SPEECH OF MR. MALIK MAHMUD
PRIME MINISTER OF THE STATE OF ACHEH

AT THE EXCHANGE OF VIEWS ON:
Human Rights in Indonesia

Organized by the Committee on Development and Cooperation
Human Rights Working Group
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

Wednesday, 1 October 2003, 3pm – 4.15 pm
Room: ASP A1G2
European Parliament, Brussels

Honorable Acting Chairman, Ms Marieke Sanders-ten Holte, Honorable Mr. Didier Rod, Honorable Members of European Parliament, Fellow Speakers, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to thank you for organising this timely meeting to discuss the problems in Acheh, and for inviting me to attend. It is a great pleasure for me to stand here today to present you my brief speech.

The European Parliament has a history of concern with issues of justice, human rights and of giving political space to some of the most marginalised voices in our troubled world. The interest you have already shown in Acheh gives our people courage and confidence that we do indeed have some friends in the international community, and that our suffering does not go unnoticed.

May I also take this opportunity to say how much we appreciate the European Parliament’s Resolution on Acheh and Papua dated June 5th 2003. The Resolution urges the Indonesian Government and GAM to return to the negotiating table and for the Indonesian army to withdraw. I assure you that we are indeed committed to pursuing our political goals through democratic and peaceful means.

There is no need for me today to give you a detailed account of what is happening in Acheh under the current situation of martial law. You already know the seriousness of the situation we face, that is why the resolution was passed. But I would like to take just a few moments to bring you up to date on current developments.

On 19 September, Lieutenant-colonel Ditya Sudarsono, spokesman of Acheh's martial law administration announced that 897 people have been killed in the four months since the imposition of martial law, and that of these, 304 were innocent civilians. In addition he said 1,800 have been detained - we know many

have simply disappeared. They are not included in this figure. But in fact our information from Acheh indicates that most of those who have perished or have been arrested are in fact, unarmed and innocent civilians.

Such acts are carried out by the Indonesian armed forces or their proxies - groups of militia (as recognised in the Resolution of June). It is widely accepted that in East Timor where militia were also operating, these groups were recruited, armed and trained by the Indonesian military. What is happening in Acheh today is following the same pattern.

Needless to say we are extremely concerned with the extrajudicial killings and arbitrary arrests, and are very worried about those detained in the police stations and prisons. Overcrowding, lack of food and water is commonplace, and most of those arrested have been tortured. We received this information from family members and from their legal representatives so we know it to be true.

Many have fled from their homes in fear and some have been forcibly evicted by the Indonesian armed forces. A UN report estimates 100,000 Achehnese have been forced into makeshift refugee camps. We know many tens of thousands are displaced and living with friends and relatives, or in mosques and other make-shift shelters and thousands more have had to flee abroad.

Major-general Endang Suwarna, the Indonesian military commander for Acheh has apologized that villagers who, after spending sometime in the camps were returned to their villages only to find their houses looted, damaged or even completely destroyed, their animals stolen, their crops withered away; and this despite assurances that these villages would be guarded by his troops. There is a distinct lack of information on Acheh, and independent verification of reported incidents is not possible given that the martial law administrators have all but closed Acheh to outsiders – local journalists and aide workers are not free to travel around the province.

In an attempt to demoralise members of GAM who have taken up arms, the military and police have recently been targetting their family members - women and children. Children as young as 20 months old have been taken by the armed forces, and until now several wives, sisters and small children of GAM are still missing. We are seriously concerned for their welfare and despite vigorous attempts to locate these people and to secure guarantees for their safety, no information has been forthcoming.

As I said in my opening remarks, we are committed to the pursuit of a peaceful solution to this dispute. GAM has often been accused of showing little committment to a process of dialogue.

I would like to take this opportunity just to clarify a common misperception about the breakdown of the last meeting of the Peace Talks in Tokyo on May 18. It had been clear for some time in the run up to the talks that all commitment to further dialogue had disappeared from the Indonesian side.

In the weeks before Tokyo, the Indonesian Government issued an ultimatum that GAM renounce the call for independence or no further talks would take place. Indeed, this was out with both the spirit and the letter of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, signed in Geneva on 9 December 2002. The CoHA left the political end goal of both parties off the agenda. Its focus was instead to bring an end to the bloodshed and to embark on a process whereby sustainable peace could be achieved in Acheh. There is no easy or quick solution to the conflict in Acheh, and the CoHA was merely a mechanism by which this process could be moved forward.

Despite the fact our negotiators had been arrested several times - their release secured, thanks to pressure from international friends - we continued to be committed to the peace process. But finally on 18 May when we heard of the arrest - yet again, and furthermore, the torture of our negotiators back home in Banda Acheh, it became clear the Indonesians were set to withdraw from the talks and indeed the next day -19 May, martial law was declared. This time the negotiators were not released.

GAM continues to welcome further dialogue. We do however, protest the arrest, torture and continued detention of those members of our negotiating team who are at present in police headquarters in Banda Acheh having been charged with terrorism. The prosecutors have demanded that our detained friends be sentenced between 15 to 18 years jail. Not the least, we deplore the detention of members of the civil society and the continuous harassment against human rights workers in Acheh.

In order to pursue another peace process, our negotiating team must be released unconditionally and immediately. This poses a serious dilemma for Indonesia. However, those who declare their allegiance to a certain group - in this case GAM- and do so in order to participate in finding a political, rather than a military solution to a conflict, should not then be targetted in this way. This has serious implications for peace processes around the world.

In the four months of martial law the Indonesians have been unable to achieve their stated goal – to eliminate GAM. This is because we live with, and are representative of the people of Acheh. They are our eyes, our ears, our protectors and our source of logistics. Were we indeed guilty of such abuses as the Indonesians and some others accuse us, we would no longer enjoy the level of support from the local people that we now do.

In summary - I would like to make the following requests on behalf of the Achehnese people:

1. That an international fact finding mission be sent to Acheh. There is no doubt the Indonesian Government will object to such a mission entering Acheh, but the world community should take such a rejection as the very reason to apply stronger pressures.

2. That the Indonesian Government be pressured to allow humanitarian relief into Acheh, and that such assistance should not be channeled through the martial law administrators. But that safe corridors and safe zones be set up to allow food, medicines and other relief to reach the most vulnerable - women, children and the elderly.

3. That the international community put pressure on the Indonesian Government to - if I may use the language of your resolution – “bring to account those responsible for violations of human rights in Acheh, as well as other parts of the country, whether committed by civilians, separatist groups, militias, paramilitaries or the military.”

4. To stop supplying the weapons that the Indonesian armed forces use to kill and terrorise the Achehnese, and others elsewhere in the archipelago. The European Union code of conduct on small arms supplies states that weapons should not be supplied to those who will use them for the suppression of internal dissent. But several of your member states do indeed supply weapons, spare parts and ammunition - these are now being used against Achehnese civilians.

5. Finally, in the spirit of our continued commitment to a peaceful solution, we request that a neutral government offers to act as mediator for future talks, and that such dialogue be pursued with haste. It is our priority that the conflict in Acheh cease as quickly as possible and that the Achehnese are given an opportunity to voice freedom of expression, association and their political aspirations without fear of death, disappearance, torture or rape.

Ladies and gentlemen, there is so much more I could say but I will close now in order to leave time for discussion about the points I have made and others which I could not include due to time constraints.

I thank you for your kind attention.