Passa il terremoto, passa lo tsunami; ma per i disgraziati di Aceh ( Atjeh) esiste solo una realtà: la repressione militare indonesiana, con il placet degli Usa e con la complicità dell'informazione.

atjehmap.gif, image/gif, 892x625

Ci sono luoghi sulla terra nei quali i popoli vivono inspiegabilmente vite d'inferno.
Uno di questi è l'isola di Aceh. Da alcuni decenni in lotta con il corrottissimo potere indonesiano, la popolazione di Aceh reclama maggiore autonomia e riceve massacri. Il fatto è che in Aceh c'è una piattaforma petrolifera della Exxon (quella della Exxon Valdez), che soddisfa gran parte dei bisogni di gas naturale di Giappone e Corea del Sud, il resto viene sfruttato dalla Pertamina, compagnia statale "vicina" ai militari della quale Exxon-Mobil è azionista al 35%, ma la popolazione vive, per oltre il 40%, sotto la soglia di povertà.

Jakarta non ha mai lasciato un metro sul controllo degli introiti energetici, e ha finora spartito i profitti con Exxon-Mobil. La Compagnia ha un accordo con i militari indonesiani ai quali paga i servizi di sicurezza fin dai tempi di Suharto.
Non è che vadano tanto d'accordo, ogni tanto litigano, e allora succede come nel 2003, quando una portaerei americana mise placidamente l'ancora davanti agli stabilimenti. Mentre si discuteva di imposte sull'estrazione, la stessa portaerei che ora soccorre generosamente l'isola devastata.

Gli abitanti della capitale di Aceh avevano appena subito un devastante terremoto, quando la prima e più forte onda ha colpito a distanza di qualche decina di minuti. Onde molto alte. Il 65% delle coste è sparito, un terzo degli abitanti di Banda Aceh ha seguito lo stesso destino. Il bilancio pare assestarsi attorno alle 70.000 vittime in tutta la provincia.
Il governo indonesiano mantiene 40.000 militari sull'isola (1/3 di quelli americani in Iraq, per controllare una popolazione di soli 4 milioni di abitanti) e ha avviato immediatamente due operazioni, una di soccorso e e una sicurezza, privilegiando smaccatamente la seconda.
Nelle parole del tenente colonnello D. J. Nachrowi al Jakarta Post: "La calamità non deve essere vista come un mezzo per fermare le operazioni di sicurezza". Di fatto il governo, che ha dichiarato la legge marziale nel maggio scorso provocando la fuga delle ONG, e che solo nell'ultimo anno ha provocato 2000 vittime e detiene numerosi prigionieri politici; ha colto al volo ogni opportunità offerta dalla calamità.

Ai pochi posti di soccorso istituiti dopo la prima settimana trascorsa esclusivamente in retate, arresti ed uccisioni, i feriti vengono interrogati e spesso torturati. Il paese resta chiuso agli aiuti, che possono concentrarsi solo in due punti dai quali ancora nessuno provvede alla distribuzione, mentre procede una vera e propria offensiva che trascura i soccorsi. Questo potrebbe significare, a breve, il raddoppio delle morti, finora stimate attorno alle 80.000 vittime.
Di fatto gran parte di Aceh non ha ancora ricevuto alcun soccorso, e nelle strade di Banda Aceh ci sono ancora piazze piene di cadaveri. Questo nonostante l'arrivo di altri 15.000 militari.

Tutti i partiti autonomisti hanno offerto il cessate il fuoco, ma il governo indonesiano mostra di volere la resa dei conti, conti che ogni giorno aumentano. Dichiara che lo tsunami potrebbe essere un'occasione per la fine della guerra in Aceh, ma non si sbilancia sul significato di tale affermazione.
Nessuno dei fuoriusciti da Aceh ha modo di tornare, o contattare i propri parenti senza correre gravi rischi, non si hanno notizie dei prigionieri politici, pur richieste.

I circa 400.000 rifugiati ed i prevedibili 200.000 feriti sono privi di qualsiasi assistenza.

Dallo tsunami il governo indonesiano ci guadagnerà sicuramente.

L'Indonesia ha speso nell'ultimo anno 429.5 milioni di dollari per le operazioni militari in Aceh. Più di quanto i "generosi" Stati Uniti abbiano stanziato per l'intera emergenza asiatica. Un quarto dell'intera somma "promessa" fino ad ora da tutto il globo.

Jakarta riserva al bilancio di Aceh un terzo di quanto spenda per mantenerla militarizzata.

Fortunatamente per gli abitanti di Aceh, ma a conforto delle loro ragioni e della pessima fama dell'integrità della politica indonesiana, ben 291 di questi 429.5 milioni di dollari diretti alla repressione ( sì, duecentonovantuno) sono "spariti".
Un simpatico processo al governatore Abdullah Puteh sta tentando di capire come, con la sua cricca, sia riuscito a volatilizzare per sé più di quanto sia finito alla stessa provincia e ai reparti militari.. Questi costi sono destinati a calare insieme alla consistenza della resistenza della popolazione di Aceh, in larghissima parte schierata contro il governo di Jakarta.

In questo quadro Jakarta può sperare, al meno, in una moratoria sul debito con il Club di Parigi (con il quale ha sottoscritto il 50% del suo debito estero, che la costringe a pagare 125 milioni di dollari di interessi ogni anno). Standard & Poor's ha appena, dopo lo tsunami, promosso il rating indonesiano da B a B+.
Intanto il parlamento indonesiano discute e l'opposizione si oppone ad una gigantesca operazione di ricerca, come si oppone alla creazione di un centro di emergenza e salvataggio nazionale, temendo l'aumento del potere dei militari e l'ennesima sparizione di gran parte degli stanziamenti. Aiuti che andranno quasi inevitabilmente ad ingrassare i conti di qualche ufficiale del potente TNI ( esercito indonesiano) e una delle classi politiche più voraci e sanguinarie del pianeta, già capace di fare centinaia di migliaia di morti per una miniera.

Considerando questo quadro, l'ipotesi di inviare aiuti all'Indonesia è da vagliare con cura, almeno fino a quando non sarà permessa la piena agibilità del territorio alle ONG. Esistono comunque organizzazioni locali ( di Aceh) che possono assicurare la destinazione dei fondi alle vittime, ma la situazione pone profondi dubbi etici e consiglia attenzione.
Il presidente indonesiano Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ha invitato i connazionali a guardare al nuovo anno con ottimismo. Anno dichiarato "Della Solidarietà ed Unità", quindi niente autonomie.
Come già con il governo maldiviano il mondo non vede e non sente, o si fa gli affari propri.

