Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Dozens of people claiming to be victims of the conflict in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam rallied in front of the Independent Commission for Elections in Banda Aceh on Thursday, threatening to boycott the upcoming regional elections.
The protesters complained none of the candidates had promised to address the gross human rights violations that occurred during Aceh's long and bloody separatist conflict.
The vote scheduled on Dec. 11 will choose a new governor and 21 regents for the province.
"I hope the gubernatorial candidates can give us, the victims of the conflict, assurances about justice. If not, why should we choose them?" said protester Fatmawati, 34.
Fatmawati said her husband had been missing since 2003, when a military emergency was declared in the province. Fatmawati and her husband then lived in Cot Krueng, Aceh Besar regency, which was known as the base of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
"I can only cry whenever my child asks where his father's grave is," Fatmawati said. There has been no indication yet as to when cases like these will be resolved. That's why Fatmawati said she was very disappointed that candidates are not planning to tackle the human rights violations.
Abdul Hamid, 39, a resident of Seulimum, Aceh Besar, agreed, saying he had decided not to exercise his right to vote. "It won't be any use since we will not be able to get justice," Hamid said.
The victims of the conflict invited the candidates to sign a pledge to resolve the human rights cases, but none of the candidates came. "They prefer to make promises (on other issues) rather than solve this important problem," Hamid said.
The rally took place in an orderly fashion under the watchful eye of security officers.
Rahmat, from the group Student Solidarity for the People (SMUR), said Aceh had experienced a kind of amnesia since the signing of a peace agreement between GAM and the Indonesian government a year ago. "No one talks about human rights any longer, as if human rights violations had never happened in Aceh," Rahmat said.
According to data from the Aceh chapter of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), there were as many as 15,000 cases of human rights violations in Aceh. "Only about 10 percent of them have been settled, especially those carried out by the military," said Henda of Kontras' Aceh chapter.