By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Jan 3 2002 (IPS)

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri’s human rights credentials are facing a severe test in Aceh, a resource- rich province where a demand for independence keeps growing stronger as time passes.

Already, human rights monitors are pointing to the high death toll in that north-western Indonesian province as a revealing indicator of politics under Megawati, who took over the Indonesian presidency just a little more than five months ago.

During 2001, Aceh experienced one of its bloodiest years, with close to 1,700 people being killed in separatist-related violence, according to human rights workers.

Among the last of those killed were a father and his three children, whose bullet-riddled bodies were found in an east Aceh village on New Year’s Eve.

Aceh’s 2001 fatalities count is double that of the previous year. An estimated half of the deaths took place after the Megawati administration began its term.

The others were killed during the presidency of Abdurrahman Wahid, who was ousted from power in late July 2001 on charges of corruption and incompetence.

Grave human rights violations, “including torture and unlawful killings continue to take place on a daily basis,” says Lucia Withers, of the London-based global human rights lobby Amnesty International (A.I.).

Acehnese civilians “are frequently subject to collective punishments” by the Indonesian security forces following attacks on the government’s troops by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), she adds.

“This is a daily reality which would surely damage anyone’s democratic credentials,” says Withers, who monitors rights abuse in the Indonesian archipelago for A.I. “The situation in Aceh is no worse and no better since Megawati Sukarnoputri took over the presidency.”

Since GAM began its secessionist campaign in 1976, more than 10,000 people have been killed in Aceh, say human rights activists.

The activists describe Megawati’s stance on that strife-torn province as being similar to those pursued by Wahid and his predecessor, B.J. Habibie, both of whom initially showed concern over political violence but who later failed to follow through with the necessary action to stop the bloodshed.

“Like former President Wahid and President Habibie before him, soon after taking office President Megawati apologised to the Acehnese for human rights violation committed by past governments,” says A.I.’s Withers.

“And, just like the two former presidents, President Megawati has not followed through her words with actions,” she says.

Worse, Megawati’s recent statements seem to indicate a hardening of her position. On Dec. 29, she remarked in a speech to celebrate Indonesia’s Army Day that the country’s soldiers have a primary duty to defend the country and should not worry about charges of human rights abuse.

“Armed with the soldiers’ oath and existing laws, carry out your duties and responsibilities in the best possible manner without having to worry about human rights abuse,” Megawati was quoted in the media as having said during her speech.

Such blessings in support of an army that has a record of oppression were swiftly condemned by local human rights groups. On Monday, Indonesia’s Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) joined other rights advocates in accusing Megawati of colluding with human rights abusers.

They singled out her failure to deal with the unlawful killings and torture in Aceh as a case in point. “The government has failed to show its commitment to seriously processing human rights violations,” Ori Rahman of Kontras, was quoted as saying in Monday’s “Jakarta Post”.

Megawati’s willingness to use Indonesia’s military to crush secessionist movements in Aceh and other provinces with simmering rebellions may be because she wants to keep the republic the same way it was when it was still headed by her father, Indonesia’s Founding President Sukarno, decades ago.

“She is a committed Indonesian nationalist,” says Arif Rusli, the Indonesia project coordinator for the Bangkok-based human rights group Forum-Asia. “Since taking power she has made it clear that protecting Indonesian territory is important.”

But he says that such thinking is common in Jakarta, noting, “The political establishment in Jakarta has always maintained this position. They want to control the provinces.”

Rusli is dismissive of Jakarta’s efforts to appease the cries for political freedom in Aceh. He points out that when Jakarta went ahead last year to give Aceh a special autonomy package, “there was little euphoria” among the Acehnese.

This was despite the fact that the package was in marked contrast to the manner Aceh and other provinces like East Kalimantan and Irian Jaya were brought under Jakarata’s control as part of the Indonesian republic.

The people of these provinces have had little say in the way their land and resources were used and they lost their rights to pursue their domestic political agenda.

Under the special autonomy package, Aceh was promised greater freedom over its land, including a greater say over its oil and natural gas reserves, among other things.

On Jan. 1, Aceh, which has a passionately Muslim population, also implemented Islamic Shari’a law, as part of the autonomy deal.

But Islamic scholars there apparently found little reason to celebrate. They told the media that the Shari’a, an Islamic legal code prescribing religious duties for Muslims and also approving the death penalty and amputation of limbs as forms of punishment, had been practiced by Acehnese for years.

In the meantime, a U.N. human rights expert faults Jakarta for refusing to acknowledge a people’s right to self-determination.

“Many conflicts in this region have emerged due to such a refusal,” says Hina Jilani, a Pakistani lawyer serving as the U.N. secretary general’s special representative on human rights defenders.

“The struggle will not go away due to suppression,” she says. “Democracy and human rights in a country are incomplete till these issues are addressed.”

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