Proteggere la popolazione di Aceh non sarebbe difficilissimo, molto più difficile è disturbare gli interessi della Exxon.
Il 29 giugno del 2002 le corti americane rifiutarono di discutere una causa contro l'azienda perché i militari indonesiani avrebbero commesso: genocidio, assassinio, torture, crimini contro l'umanità, violenza sessuale e rapimenti al preciso fine di difendere gli interessi dell'azienda complice nella corruzione.

I giudici americani sono stati inibiti da una dichiarazione dell'amministrazione americana secondo la quale " L'assegnazione della causa in questo momento causerebbe un potenziale impatto negativo in significativi interessi degli Stati Uniti, incluso interessi legati direttamente alla "guerra al terrorismo" in corso.
Per rafforzare il quadro l'Amministrazione Bush sostenne che: "Lavorando fianco a fianco aziende americane, compagnie indonesiane ( come fossero più grosse, ndr.) e agenzie vedono il vantaggio delle moderne pratiche di business, comprese: la trasparenza, il rispetto dei contratti, pratiche di lavoro leali, efficacia contro la corruzione e competitività.
Chi aiuta Aceh?


Oggi la Germania ha dichiarato che stanzierà 674 milioni di dollari ( record dei record finora) in aiuti a lungo termine da concordare con le autorità di Aceh, che però sono appunto detenute per corruzione; non è chiaro se in contrapposizione agli interessi americani o a causa di una colpevole, quanto poco probabile ignoranza. La Germania suggerisce ad altri paesi di "adottare" una nazione sconvolta, intanto adotta quella con i giacimenti.
Nelle stesse ore Powell e Jeb Bush, giunti in Aceh, danno conto dell'enorme distruzione. Mentre i soccorsi vengono interrotti a causa degli scontri a fuoco, dichiarano che gli Usa forniranno elicotteri all'esercito indonesiano, ovviamente per la protezione civile.
L'Australia ha annunciato la concessione di crediti per 765 milioni di dollari nei prossimi cinque anni all'Indonesia, non esattamente un regalo, ma comunque un aiuto.
Della Exxon-Mobil non parla nessuno, nel sito dell'azienda non sono presenti link ad attività indonesiane. Questo nonostante sia riportato in altre pagine un discorso del presidente Mr. Tilsonn, il quale a Jakarta ricordava, appena venti giorni fa, la presenza di Exxon-Mobil nel paese fin dal 1968, ricordando che l'azienda è stata "...attiva nello sviluppo e nell'assistenza alle comunità attorno alle sue aree operative" è prospettando un roseo futuro ai convenuti.


Chi aiuta Aceh?

Queste sono fosse comuni "precedenti" il disastro in Aceh:
http://www.ecplanet.com/pic/2004/01/1073663183/aceh_fosse_comuni.jpg
http://www.ecplanet.com/canale/varie-5/diritti_umani-65/0/0/10420/it/ecplanet.rxdf

info dirette da Aceh:
http://danger.mongabay.com/earthquake/2004/Lhokseumawe.html

veloce riassunto di Aceh:
http://www.smemoranda.it/scuole_pace/conflitti/scheda.php?id=16

Cronache che non leggeremo, agli impianti non è successo niente e funzionano, mentre i militari continuano esattamente come prima, contro la popolazione e non mobilitati nei soccorsi:
http://www.liberazione.it/giornale/041230/LB12D6CC.asp
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/12/30/nation/9771621&sec=nation

Il "conto della serva" sulla guerra in Aceh. (Pdf)
http://www.iseas.edu.sg/viewpoint/mpmay03.pdf
vecchio articolo:
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/albania/726/heartache.htm

Exxon-Mobil "terrorista"? (Pdf):
http://www.jatam.org/english/case/emo/uploaded/ExxonMobil%20Case%20
Study-Web.pdfhttp://www.iseas.edu.sg/viewpoint/mpmay03.pdf

i soccorritori:
esercito americano:
http://www.navysite.de/cvn/cvn72.html
http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,FL_lincoln_123104,00.html

esercito tedesco:
http://www.deutsche-welle.de/dw/article/0,1564,1448139,00.html

esercito indonesiano:
http://unimondo.oneworld.net/article/view/100743/1/2143

Proteste in Australia per la collaborazione con l'esercito indonesiano:
http://www.active.org.au/wollongong/local/webcast/uploads/metafiles/
aceh-protest_july11.jpg

commozione per Aceh in Germania (l'Indonesia era colonia tedesca):
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,335150,00.html

anche Bloomberg parla tanto di Aceh:
http://www.google.it/search?q=cache:j_BdYYRaYMkJ:www.bloomberg.com/
apps/news%3Fpid%3D10000100%26s
id%3Da5XGW88Cna5A%26refer%3Dgermany+aceh+germany&hl=it&lr=lang
_en|lang_it%20target=nw

Anticamente colonia olandese:
http://home.iae.nl/users/arcengel/NedIndie/atjeh.htm

non una sola voce contro l'esercito indonesiano.

photo gallery, i soldati indonesiani e i loro strani elmetti, cambiando il numerino nell'url:
http://www.kimpraswil.go.id/infoStatistik/aceh/Galeri/htm/11007.htm

Legge sulla privatizzazione del gas e contrasti:
http://news.morningstar.com/news/DJ/M12/D21/200412210051
DOWJONESDJONLINE000020.html

Negoziati recenti con la Exxon:
http://www.google.it/search?q=cache:64hrbVfubvYJ:www.schlumberger.com/
news/story.cfm%3Fstoryid%3D623923+pertamina+exxon&hl=it&lr=lang_en|lang_
it%20target=nw

I resistenti:
http://tapol.gn.apc.org/
http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/aceh.htm
http://atlasgeo.span.ch/fotw/flags/id-aceh.html
http://www.asia-pacific-action.org/southeastasia/indonesia/aceh/acehindex.htm
http://www.rsf.org/rsf/uk/html/asie/cplp01/lp01/140801.html

E cosa vogliono dall'occidente, o meglio dagli Usa e da Exxon_Mobil:

Mobil and Arun are the largest oil and gas companies in Indonesia and should therefore be of benefit to the people of Aceh local to their area of operation. However, it is in fact the case that these companies have brought misfortune to the people of Aceh, not only because the detrimental impact of their presence has never been seriously addressed, but moreover because of their implication in human rights abuses which have caused the suffering of the people of Aceh. The implication of these two companies in human rights violations is in the form of their involvement with military operations in Aceh.

