Army chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu says American journalist William Nessen, who has spent the past six weeks with separatist rebels in Aceh province, could be punished by death if he is proven to be a spy.
Nessen, who has a journalist's visa to report from Aceh for the San Francisco Chronicle, has been living with members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in the province's northern jungles and providing first-hand information on atrocities committed by the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) against civilians.
"If William Nessen is really an intelligence agent then the punishment is serious, but if he is truly a journalist then there is no problem," Ryacudu was quoted as saying Friday by state news agency Antara.
Nessen fears Indonesian troops will detain him on trumped-up charges and possibly shoot him if he tries to leave Aceh. Military officials have said the 46-year-old journalist risks being shot because he failed to comply with an order to surrender to the Army by June 14.
Nessen said he would only come out of hiding if TNI and the government guarantee he will be allowed to leave the country without being arrested, interrogated or stopped.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry has accused the journalist of violating his visa by writing for publications other than the Chronicle and says he could be deported.
TNI commenced its offensive to crush GAM on May 19 when President Megawati Sukarnoputri placed Aceh under martial law.
Nessen had gone to Aceh to research for a book and documentary on the long-running conflict in the province, where GAM has been fighting for independence since 1976. He has not had any articles or photographs published recently due to the loss of his laptop computer and other belongings.
According to the Associated Press, Nessen's last article for the Chronicle was published in December, while his last story for another newspaper, The Sydney Morning Herald, was published in January. However, he has kept in touch with other foreign journalists via his satellite telephone, providing them with details of killings carried out by TNI.
The scarcity of articles written by Nessen had prompted speculation within TNI and elsewhere in Indonesia that he might not be a genuine reporter and could be working with the rebels.
TNI spokesman Major General Sjafrie Sjamsuddin says he believes Nessen is a real reporter, but says the journalist must explain why he has spent so much time with GAM.
Nessen has pointed out that he is simply covering both sides of the story. He was also reportedly shot at by Indonesian troops when he tried to leave the rebels earlier this month.
Sjamsuddin on Friday said the government will soon issue guidelines restricting foreign media coverage of the military offensive in Aceh.
He told members of the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club that foreign reporters and locals working for foreign media organizations would be banned from visiting rebel strongholds or quoting "rebel propaganda".
It's unclear whether that means journalists will not be allowed to report rebel claims that contradict military statements. A common example of this is when journalists report on claims by GAM that TNI is massacring civilians.
"Enemy propaganda is not allowed to be published, but it is good if you can report on TNI abuses," Sjamsuddin was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
TNI last month threatened to sue the Jakarta-based Koran Tempo daily for printing a report by Agence France-Presse that soldiers executed young farmers in a rebel stronghold.
But Sjamsuddin said the government does not object to such coverage. "It is okay to report on these incidents. We need to investigate them," he was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
The military recently claimed that at least five civilians had been killed in Aceh since the offensive began, but the National Police on Friday said more than 100 civilians have been killed.
Police spokesman Zainuri Lubis said the victims had been identified by their families, who denied they are GAM members.
"We stick to the principle of innocence before proven guilty. If their families say they are not GAM members it is not fair for us to label them rebels," he was quoted as saying by AFP.
He claimed that many of the civilians, such as transmigrants from Java, could have been killed by rebels. According to military data, at least 256 people have been killed in Aceh over the past month, including 228 rebels and 28 members of the security forces. The Indonesian Red Cross says it has collected 194 bodies since May 19, but declines to say whether they were civilians or rebels.
TVRI cameraman
The Jakarta-based Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) on Friday sent a letter to Megawati demanding an inquiry into the death of a cameraman from state-run television network TVRI in Aceh.
The body of Muhammad Jamal was retrieved from a river on Tuesday evening. He was reportedly abducted by unknown gunmen from his office in the Mata Ie area of Banda Aceh city on May 20.
AJI said journalists have been the target of violence in the ongoing offensive. There have been at least 15 cases of journalists being intimidated and restricted in doing their work, said the letter.
NU tells rebels to give up
Indonesia's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) on Thursday urged GAM to cease its rebellion.
NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi said that continued rebellion would only cause more victims to fall. "I issue this advice because in Indonesia's history, no rebellion has ever emerged victorious," he was quoted as saying by Antara.
His assertion is not entirely true. Indonesia itself rebelled against its Dutch colonizers for years until 1949, when the Netherlands finally recognized Indonesia's independence.
Another successful rebellion took place in East Timor, which was invaded by Indonesia in 1975 and annexed the following year. The territory struggled for self-determination for 24 years, culminating in a United Nations-sponsored referendum on independence in 1999 and official independence in May 2002. 'Crush GAM Supporters'
Aceh's martial law administrator Major General Endang Suwarya on Friday said "white-collar" members of GAM should be crushed because they are enemies disguised as civilians.
"We will take stern action against supporters of the rebels, regardless of their background – whether they are civil servants, provincial legislators or businessmen," he was quoted as saying by Antara at a gathering of Muslim clerics and civil servants.
Supporting the rebel movement would lead to national disintegration, said Suwarya, who was accompanied by Aceh Police chief Inspector General Bachrumsyah Kasman and Aceh Deputy Governor Azwar Abubakar.
Possible pardons
Vice President Hamzah Haz on Thursday said the government is considering pardoning GAM members if they surrender. "We are thinking about the possibility of pardoning GAM members who want to repent and return to the Unitary Republic of Indonesia," he was quoted as saying by Antara.
The operation to crush the GAM is not a war against the Acehnese, but against those who are attempting to secede from the republic, he said.
Unproductive Propaganda TNI commander General Endriartono Sutarto on Thursday claimed GAM's propaganda efforts to win public support for its cause had failed because people in the province are opposed to the separatist movement.
"The GAM rebels try to make publicity of their capability to the public and the Indonesian government. But they fail because people are brave to oppose the separatist movement," he said.
He did not mention that civilians are terrified they will be detained, attacked or killed if they are perceived to be GAM supporters.
Sutarto said part of GAM's propaganda was to claim that staff of the Geneva-based Henry Dunant Center – which had sponsored a peace agreement between Indonesia and the rebels – were United Nations personnel.
Refugee camps
Nearly 41,000 Acehnese villagers have been forced into camps to escape fighting between Indonesian troops and GAM over the past month and many are now suffering health problems due to overcrowding and a lack of clean water, food and medicines.
According to Aceh's Social Affairs Office, there are 40,919 refugees living in camps in nine districts. More than 16,500 are in Biruen district and 10,000 others in South Aceh district.
Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah on Thursday instructed heads of district administrations in Aceh to build more refugee camps and pay more attention to sanitation. "We have sent checks worth Rp6 billion to the relevant district administration chiefs to set up more camps and for better food," he said.
He added that administrators should anticipate an increase in the number of refugees in the war-torn province.
Mass grave probe
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) plans to send investigators to Aceh next Tuesday to check reports of a mass grave allegedly containing dozens of bodies.
The grave is reportedly located in Nisam subdistrict, near the rebel stronghold of Biruen, which has been the scene of intense fighting over recent weeks.
Army chief Ryacudu last week responded furiously to Komnas HAM's statements about the grave, saying he would "knock their heads off" if the allegation proves to be unsubstantiated.
The investigation team will stay in Aceh until next Friday and could also investigate reports that pro-Indonesia militia groups are operating in the province.
Sutarto on Thursday denied the military had trained militias, but admitted that residents were being encouraged to be more active in carrying out "residential security systems", AFP reported.