---------------------------------------------------------- Visit Indonesia Daily News Online HomePage: http://www.indo-news.com/ Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ---------------------------------------------------------- Precedence: bulk JOINT STATEMENT BY ACEHNESE NGOS ON TERROR AGAINST THE STUDENTS=92= SOLIDARITY=20 FOR THE PEOPLE (SMUR). After Aceh was brought into turmoil by acts of terror and massacres of=20 civilians, the filthy political scenario is being aimed at groups of student= =20 activists, who had been struggling against and bringing to light military=20 brutality against the people. SMUR has been accused of receiving money from= =20 abroad, making use of the name of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), and of links= =20 to the PRD (Democratic People=92s Party) and FORKOT (City Forum=97a Jakarta= =20 student movement). These accusations serve to reinforce that there is a new= =20 scenario aimed at student actions, after the same scenario was unable to=20 discredit Non-Government Organisations. It is not surprising that SMUR should be the target of this scenario,= because=20 their protests and peaceful acts of resistance has made the military and the= =20 government uneasy. In theory, groups such as SMUR are generally subjected= to=20 threats, manipulations, and false accusations. Thus it is not difficult to= =20 understand what is being done to SMUR. The state and other pro-status quo=20 groups commonly resort to such acts of terror. Attempts to influence the=20 people by applying the label "Enemy of the State" to the Secretary General= of=20 SMUR, and by circulating death threats in anonymous leaflets failed. There= =20 is now a change of scenario which involves shaping public opinion,=20 particularly among other students, and creating the image that SMUR is= funded=20 by certain parties. To what end if not to distance students from SMUR by=20 creating a climate of distrust among other student groups and sympathetic=20 people. Such actions open up an avenue for the creation of horisontal=20 conflict, beginning with conflict among students. To reinforce this scenario, strange statements have been made, such as the= =20 statement by T. Hamzah, who claimed to be from the Banda Aceh GAM. At this= =20 moment, it is easy for anyone in Aceh to telephone the mass media and claim= =20 to be from the GAM, including stating a suitable rank. T. Hamzah is a new= =20 name; it is entirely unfamiliar and has never circulated as a GAM speaker=20 among the masses. Thus it is very strange to have an individual claim to be= =20 from the GAM and to speak in the mass media and seeming to verify the=20 contents of the anonymous leaflets against the SMUR, even going so far as to= =20 order SMUR to apologize in the newspapers. Those who know even a little about SMUR understand that this group only has= =20 militancy and the commitment to uphold human rights and to struggle for the= =20 aspirations and the desires of the people. Nothing more; and especially not= =20 for funds rumoured to amount in the hundreds of millions. All we see in= SMUR=20 and other student action groups is the strong desire to speak of the=20 suffering and sorrow of Aceh, as a result of the continued violations of=20 human rights by a state that imposes concepts the people do not want. In=20 this SMUR and the students are no different from other action groups that=20 have found their existence in voicing the problems faced by the peoples of= =20 Aceh. =20 It is likely that other new scenarios are being prepared, and that they will= =20 be aimed at other groups who are voicing the true conditions and aspirations= =20 of the people. Be alert, people of Aceh! Banda Aceh, 23 September l999 NGOs signing this statement: Maimun Fidar Coordinator, Coalition of Human Rights NGOs J. Halim Bangun Yayasan Anak Bangsa (Foundation for Children) Abdurrahman Yacub Board, Yayasan Buruh Merdeka (Labour Foundation) Azwar Nurdin Advocacy Forum for Aceh NGOs Evi Narti Zain Co-ordinator, Acehnese Women=92s Forum Sugito T. Thasan Lembaga Informasi Masyarakat Independen (Information Institute for=20 Independent Society) Presented at a Press Conference attended by the following student groups: 1. Koalisi Aksi Reformasi Mahasiswa Aceh (KARMA, Coalition for Reform=20 movement of Acehnese Students) 2. Front Aksi Reformasi Mahasiswa Islam Daerah Istimewa Aceh (FARMIDIA,= Front=20 for the Reform Action of Islamic Students in the Aceh Special Region) 3. Mafia 4. KAMMI 5. Forum AIKDA 6. F-KAMA 7. Solidaritas Pelajar Untuk Rakyat (SPUR, High School Students Solidarity= =20 for the People) 8. Komite Mahasiswa dan Pemuda Aceh Nusantara (KMPAN, Committee of Students= =20 and Youth of Aceh Nusantara) 9. Rabithah Thaliban 10. Solidaritas Mahasiswi Islam Peduli Aceh (SMIPA, Islamic Women Students= =20 Solidarity Concerned for Aceh) The press conference was also attended by a representative of the Free Aceh= =20 Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka/GAM), i.e. the spokesperson of GAM from the= =20 Pase Area, the Free Aceh Army of Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar districts=20 represented by Tgk. Sarifuddin, who said that they were present to clarify a= =20 news item in the Serambi Indonesia daily. He said that GAM had never made= =20 such a statement. The statement contained a threat aimed at SMUR and=20 demanded that SMUR publish an apology in the newspapers for having used the= =20 name of GAM to collect money. GAM has confirmed to the commander of the= Aceh=20 Besar area that this was not true; that it was military provocation intended= =20 to spark conflict between GAM and SMUR and other students. He also said= that=20 the aim was to fragment the unity of the people of Aceh. In an analysis read by Daniel of KMPAN, students said that the military are= =20 suffering a serious form of mental disease, i.e. a split from the people and= =20 a split within themselves. They thus make use of all manner of attempts to= =20 apply pejorative labels against all those who do not agree with them, as for= =20 example, "Communist," or "Rightist Islam", etc. This provides them with the= =20 justification to eradicate these elements to regain the trust of the people. The students called upon the people to resist provocation that might lead to= =20 horisontal conflict, and to disregard rumours of communism and= fundamentalist=20 Islam used by the military to destroy the democratic peoples=92 action.*** ---------- SiaR WEBSITE: http://apchr.murdoch.edu.au/minihub/siarlist/maillist.html ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 28 Sep 1999 jam 14:52:07 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