These can be documented as follows:
1) Mobil Oil provided specific facilities in the shape of building and contents for military Post 13. Information gathered from victims of human rights abuses indicated that a number of them were interrogated in Post 13 before being moved to other locations.
2) Mobil Oil provided heavy equipment such as escavators in order that the military could dig mass graves for its victims at Sentang Hill and Tengkorak (Skull) Hill.
3) Mobil Oil road was used in order to transport the victims of human rights violations in order to be buried on 'Skull' Hill.
4) Mobil Oil did not take issue with nor take responsibility for the number of its own employee who were kidnapped and disappeared by the military when at work.
5) PT Arun, some shares of which are owned by Mobil Oil, built Camp Rancong which was used by Kopassus in order to torture and murder victims of human rights abuses.

Because of the evidence above, we make the following demands:
1) That the United States Government take firm action against Mobil Oil in order to uphold human rights.
2) Mobil Oil and Arun must be made accountable to the people of Aceh. They should apologise to the international community, the people of Indonesia and the people of Aceh in particular. The should offer just compensation and rehabilitation to the victims of human rights abuses, as perpetrated by the military and with the support of both Mobil Oil and Arun.
3) That Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch Asia should carry out their own investigation into the financial affairs of Mobil Oil, particularly in respect of their relationship with the military and its operations.
4) Urge oil and gas-consuming countries to boycott oil and gas products of both these companies should Mobil Oil and Arun shirk from their responsibilities.

Banda Aceh
10 October 1998

Signed:
Chalid Muhammad (WALHI - Indonesia Friends of the Earth)
Maimul Fidar (Koalisi NGO HAM Aceh - Coalition of Human Rights NGOs in Aceh)
Risman A Rachman (WALHI Aceh)
Dikson Aritonang (WALHI Bengkulu)
Rachmadi (WALHI West Sumatra)
Hariansyah (WALHI South Sulawesi)
Chairul Hasni (YAPDA Lhokseumawe)
Yusuf Ismail Pase (LPLH Aceh)
Zulfikar MS (Kontras Lhokseumawe - The Committee for Missing Persons and Victims)
Afrizal Tjoetra (Forum LSM Aceh - Aceh NGO Forum)
Sanusi M Syarif (YRBI Aceh)
M Zul Frima Putra (YBA Aceh)
Rully Syumanda (YGHL South Aceh)
Kamaludin (KPA Leuser Unsyiah)
Juli R Miansyak (KPA STIK Pante Kulu)
Aiyub Syah (YBAI)
Rahmadsyah Putra (Metalk Unsiyah)

Lo scacchiere
dei soccorsi
di FEDERICO RAMPINI

"CARITÀ competitiva": il vertice di Giakarta è stato definito con una punta di sarcasmo da Jan Egeland, capo degli aiuti di emergenza dell'Onu. Egeland non ha il dono della diplomazia ma parla chiaro. Fu lui a dare dello spilorcio a Bush quando l'offerta iniziale ai paesi devastati dallo tsunami era stata di 15 milioni di dollari, cioè lo 0,0001% del Pil americano o il prezzo di tre appartamenti nella Upper East Manhattan. La generosità - vera - dei cittadini del mondo intero non ha lasciato insensibili i governi. E così la tragedia è diventata anche l'opportunità per operazioni di immagine davanti a un'opinione pubblica internazionale eccezionalmente attenta.

Per i paesi ricchi questa calamità rischia di diventare business as usual: la solidarietà ha l'etichetta con il prezzo, gli aiuti sono merce di scambio sulla scacchiera dell'influenza geopolitica.

Per la passerella di potenti che ieri sono sfilati a Giakarta, dal duo Colin Powell-Jeb Bush al premier cinese Wen al giapponese Koizumi, è evidente che sulla gestione di questa emergenza si è aperta una partita strategica.

Certo l'immensa emozione popolare suscitata dalle devastazioni, e l'alto numero di vittime occidentali, forzano la mano ai governi di ogni colore. Ma l'emozione è destinata a passare, e al summit di Giakarta tutti pensavano al "dopo".

L'America è determinata a usare l'aiuto umanitario per recuperare l'egemonia in una zona dove stava cedendo terreno alla Cina; due alleati fedeli come Giappone e Australia danno man forte a Bush con uno sforzo finanziario sostanziale (1,5 miliardi di dollari). La Cina reagisce lanciandosi anche lei, per la prima volta nella sua storia, in un'operazione umanitaria all'estero, anche se i suoi mezzi non possono eguagliare quelli americani. Perfino l'India ha una logica di potenza, e pur essendo tra i paesi colpiti sta usando la leva degli aiuti verso i vicini meno ricchi.

In questo scacchiere è centrale l'Indonesia. Il paese che ha pagato il più alto tributo di morti è un importante produttore di petrolio, membro influente dell'Opec, i cui giacimenti sono contesi da multinazionali americane e cinesi.

L'Indonesia ha sempre occupato un ruolo strategico per le rotte dell'Estremo oriente. E soprattutto, è la più grande nazione musulmana del mondo. Per gli Stati Uniti l'Indonesia rappresenta, insieme alla Thailandia, altra vittima dello tsunami, il "fronte orientale" nella lotta al fondamentalismo islamico.

Powell a Giakarta è stato esplicito: "Quel che stiamo facendo qui dà al mondo musulmano, e a tutto il resto del mondo, un'opportunità di vedere la generosità americana, i valori americani all'opera". Per la verità la generosità di Washington, anche dopo le ultime aggiunte (350 milioni di dollari) si piazza quarta. Ma la U. S. Navy, gli elicotteri e i marines, sia pure con qualche cruciale giorno di ritardo, sono arrivati primi, secondi e terzi, nell'assenza di ogni altra task force internazionale. Nonostante i costi della guerra in Iraq, gli americani sono gli unici a mantenere una presenza militare rapidamente utilizzabile in tutto il globo. E le immagini dei marines che portano soccorsi ai bambini dello Sri Lanka sono certo più edificanti di quelle trasmesse dall'Iraq.

