people by the military. We really don’t understand why the international community has been silent on this.”

The silence is due, at least in part, to concerns that Aceh--located on the Strait of Malacca, a key international waterway--is essential to the integrity of Indonesia. Its separation, the reasoning goes, would encourage independence movements in Irian Jaya, Riau and other places, leading to the Balkanization of the world’s fourth most-populous country. That in turn would destabilize Southeast Asia politically and economically.

Another reason Aceh has not captured the world’s attention as East Timor did is that the rebels, whose armed faction is believed to number about 1,000, have been guilty of many misdeeds. They have burned uncooperative villages, turned villagers into refugees and moved them to camps in mosques in a bid to control the civilian population. Rebels also have gone door to door in Banda Aceh to demand donations of money and material. Their often-unprovoked attacks on soldiers come as the army is spending more time in the barracks, on orders of Wahid.

In an eight-month period last year, the official Antara news agency reported, 75 soldiers and police officers were killed in Aceh, 84 seriously wounded and 19 kidnapped. More than 100 civilians died, either at the hands of the military or unknown provocateurs, some of whom dress in army uniforms and others in rebel fatigues.

“Even though Aceh does not have security, our mission now is to take a defensive approach,” said Lt. Col. Iro Suparmo, the deputy military commander in Aceh. “At the same time, our units are undergoing rehabilitation training so we can get more control over our soldiers’ actions.”

For Aceh, the latest conflict is part of a long history of warfare waged by a tough, independent-minded people.

As far back as 1607, under Sultan Iskandar Muda, Aceh fielded the region’s most powerful fighting force, controlling the seas with 800-man galleys and the land with an army that had Persian horses, an elephant corps and a conscript infantry. The Acehnese fought Dutch colonialists to a draw in nearly a century of warfare and were loyal supporters of Indonesia’s struggle against the Dutch for independence, which was recognized in December 1949.

To reward the devoutly Muslim Acehnese, Indonesia’s first president, Sukarno, promised--but did not deliver--autonomy to the province. His successor, Suharto, vowed to raise living standards and increase religious freedoms. Instead, he took control of Aceh’s resources and sent his soldiers to crush rebels demanding the imposition of Islamic law. Aceh first rebelled against Jakarta in 1953, and from 1989 until earlier last year Jakarta designated it as a military zone, in effect putting the province under the army’s control.

“The army’s culture in Indonesia is one of violence against the people,” said student activist Mohammed Nazar, 26. “The only way to end that is with a referendum, and the referendum must include the choice of independence. For us, the students, the most important thing is to create a democratic environment. We’re obsessed with the idea that our future should be cast in a democratic tradition.”