Vaudine England – President Abdurrahman Wahid's latest salvo in his battle to keep rebellious Aceh as part of Indonesia is a pledge to investigate the alleged beating of 20 villagers last Friday, just one day after a ground-breaking attempt for peace talks.
The situation was almost farcical. Last Thursday, State Secretary Bondan Gunawan met Free Aceh Movement (GAM) commander Abdullah Syafi'ie, raising hopes for a new phase of negotiations towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict. One day later, soldiers allegedly injured 20 civilians in a sweeping operation aimed at capturing Syafi'ie.
The explanation, Acehnese sources say, lies either in the military's incompetence, or in the obvious gap between Mr Wahid's policy for Aceh and the armed forces' one. "The President held talks with [Senior Security Minister] Suryadi Sudirdja in order to launch a thorough investigation about the incident," said Minister of Defence Yuwono Sudarsono yesterday.
Mr Wahid said only last week that all was well in Aceh. "Well, it's getting better because the general situation is now very good," he said, just as rights groups reported an updated death toll of about 300 people this year.
Two policemen and one rebel were killed, while four others were injured on Sunday in the latest outbreak of clashes in Aceh, police said yesterday. North Aceh Police Chief Lieutenant-Colonel Syafei Aksal said the policemen were ambushed while patrolling the area of Krueng Panjo village. In a separate clash the same day in North Aceh's Tabah Luas district, in the village of Keude Nibong, Lieutenant Syafei said military forces killed one rebel.
The International Committee of the Red Cross is receiving at least 30 requests a week for help in tracing missing family members. Amnesty International claims there is a deliberate military policy to intimidate or obliterate human rights investigators in Aceh.
Mr Wahid's attempts to be grand conciliator are seen in his promises to investigate abuses and his proclaimed willingness to talk to anybody, but he needs to be seen to have the military follow his will if he is to transcend mere propaganda in Jakarta's approach to Aceh. Previously promised rights trials now seem less likely than ever to occur, more key witnesses have disappeared and the Acehnese themselves appear riven by division.
GAM rebels based in Malaysia profess a willingness for talks, while guerilla leaders in Aceh appear more determined to fight on – hence the significance of last week's meeting with the Aceh- based Syafi'ie. Strengthening Aceh's hardliners is the fact that few promises of the Government have yet been acted on in Aceh and a key pledge – to prosecute soldiers for thousands of abuses – is fading. A hybrid civilian-military trial of soldiers for last July's killing of Tengku Bantaqiah and his followers has been put off for three months now, while the key witness has disappeared and bureaucrats say they lack funds to hold it.
Another key human rights case, the rape of Sumiati, now appears stymied by yet another mysterious disappearance – that of Sumiati herself, and of the baby she bore following the rape.