| Home > South-East Asia >> Aceh | |
There is no substitute for a genuine freedom and independence
Association of Achehnese Community in Scandinavia (PERMAS) - August 11, 2005
Sweden -- After a mere five meetings, The Free Acheh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government is scheduled to sign a historic agreement on August 15 in Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. Though the full details of the agreement have yet to be disclosed, the substantial points of the draft have been widely analysed and published in the media. The five rounds of talks seemed to have gone smoothly and in a very benign atmosphere.
This was largely due to GAM's radical changing of position, by excluding the independence option from the agenda
This bold decision taken by the so called GAM leadership in Sweden to drop the long sworn demand for an independent Acheh and to formally recognise Acheh being an integral part of Indonesia, has taken the international community as well as Jakarta aback. Realizing that GAM had fallen into its own trap, the whole world had come in unison to support the process and to tighten the grip on the already weakening position of GAM. Sweden-based Olof Palme Centre, in collaboration with the Crisis Management Initiatives (CMI), has invited to Stockholm some, embedded representatives of Achehnese civil society for consultation with GAM leaders over here. As a matter of fact, these so called Achehnese representatives are no other than a handful selectively handpicked GAM supporters from Malaysia.
We, Achehnese Community in Scandinavia (PERMAS), wholeheartedly support the peace efforts and we wish a success. But we will never condone, under any circumstances, these undemocratic conducts to deliberately ignore the mainstream Achehnese civil society groups to fully participate in the process. The Helsinki agreement that will be signed on the fateful August 15 is seen as a matter of life and death of the people of Acheh, and they should have been consulted before making such a disastrous decision. GAM leadership in Sweden who used to claim representing Achehnese back home and abroad are now busy selling out their self-government to the people of Acheh.
We Achehnese have dearly paid with our blood for the cause of our struggle for independence and that cannot be merely replaced by a system of "self-government", which practically means autonomy, under the unitary state of Indonesia and its 1945 constitution. We, therefore, strongly reject this nomenclature or any other falsehood that are being fed up into our mouths. Our sworn goal to restore the ancient, historic independent Acheh remains. For there is no substitute for a genuine freedom and independence
PERMAS have no reason to believe that a political party strived by GAM will be able to fully adress the aspirations of the Achehnese. Nor do we believe that this pseudo-political party can survive under continued military rule that will be prevalent even after the signing of the agreement. To achieve a permanent and lasting peace in Acheh, TNI as well as TNA must temporarily lay down their arms. In return, the international community along with the UN should transform Acheh into a free zone, and let the people of Acheh freely exercise their political rights and the right to self-determination through a plebiscite or referendum, under UN and EU supervision.
Otherwise, the pompous Helsinki accord will be once again proven short-lived.
Achehnese are a peace-loving people; they sincerely wish to solve the conflict with justice and dignity, not by force or by so many fait-accompli. We believe that independence is the right of every nation, with no exception to the people of Acheh. We are neither war monggers nor peace diturbers, but, if TNI, after the signing of the peace agreement remain unchanged in its deplorable behaviour, PERMAS together with its partners, the other half Achehnese, around the globe are ready to take on the Achehnese struggle for independence in a peaceful way, which we are more capable.
Sweden, 11 August 2005
Asnawi Ali - Secretary-general
Emails: permas_sweden@yahoo.se>permas_sweden@yahoo.se/permas_norway@yahoo.no>permas_norway@yahoo.no/permas_denmark@yahoo.dk
PERMAS is an independent association set up in summer 2004 by Achehnese community in Scandinavia. The objective of the organisation is to unite Achehnese abroad, especially, in the Scandinavian countries, and to Work together towards a peaceful, democratic solution to Acheh conflict.
See also:
 |