A committee monitoring a ceasefire in Aceh province has for the first time criticised both the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group and the Indonesian government for truce violations.
The Joint Security Committee (JSC) of the government, GAM and foreign representatives monitoring the December 9 ceasefire delivered the rebuke after the two sides publicly admitted wrongdoing.
Under the agreement to end 26 years of fighting in Aceh, paramilitary police are forbidden from taking offensive action against GAM members who abide by the ceasefire.
The JSC is in charge of investigating violations and at least 32 alleged violations have already been probed.
"Both sides came together to agree that the conduct by members of their respective sides in the field is unacceptable and violates the peace agreement," said JSC senior envoy General Tanongsuk Tuvinun of Thailand.
"This not only shows faith in the process, it's also a huge symbolic step toward making Aceh a safe and peaceful place to live," Tuvinun said in a statement released Friday night.
One reprimand was for a January 14 attack by GAM members against eight Indonesian soldiers travelling on motorcycles in the Lokop area of East Aceh which killed one soldier and injured another.
Indonesia was rebuked for intimidating a member of the GAM peace monitoring team and a driver while they were witnessing a confrontation in Bireuen between demonstrators and police on January 14.
Another criticism of GAM was for a January 16 incident in Lamno, West Aceh, in which a soldier was shot in the shoulder.
The JSC verification committee was also investigating an alleged GAM attack on soldiers on December 22 in South Aceh.
"It is now up to each party to discipline the violators," Tuvinun said. "This is about recognizing the problems, taking steps to fix them and making the process accountable to the people of Aceh." A crowd of civilians and JSC representatives and some 5,000 civilians packed a football stadium in the town of Indrapuri in Aceh Besar district meanwhile to witness the formal introduction of a "peace zone" by the JSC.
A banner reading "Welcome to the peace zone" and others urging the public to live in peace were seen on the streets Saturday in Indrapuri, 24 kilometers east of Banda Aceh.
Tuvinun said the "peace zone" – which bars anyone from carrying weapons except regular police – marked "the beginning of concrete steps toward achieving peace for all Acehnese." "Today the JSC proudly chooses Indrapuri as our first peace zone of Aceh and I intend to witness the real peace happening here.
"From this day on, the world will be watching every move we make in the peace zone of Indrapuri and it is up to all of us to prove that we have started to embrace peace as a solution to a long-standing conflict in this part of the world," the Thai general told the crowd.
The peace agreement aims to end a 26-year conflict in Aceh that has claimed an estimated 10,000 lives. An average 87 civilians were killed in Aceh every month in most of 2002.