Tedi Hikmah, Jakarta – The non-government organisation Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) has again raised questions about the investigation of gross human rights violations that have taken place in Aceh.

How can it be that since the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) there has been absolutely no efforts to solve the cases of human rights violations that have occurred in Aceh.

As a result Imparsial believes that a peace process not accompanied with the government’s obligation to arrests past human rights violators will create a deep-seated grief that could become the seed for revenge for the Acehnese people, especially for the families of victims.

“The process of upholding human rights in Aceh should not be implemented half-heartedly. Efforts to solve cases of human rights violation should not only be on cases [that took place] after the agreement was signed, but also on past cases”, explained Imparsial’s operational director Rusdi Marpaung at the Imparsial offices on Jalan Diponegoro No 9 in Central Jakarta on Wednesday January 11.

According to Marpaung, although the discussions on and the implementation of the MoU have proceeded relatively smoothly, in the context of upholding human rights in Aceh however, the MoU has totally failed to elaborate in detail either the investigation or resolution of gross human rights violations that have taken place in Aceh.

Marpaung added the failure to elaborate on uncovering past gross human rights violations in the MoU would strengthen the culture of impunity in Indonesia. A number of points in the MoU on the question of human rights he said, tend to priorities political compromises and negotiations without the involvement of civil society. “This has given birth to half-hearted political concessions between the two parties without looking at the need for social justice for the victims”, he explained.

As reported by Aceh Kita, the Coalition of Aceh Human Rights Non-Government Organisations (Koalisi NGO HAM Aceh) recorded 311 cases of human rights violations in Aceh over 2005. This figure is a dramatic decline compared with 2004 where there were as many as 779 cases. The coalition said however, that throughout 2005 there was not a single case that was resolved by law enforcement institutions. This is despite the fact that the opportunities to solve cases of human rights violations are wide open, now that the two warring parties are a peace.

The general chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Megawati Sukarnoputri meanwhile, has again drawn attention to the issue of the MoU between the Indonesian government and GAM. According to Megawati, what was done by the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono did irreparable damage to the sovereignty of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). This is because one of the conditions set out in the MoU is that all government policies on Aceh must obtain prior agreement from the Aceh legislative and executive.

“I have long called for peace and to end violence in Aceh. But not by irreparably damaging the sovereignty of NKRI. What if other regions demand the same rights”, shouted Megawati in a political speech on the 33rd anniversary of the PDI-P at the Proclamation Monument in Jakarta on Wednesday January 11.

In order to address this, Megawati will instruct her cadre in the House of Representatives (DPR) to monitor and pay close attention to the Draft Law on a Government for Aceh that is currently being discussed by the DPR. She hopes that her party will refuse to agree with strategic articles that are in conflict with the concept of NKRI, because this relates to issues of ideology and the history of the Indonesian nation.

The party with the symbol of the bull has opposed the MoU from the first when the government cleared the way for the peace process in Aceh. PDI-P cadre in the DPR have even presented an interpolation against Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla in relation to the MoU that was signed in Helsinki on August 15 last year. The PDI-P based this on the MoU having the meaning that the government endorses GAM [as a legitimate organisation] and the separation of Aceh from NKRI.

When serving as president, Megawati put into effect a state of martial law in Aceh on May 19, 2003. The implementation of martial law was inseparable from political consideration created by Yudhoyono – who at the time was the coordinating minister for politics and security – after the peace process known as the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement failed. The deadlock in the talks also resulted in the Megawati government arresting and jailing five GAM negotiators that were to attend the Joint Meeting in Tokyo. [dzie]