In quest'area del mondo non c'è solo l'Islam. Questo è il palcoscenico su cui si "allarga" il nuovo rivale strategico dell'America. Perfino il critico New York Times stavolta si compiace nel contare i punti che il maremoto fa guadagnare agli Stati Uniti: "La nuova e crescente influenza della Cina in Asia, che secondo alcuni esperti è stata conquistata a spese nostre, sta mostrando i suoi limiti: l'aspirante superpotenza gioca un ruolo attivo ma secondario nella risposta alle devastazioni dello tsunami. La Cina è rimasta a guardare mentre le nostre navi militari raggiungevano velocemente quella zona, e gli elicotteri americani cominciavano a rifornire di cibo e medicine le aree più disastrate".

Appena due mesi fa la situazione era diversa. Al vertice Asean dei paesi del sud-est asiatico a novembre gli Stati Uniti erano eclissati mentre tutti "flirtavano" con la potenza economica cinese. Mentre Rumsfeld a causa dell'Iraq annunciava riduzioni di truppe in Corea e in Giappone, Pechino investiva nel potenziamento della sua flotta militare.

Come l'Inghilterra dell'Ottocento e l'America del Novecento, la Cina è "costretta" dalla sua rivoluzione industriale a diventare una famelica consumatrice di materie prime dal mondo intero, e quindi a proiettare la sua forza militare sui mari per garantirsi la sicurezza negli approvvigionamenti. Ora la Cina deve imparare oneri ed onori che accompagnano il suo nuovo status. Per la prima volta quest'anno diventerà un paese donatore, e non beneficiario, degli aiuti allo sviluppo.

Di fronte alle immagini dello tsunami, il nuovo ceto medio cinese ha avuto la stessa reazione degli americani e degli italiani: ha donato su Internet, attraverso giornali e tv, usando strumenti di beneficenza privata un tempo estranei all'ideologia comunista. Ma i mezzi sono ancora limitati.
I 70 milioni di dollari donati da Pechino alle vittime del maremoto valgono un anno di reddito per 70.000 contadini cinesi.

All'Europa non mancano i mezzi ma l'armonìa per metterli assieme.

La cacofonia nel pollaio europeo - dove nei primi giorni tre o quattro governi si sono autonominati "coordinatori" degli aiuti - è stata uno spettacolo umiliante. È già un miracolo che gli europei (soprattutto per insistenza francese) abbiano convinto gli americani a cedere all'Onu il ruolo di regìa.
Da Kofi Annan a Giakarta è venuto il monito più severo. Non fatevi belli oggi - ha detto ai paesi ricchi - con le vostre promesse di tre miliardi di dollari di aiuti, per poi dirottarli da altri programmi di assistenza al Terzo mondo. Purtroppo ha parlato per esperienza.

(7 gennaio 2005)

Sindicati de contadine dell'Indonesia regalono de mangiare per le persone colpite , mentre il governo dell Indonesia se encontra in yakarta per paralare , parlare ,...

REPORTE DESDE EL LUGAR: Hoy es el noveno dia despues del terremoto y de que el tsunami golpeara la poblaciones del Norte de Sumatra. Aun hay miles de cadavers en las comisarias de Banda Aceh, Meulaboh, Aceh Besar and Pidie. No se han podido exhumar debido a las circumstancias tan dificiles, ya que muchos cuerpos se encontraban debajo de arboles caidos y escombros. La mayoria de los pueblos y villas de la parte Occidental de la provincia de Aceh fueron destruidos por el tsunami. En los siguientes dias, Habra mucho trabajo para voluntaries y personal de gobierno para remover los cadavers antes de que mas tiempo expuestos pueda provocar epidemias de enfermedades. A las 11:30 AM del dia de hoy, el numero de muertes confirmadas en la Provincia de Ache son 94,041, la mayoria de ellos de los pueblos costeros de Banda Aceh and Meulaboh. En Aceh, 5,895 people todavia se encuentran extraviadas. En el norte de Sumatra, 293 personas perdieron la vida, la mayoria de la Isla Sirombu en el distrito de Nias (174 personas), y 3 personas que aun no encuentran. Esta noche el ministro de salud anuncio oficialmente que el numero de personas viviendo en campos de refugiados en la provincia arrasada por el tsunami de Aceh, ha llegado a los 271,908. Pero pensamos que todavia hay miles de personas que no se han identificado aun porque muchos sobrevivientes estan viviendo en el bosque o han encontrado un refugio temporal.

NUESTROS ESFUERZOS DE SOCORRO: Por un lado muchos paquetes donados de sopa instanta, bisquets, medicinas, ropa, leche, etc han sido donados medicine, clothes, milk, etc., esta llegando a los aeropuertos, pero todavia no se han distribuido por la falta de coordinacion y burocracia. Por el otro lado, alimentos frescos estan llegando de los campesinos que son miembros de la Via Campesina, la Federacion Nacional de Campesinos de Indonesia (FSPI) de la parte provincia de Sumatra del Norte y de otros grupos de campesinos locales. Pensamos que estos son los mejores alimentos para alimentar a los refugiados y sobrevivientes en Aceh y Sumatra del Norte. Manana empezaremos a enviar alimentos como platanos, yuca, frutas, arroz, chile, papas, y vegetales frescos, ademas de utensilios para cocinar, y continuaremos enviando ropa, leche en polvo para bebes, agua potable y instrumentos para entierro a traves de nuestro centro coordinador con la sociedad civil coordination en Banda Aceh and Langsa.

Cerca de mil voluntaries han llegado a la provincias de Aceh y Sumatra del Norte de muchos grupos de la sociedad civil, partidos politicos, y organizaciones sociales. El Equipo de Solidaridad Humanitaria (KSKBA) que incluye FSPI, ha enviado 265 voluntarios hasta el dia de hoy a las poblaciones de Banda Aceh, Langsa, Lhokseumawe, Meulaboh y la isla de Nias

2. SRI LANKA: La Federacion Nacional de Pescadores (NAFSO) organiza la reconstruccion y el socorro.

REPORTE DESDE EL LUGAR: Acabamos de regresar Kalutara, Matara and Galle, areas de Sri Lanka entre las que sufrieron peores danos. Vimos daños que nunca nos imaginamos a las vidas de los pobladores, la costa, el medio ambiente, propiedades, y los medios de vida de la gente. Muchas agencies de socorro organizaciones de voluntaries, medios de comunicacion, corporaciones, bancos, sindicatos y ONGs, junto con agencies del gobierno estan participanto en el trabajo de auxilio. Sin embargo, el problema principal del momento es que ese auxilio no esta llegando sistematicamente a las victimas genuinas sino que la ayuda muchas veces esta siendo arrebatada por personas que no fueron victimas y personas que no fueron directamente afectadas por la tragedia, mientras que las victimas reales estan muriendo de hambre.

