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Indonesia, Aceh Separatists Reach Peace Deal
HELSINKI,
July 17, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Indonesia's
government and Aceh separatists reached an agreement to bring peace to
the troubled province after a 30-year conflict and will sign a memo of
understanding on August 15.
"The
memorandum details the agreement and the principles that will guide
the transformation process in Aceh," the government and the Free
Aceh Movement (GAM) said on Sunday, July 17, after marathon talks in
Helsinki, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
agreement is to bring a "peaceful, comprehensive and sustainable
solution" to end a conflict that has raged in the province since
1976 and cost nearly 15,000 lives.
Both
sides agreed that "no substantive changes" will be
introduced to the initialed memorandum before it is signed on August
15 in Finland.
No
details of Sunday's deal were made public, but the statement said that
it covers the governing of Aceh, including political participation, as
well as the questions of human rights, amnesty and reintegration into
society, security arrangements, and dispute settlement.
Both
sides also agreed to establish a monitoring mission in the province to
check on progress which they hoped would be run by the EU and a number
of Asian countries.
GAM
wanted to form its own party while Jakarta resisted changes to
election laws requiring all local parties to have a national presence.
It
has given up its historic demand for independence for the province on
Sumatra island, which has rich deposits of natural gas.
The
peace deal will involve GAM fighters laying down their arms and
getting an amnesty and Indonesian troops withdrawing.
It
may also mean the return to Aceh of the political leaders of GAM from
three decades of exile in Stockholm with the ageing Prince Hasan di
Tiro whom they consider their head of state.
The
devoutly Muslim province of 4 million people on the northern tip of
the island of Sumatra has been a battleground since 1976 when GAM
launched its campaign for independence, angered by what it said was
Jakarta's exploitation of the province's resources.
When
they convened for a first round of Helsinki talks in January it was
the first time the parties had come face to face since May 2003, when
Jakarta declared martial law and launched a major military offensive
in Aceh.
The
renewed efforts to make peace were prompted by a need for
international aid to reach Aceh, which bore the brunt of last
December's tsunami which killed more than 131,000 people in the
province.
"Historic"
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"It
is a historic moment, we finally reach a peaceful
settlement," said Djalil (L).
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"It
is a historic moment, we finally reach a peaceful settlement that has
been longed for so many years by the people of Aceh and by the people
of Indonesia," Indonesian Information Minister Sofyan Djalil told
Reuters.
"Society
can live peacefully and we can rebuild Aceh after it has been
destroyed by the tsunami," he said.
Djalil
called the deal on GAM's political future a "middle way"
between GAM wanting to form a party and Jakarta worrying it would
require changes to the constitution and might encourage other
religious and ethnic groups to seek similar status.
Despite
the announcement, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
remained adamant Sunday on the establishment of local political
parties in Aceh.
"I
have repeatedly explained that the Indonesian political party system
is a national system," he said.
Yudhoyono
said that Jakarta would "not readily allow the establishment of
local political parties."
He
added that the separatists will have "political rights, that
along with the other elements in Aceh they have opportunities to take
part in the existing political process".
Following
a grueling day of negotiations on Saturday, July 16, GAM announced
confidently that the final sticking point in the talks, local
political participation in the province, had been resolved.
The
group said it was "pleased to announce that, in negotiation with
the government of Indonesia ..., it has reached an in-principle
agreement on the question of the establishment of local political
parties in Aceh".
GAM
spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah told AFP on Wednesday, July 13 that an
"amazingly surprising" advances have been made
in the peace talks.
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