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Military blocks reporter from traveling in Aceh province

Source
Associated Press - February 8, 2005

Indonesian soldiers prevented an Associated Press journalist from traveling in tsunami-wracked Aceh, a war-torn region that was off limits to foreigners before the disaster.

Maj. Gen. Bambang Darmono, the Indonesian military commander in charge of relief operations in the province, denied Tuesday that there were any "rules or policies" preventing journalists – local or foreign – from traveling in the region, and pledged to investigate the incident.

On Monday, a soldier blocked Irwan Firdaus, a Jakarta-based AP reporter who had been working in Aceh for several weeks, from crossing a bridge into the town of Lhoknga. The soldier, who did not identify himself, said the reporter needed permission from the local military commander.

Lhoknga, which was almost entirely wiped out by the tsunami, is about 25 kilometers west of Banda Aceh. The reporter was planning to interview survivors in the town.

The incident reflects the continuing suspicion the military holds toward journalists in the region. Foreign media and aid workers have been banned from Aceh since 2003, when Indonesian troops launched a massive offensive against the province's separatist guerrillas. More than 2,500 people have been killed since then.

The travel ban has not been formally revoked, but since the December 26 tsunami the government has generally allowed foreign journalists and humanitarian officials to travel to and around the province.

Last month, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said it was concerned by signs of growing military intolerance toward foreign news media in Aceh after US freelance reporter William Nessen was expelled from the province. It said at least four other international journalists working in the province were either briefly detained or prevented from traveling.

Nessen spent 40 days in jail in Aceh in 2003 for violating his visa by spending three weeks with separatist rebels from the Free Aceh Movement. During his time with the guerrillas, he contacted international media and accused the military of wanting to kill him.

Immigration authorities deported him on January 25 after accusing him of entering the country illegally, despite granting him a visa when he arrived three weeks earlier. Nessen said a ban imposed on him after he served the prison sentence had already expired.

The military is concerned that the influx of foreign aid groups and journalists since the disaster could lead to increased international sympathy for the rebels, who have been fighting a low-level war for independence since 1976. The separatists have welcomed the spotlight the tsunami has thrown on their movement.

Human rights groups have accused the Indonesian army of executions, kidnappings, torture and collective punishment of civilians. They say most of the victims of the fighting have been villagers caught up in army sweeps.

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