NUESTROS ESFUERZOS DE SOCORRO: Hemos identificado las areas princiaples de trabjo inmediato, mediano y largo plazo. Estamos organizaond a los que no fueron victimas en el area para asistir a las victimas removiendo los escombros, limpiando los pozos de agua, reparando los botes, construyendo refugios, etc. Ya tenemos un numero considerable de jovenes y grupos de campesinos comprometidos a asistir a los afectados. Para empezar, NAFSO y otros compañeros de zonas pesqueras del interior enviaron 4 equipos de voluntarios (entre 10 y 15 personas cada uno) para asistir a las poblaciones de Galle, Matara and Kalutara. En este momento la Organizacion de Pesquerias del Sur (Southern Fisheries Organization, SFO) tiene 40 personas trabajando en Galle y 50 grupos de jovenes trabajando en Matara. Necesitamos restaurar la vida normal de los pescadores tan pronto como sea possible, de modo que estamos priorizando la ayuda en reparacion de botes, construccion de lanchas para reparar las que se perdieron. Hemos identificado personas locales con experiencia en construccion de lanchas. Necesitamos materials de construccion para reubicacion de sobrevivientes y empezaremos pronto a preparar tabicones. Tambien hemos identificado las necesidades especificas de mujers y un grupo de mujeres fueron encargadas para organizar la atencion a sus necesidades en la mayoria de los campamentos de refugiados. Detectamos que ayuda psicologica es una de las necesidades mas importantes en los campamentos y tambien ofreceremos esos servicios. Nuestros equipos de voluntarios se reunen cada tercer dia para evaluar y planear el trabajo.

3. 3 de enero INDIA: El Foro Nacional de Pescadores (National Fish Workers Forum, NFF) de la India protesta la poca accion del gobierno; La sociedad civil de Tamilnadu provee de refugio a las villas de pescadores afectadas.

El Sr. Thomas Kocherry ha hecho una denuncia formal contra el Ministerio del Medio Ambiente por no haber implementado la orden de la Suprema Corte de parar la destruccion de los manglares por el sector privado, financiar la reubicacion de pobladores lejos de la costa y por no tomar otras medidas de seguridad. Esta negligencia del gobierno llevo al resultado de 12,000 muertes, segun datos del NFF. Los manglares son una barrera natural que proteje las areas costeras de tsunamis, pero han sido masivamente removidos por la industria de produccion de camaron a traves de la acuicultura industrializada (lo que se conoce como "factory farming"), que ha afectado seriamente los medios de vida de los pescadores artesanales.

Representantes de 14 villas de pescadores afectado en Tamilnadu se reunieron en las oficinas de la KSS en Nagercoil y aceptaron la propuesta de refugios temporales cercanos a sus villas. Hubo gozo y esperanza en las caras de los percadores y pescadoras despues de saber el acuerdo de donacion de tierras para ellos. Los detalles de estos acuerdos estan siendo detallados por los lideres de KSS, NFF, MUHIL y la comunidad de Manavalakurichy Redemptorist. Cocinas comunitarias y letrinas son parte de este esfuerzo conjunto. MUHIL ha mobilizado ya 10 millones de rupias. Necesitamos 10 millones mas. Hemos decidido empezar construyendo los refugios a partir del lunes en adelante. Eventualmente los pescadores empezaran a pescar de nuevo con el equipo que esperamos sea donado. Por favor apurense y contribuyan a este esfuerzo como un buen regalo para el Nuevo Año. Le aseguramos que cualquier donacion que usted nos envie, llegara a las personas afectados. No lo piense mas, done hoy mismo!

4. 3 de enero: Las organizaciones de Via Campesina en Malasia inician sus esfuerzos locales de donaciones.

PANGGAU, una organizacion miembro de la Via campesina en Malaysia, reporta que todos sus miembros estan bien, ya que no estan localizados en las regiones afectadas de Penang, Kedah, and Perlis. Awang Ahmad de PANGGAU, reporta que: "En mi pueblo la mayoria de los grupos musulmanes estan organizando el primer comite de recoleccion de donativos de ayuda en nuestra comunidad y yo soy parte del comite."

5. Tailandia: Federacion de Comunidades de Pescadores del Sur duramente golpeados

El Tsunami ha destruido mucuhas villas y areas turisticas en Tailandia. La Federacion de Comunidades de Pescadores del Sur, que es un miembro del foro Mundial de los Pescadores y de la Asamblea de los Pobres, que a su ves es miembro de la Via Campesina, ha sido terriblemente afectada. Algunas villas han sido borradas completamente y todos sus habitants murieron. Algunos lideres importantes de la Federacion tambien murieron. La Asamblea de los Pobres esta en el proceso de conseguir informacion y proveer ayuda de emergencia a las personas afectadas.


http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=9666

La Monsanto è stata appena multata di 1.5 milioni di $ per aver falsato uno studio sull'impatto ambientale degli Ogm in Indonesia

Le installazioni petrolifere salvate dallo tsunami. Da quattro anni dispongono di un efficace sistema di preallarme contro il maremoto

Dieci ore di ritardo nelle consegne. Questo è stato l'effetto del maremoto sugli impianti di estrazione di gas naturale e petrolio nel nord di Sumatra. Già il 28 dicembre la Reuters annunciava che «l'impianto di Arun, nell'estremo nord di Aceh, ha avuto la fortuna di venire risparmiato». Poche ore dopo faceva eco una nota ufficiale di Pertamina, la compagnia petrolifera statale: «le attività produttive in Aceh sono continuate senza interruzione - anche perché - per prevenire i problemi dovuti a una possibile distruzione di tre depositi, Pertamina ha preso delle iniziative per ridistribuire le scorte di carburante». Prevenzione? Ebbene sì: a differenza delle centomila vittime le compagnie petrolifere disponevano di un efficiente sistema di preallarme. Si tratta dell'Asean Sub-Committee on Meteorology and Geophysics (Ascmg) la cui messa a punto è stata annunciata durante il 23° meeting dell'Associazione delle nazioni del sud-est asiatico, appunto l'Asean, il 1 settembre del 2000. Il sistema ha consentito alle compagnie petrolifere di mettere al riparo il personale e, perfino, di «prevenire i problemi», come dichiara il portavoce della compagnia di Stato. La produzione è quindi continuata a pieno ritmo, con il solito milione di barili di petrolio giornalieri e i 20,86 milioni di metri cubi di gas naturale (al giorno) solo dall'impianto di Arun, situato proprio nella zona devastata dallo tsunami.

Chi non si accontenta della favoletta degli americani che mobilitano lo Us Pacific Command (una forza di 300 mila uomini) soltanto per recuperare la propria immagine fra i paesi musulmani, può dare un'occhiata alla mappa: Sumatra pullula di giacimenti di gas, istallazioni petrolifere di terra e di mare e oleodotti in costruzione. Nell'Aceh in particolare sono presenti tutti i nomi della lobby petrolifera mondiale - come la Exxon Mobil, chiamata più volte a rispondere davanti alle Nazioni Unite per le devastazioni ambientali e la reiterata violazione dei diritti umani contro le popolazioni dell'Aceh che sono state deportate - quando venivano requisite le loro terre derubate delle proprie ricchezze naturali e infine decimate in un conflitto che ha opposto gli indipendentisti a uno degli eserciti più feroci e meglio armati della regione. Un conflitto che ha provocato 12 mila morti, prevalentemente civili, su di una popolazione di circa 4 milioni di persone.

Ma le persone, si sa, contano poco quando il bottino è consistente. Il 30 per cento di tutte le esportazioni di gas naturale dell'Indonesia, primo produttore mondiale, provengono da questa martoriata regione. Da sempre l'Aceh combatte per la propria indipendenza: prima contro gli olandesi e poi contro Giakarta che, dal 1953, alterna il bastone della repressione alla carota del "territorio a statuto speciale". Ma le concessioni amministrative non bastano e nel 1976, quando viene fondato il Free Aceh Movement, il conflitto riprende con un crescendo di ferocia e brutalità che tocca il culmine nel 1999, quando le attività di estrazione di gas e petrolio cominciano a marciare a pieno ritmo e, di nuovo, nel maggio del 2003, con la dichiarazione della legge marziale e alla chiusura totale dei territori a diplomatici e giornalisti stranieri.

Lo tsunami costituisce quindi un'occasione senza precedenti per liberarsi del movimento separatista che, fra l'altro, chiedeva una migliore distribuzione delle risorse - l'Aceh contribuisce per l'11 per cento al Pil dell'Indonesia ma riceve poco più del 2 per cento degli investimenti - e una percentuale più alta sui diritti estrattivi. Entrambe le richieste considerate inaccettabili sia dal governo indonesiano che dalle compagnie occidentali. Per questo Giakarta ha aspettato ben quattro giorni per fare entrare i primi soccorsi nelle zone colpite e per questo, grazie all'avallo dello Zio Tom, si appresta a inviare altre truppe con la scusa degli aiuti: 15 mila soldati, che si vanno ad aggiungere ai 40 mila presenti dal maggio del 2003, in un territorio grande quanto Lombardia e Piemonte messi insieme.

E come gli americani, che approfittano dello tsunami per uno spiegamento di forze che, come scrive il Los Angeles Times «solo poche settimane fa avrebbe provocato un'ondata di proteste in tutta l'Indonesia», anche per Giakarta il maremoto è un'occasione da cogliere al volo. Grazie «al più alto livello mai raggiunto di collaborazione fra le forze armate statunitensi e quelle indonesiane», come ha dichiarato l'ammiraglio Usa Doug Crowder, l'esercito dell'Indonesia può invadere l'Aceh sotto gli occhi indifferenti del mondo. Per fare cosa? Il Tenente colonnello DJ Nachrowi l'ha detto chiaramente al Jakarta Post: «Abbiamo due compiti: il lavoro umanitario e le operazioni di sicurezza» e garantisce che i raid contro il movimento per l'Aceh libero continueranno finché il presidente Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono non dichiarerà l'emergenza finita. Ma, a quanto pare, il presidente non ha manifestato alcuna indicazione in tal senso.

e-laser.org

Indonesian Military Beats Acehnese, Bars Journalists

Meanwhile, Australian journalists who witnessed a confrontation between
Indonesian soldiers and Acehnese yesterday were ordered to leave the area
and warned not to report on the incident. The incident occurred just 25
miles from the provincial capital Banda Aceh, the centre of the relief
operation spearheaded by US and Australian forces in Aceh. Government
soldiers fired into the air and beat up Acehnese they claimed were
supporters of the Free Aceh Movement, known as the GAM. The incident
prompted special forces Kopassus soldiers to confront The Australian's
representatives in the area. A Kopassus Commander told the journalists,
"Your duties here are to observe the disaster, not the conflict between TNI
(the Indonesian army) and GAM. Kopassus ordered the Australian journalist
and photographer to leave. The Indonesian military has killed thousands of
Acehnese in the conflict. Aceh has been under martial law and sealed off for
years. The Kopassus are infamous for their extreme brutality during the
occupation of East Timor.

Mannaggia sti cazzi d'americani.
Io se fossi loro non investirei manco una lira (un dollaro) per estrarre il petrolio dal suolo.
Lascerei che se anche lo estraessero non glie lo comprerei.
Che se lo bevino!.
E non mi fregherebbe un cazzo che quelli che non fanno un cazzo per tirarlo fuori (tutta l'europa per esempio) riempiono i serbatoi delle loro macchine, motorini e paperette a spese degli USA.

>>>> Che se lo bevino!.

Vabbe' che sei straniero e che tuo padre non ti ha insegnato bene l'italiano... ce l'hai già detto... ma si dice "che se lo bevano".

Fai gia' danno alla logica, non farne anche alla lingua!

Danno alla logica che tu non commenti.
Danno alle lingue? (vedi idioma)?
di quale parli?
io ne conosco cinque quasi alla perfezione et tu brutus?
mah forse l'italiano?
senza merito pero' sei nato li.

SEPARATISTS
Military-Rebel Tensions Complicate Relief in Aceh
By JANE PERLEZ

Published: January 8, 2005




LAMLHOM, Indonesia, Jan. 7 - In the shade of a stand of coconut trees, Basri Ahmad buried his 19-year-old son on Friday, a victim not of earthquake or ocean waves but of the civil conflict that sowed death in Aceh long before the recent devastation.

"This is a misunderstanding," Mr. Basri said of the death of his son, Andriansyah, one of seven men killed Thursday by soldiers. "I plan to ask the army for clarification."



Advertisement

But while the military commander of Aceh Province, Brig. Gen. Endang Suwarya, said he would investigate, he also had a ready answer for the killings. Despite the devastation, he said, "Aceh is still in conflict."

Such killings have been the hallmark of the long civil conflict in Aceh, but they have gone virtually unreported over the past two years as the military sealed the province and pressed its drive to put down the rebel movement, which is seeking independence for the region.

Now, in the aftermath of the disaster, there are increasing concerns that fresh clashes will disrupt the aid effort, and that fighting may intensify as the military takes advantage of the disaster to cement its control here.

If nothing more, the deaths demonstrate that the Indonesian military continues to patrol on a hair trigger in a province where some 10,000 people have died in more than 25 years of strife. While his father and mother maintained that Mr. Andriansyah was not part of the rebel movement, the tensions that have riven Aceh are evident even in the aftermath of a disaster that observers had hoped might bring all sides together.

"The Indonesian Army shoots people easily," said


Mr. Andriansyah's mother, Mariana, who like many Indonesians uses only one name. "They are supposed to ask whether people are rebels or not."

Though the presence of some 40,000 government troops in Aceh helped in rescue efforts immediately after the tsunami on Dec. 26, the army clearly remained unpopular in much of this village, 25 miles southwest of the provincial capital at Banda Aceh. Lamlhom was spared the worst destruction and had become a gathering point for refugees.

Before the tsunami hit, the government had declared Aceh effectively off limits to outside human rights groups, United Nations agencies, journalists and foreigners. But nature reversed in just days what years of fighting could not.

In recent years, the army has badly weakened the rebels, chasing fighters into the mountains and shattering their intelligence network. Many rebel leaders were imprisoned when martial law was imposed two years ago.

Last May, the government downgraded martial law to a "state of civil emergency," which officially put the police in charge rather than the military. But in fact, Acehnese say, the military continued to be the most important authority.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell announced this week that the United States would relax restrictions on aid to Indonesia's military, which has a spotty human rights record, and provide spare parts for cargo planes that can be used to bring aid to Aceh. While American officials say they were assured that the planes would be used for relief purposes only, in the chaos that prevails in Aceh, it may be hard to tell.

Some are hopeful that the disaster could change the dynamic in Aceh, an area that is rich in natural gas but remains one of Indonesia's poorest regions.

"If well handled, the relief effort could improve the government image and ease Acehnese resentment toward Jakarta, paving the way for a more serious discussion of grievances, including justice for past abuses," Sidney Jones, an expert on Indonesia, wrote Friday in The Asian Wall Street Journal.

But earlier this week, General Suwarya, the regional commander, left no doubt that the military intended to keep a tight grip on the province when he announced that soldiers would kill anybody looting goods from the ruins left by the tsunami.

In a sign that the army's role would be pervasive - even in the long run of this aid effort - the officer in charge of relief, Maj. Gen. Bambang Darmono, said soldiers would guard the large refugee camps where the United Nations plans to set up more permanent shelter to replace the ragged tents that protect many survivors now.

This week the head of the army, Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu, ordered soldiers in Aceh to be on alert to secure all transport routes to prevent rebel activities. Aid officials said they hoped that the general's orders were not a prelude to military escorts for aid.

An official of Catholic Relief Services, Wayne Ulrich, said Friday that he was concerned that fighting between the rebels and the military could disrupt the relief effort.



Advertisement

"I hope it doesn't put fear into the humanitarian community to the point that we can't get our job done," he said. So far, he said, the Indonesians have been generous in allowing aid trucks to go where they wanted, but it was far from clear how long this would last.

Several relatives of the men killed near here gave similar accounts of what happened.

Ms. Mariana, Mr. Andriansyah's mother, said he had left their home at about 9 a.m. Thursday, explaining that he was going with friends to retrieve a motorcycle that had been buried in the muddy debris.

About 1 p.m., some villagers came to the house with news that soldiers were reporting her son had been shot, she said. They demanded that a relative go to identify and collect the body, she said.

She sent her son's uncle, Fadli, and he returned a little after sunset with the body. Her son had been shot in the crown of his head and below the right knee, she said.

"There was gunfire at Lampuuk between the army and GAM," General Suwarya explained, using the acronym for the Free Aceh Movement. "We got two weapons from them."

At a small all-male refugee camp not far from the house, one man, Zainun, told how he had been asked by the village leader to go to the site where the men were killed. His brother Basir had left the camp that morning saying he was going back to his village to salvage what he could from the ruins of their house.

Mr. Zainun lost his home, his wife and one child in the tsunami, and the loss of his brother in the shooting seemed too much.

He wept as he told of being asked by the village headman, Ali, to go and identify his brother's body. "They were face up in a field of rice," he said of the dead men. "They were naked except for their underpants."

Mr. Zainun and another man from the refugee camp whose cousin was also shot said they buried the men in a makeshift grave.

But the village leader of Lamlhom, Mr. Ali, had a different version of what the dead men from the village had been up to. He basically accused them of being couriers.

"They went to take some supplies, including cigarettes, to other rebels," he said. He was sure, he said, that Mr. Andriansyah was a member of the movement.

Parlami della cecenia, 80,000 morti.
Parlami dell'Afganistan dove i tuoi amici sinistroidi sovietici han fatto fuori oltre 100,000.
Cosa farebbe l'Italia se il sud tirol folesse secedere o addirittura la Sicilia?.
http://texts.cdlib.org/dynaxml/servlet/dynaXML?docId=ft7b69p12h&chunk.id=d0e5195

bello questo post

informazioni su una tragedia, su stragi e comportamenti inumani.

poi arriva l'idiota che chiede degli "amici comunisti"

comunisti de che?

sarebbero comunisti quelli che hanno massacrato la Cecenia?
e l'afghanistan l'hanno invaso i comunisti, o è sempre stato un paese invaso, prima dai britannici (comunisti?), poi dai sovietici (erano ancora comunisti?) poi dai talebani e pakistani (erano comunisti?) e infine dagli americani (comunisti?).

e tutte le volte decine di migliaia di morti.

e tutte le volte qualche ignorante occidentale come questo che invece di preoccuparsi dei morti chiede conto della moralità del giornalisti.

miserie

I comunisti hanno la reputazione.
Stalin.
Rivoluzione 1917
Polpot
Kmer rouge
Mao tsetung
Kim
Tito
Castro
e perche' no le brigate rosse
In afganistan c'e' stato genocidio.
La soppressione Ungherese
La primavera Ceca
ecc.
Polonia
Bulgaria
Romania
Ucraina
eccccccc

KPK to investigate Monsanto bribery case

National News - January 10, 2005

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

JAKARTA: The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said it was ready to investigate a bribery case involving U.S.-based Monsanto Co., one of the world's leading developers of genetically modified crops.

Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, the KPK deputy chairman, said on Saturday that the commission is scheduled to meet lawyers representing Monsanto soon.

"They have promised to cooperate," he said, referring to a meeting between KPK and Monsanto's lawyers last year.

According to Erry, his commission had sent official letters to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission as well as the Department of Justice, via the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia, but there had not yet been a response.

The commission will focus on the bribery case, which allegedly involved a significant number of senior officials with the Office of the State Minister for Environment and the agriculture ministry here, he added.

Monsanto, which was charged with violating the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, has agreed to pay a US$1 million penalty to settle charges of bribing Indonesian government officials.

According to the website of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the bribery case started in 1998 when Monsanto wanted Indonesia to accept genetically-modified (GM) crops.

It hired a Jakarta-based investment consulting firm to lobby for legislation and ministerial decrees favorable to the development of GM crops here.

"In February of 2001, Monsanto obtained limited approval from Indonesia's Ministry of Agriculture, for farmers in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, to grow its Bollgard Cotton, a GM crop," the website said.

But later in the year, the environment ministry issued a decree requiring environmental impact assessment prior to the cultivation of the Monsanto's Bollgard Cotton in this country.

As the decree was likely to have an adverse effect on Monsanto's business interests in Indonesia, Monsanto lobbied the environment ministry to withdraw the decree. People from Monsanto met with a senior environment ministry official on several occasions.

Sometime in February 2002, an employee of the consulting firm which represented Monsanto visited the senior official at his home and gave him an envelope containing $50,000 in $100 bills.

Despite the cash payment, the senior official never repealed the AMDAL requirement for Monsanto's products.

The website also disclosed that from 1997 to 2002, Monsanto made at least $700,000 in illicit payments to at least 140 current and former Indonesian government officials and their family members.

The largest single set of payments was for the purchase of land and the design and construction of a house in the name of a wife of a senior Ministry of Agriculture official, which cost Monsanto $373,990.

Other improper payments included, among others, payments to a senior official of Budget Allocations at the National Planning and Development Agency (Bappenas), totaling $86,690, and payments to other Ministry of Agriculture officials, totaling $8,100.

Officials of the South Sulawesi office of the agriculture ministry also received approximately $29,500 from Monsanto.

INDONESIA 19/1/2005 10:15
‘DOPO MAREMOTO’: PIOGGE TORRENZIALI OSTACOLANO GLI AIUTI
General General, Brief

Piogge incessanti e inondazioni stanno impedendo l’arrivo di convogli umanitari via terra verso la provincia di Aceh, disastrata dal maremoto del 26 dicembre scorso; lo riferiscono operatori dei soccorsi alle agenzie di stampa internazionali. Quaranta camion carichi di vettovaglie e medicinali partiti da Medan, capitale della confinante provincia di Sumatra settentrionale, non sono potuti avanzare in territorio acehnese per l’impraticabilità delle strade; un’altra carovana di aiuti da Medan resta bloccata per gli stessi motivi: lo ha detto alla ‘France Press’ il portavoce dell’Organizzazione internazionale per le migrazioni (Iom) Chris Lom. “Al momento le inondazioni sono un problema più grave della minaccia alla sicurezza” ha aggiunto Lom riferendosi al reiterato problema della presenza della guerriglia separatista del Gam (Movimento per Aceh libera) che in questa situazione caotica preoccupa in modo particolare l’esercito di Giakarta. Il rappresentante dello Iom ha precisato che le condizioni atmosferiche stanno seriamente ritardando gli aiuti via terra ma non si può dire che le strade siano del tutto interrotte, mancano però i mezzi sufficienti e un efficace coordinamento per a far arrivare gli aiuti con altri mezzi, come gli elicotteri ‘Hercules’. Secondo i dati diffusi da Lom, in tre settimane dopo la catastrofe, a Banda Aceh sono giunti via terra 2,300 tonnellate di aiuti e 600 tonnellate a Meulaboh, le due località più duramente colpite dal terremoto e dalla conseguente onda anomala. Dopo il cataclisma, da giorni si è abbattuta sulla regione una pioggia torrenziale che sta anche gonfiando i fiumi - tra cui il Krung Aceh che attraversa Banda Aceh – con rischio di straripamenti. Intanto dai vertici politici continuano ad arrivare segnali propositivi per il rilancio del processo di pace della regione. Il ministro degli Esteri Hassan Wirayuda ha detto alla stampa di sperare che già alla fine di questo mese ci si possa sedere intorno al tavolo negoziale con i rappresentanti del Gam, in guerra contro Giakarta dal 1976.
[BF]

Aceh, notizie sulla repressione dagli sms


by mazzetta Sunday, Jan. 16, 2005 at 5:26 PM mail:

Report degli "incidenti" che a prima vista paiono attribuili all'esercito indonesiano (eufemismo). Pubblicati su un sito di un partito indipendentista acehnese, sono sms che giungono direttamente dal paese. La repressione non si arresta.

http://www.asnlf.net/topint.htm

ACHEH FIELD REPORTS 09. Jan.2005

Received through sms messages from Peureulak TNA/GAM spokesman:

Jan 4 05 - 14h.00:
- Mrs Basiah binti Usman, 31, farmer of Patubong village, arrested at home and taken away by Indonesian soldiers in a civilian Kijang van.
- Nurus Salam is forbidden to work for 100 days because TNI troops found 900 grams of rice in his house more than the allowed ration. The man has 4 children.

Jan 6 05 - 08h.30:
Rahmadi, 20, farmer, and Ibrahim, 19, farm worker, both of Jambo Reuhat village, Bandar Alam, shot dead by TNI troops, KOSRAD 330, based at Blang Rambong, Bandar Alam.

Jan 7 05 - 11h.00:
- Armed contact with TNI troops at Paya Pasi, Julok, 4 kms from the Acheh-Medan trunk road.
- Abdul Latif ben Rani, 35, farm worker, Bumi Flora Plantation, M7 Settlement Block, shot dead by TNI on operation in the area.

Jan 8 05 - 07h.15:
- TNI troops ambushed a GAM platoon at Lueng Angen, 3 km from Banda Acheh-Medan. At 09.15, the same TNI troops were engaged at Lhok Tambo, Ranto Seulamat, about 6 km from the same road.

Received through sms messages from Pidie TNA/GAM spokesman:

- Pidie Region tsunami victims: Our data gathering team registered 2900 dead, 641 missing, 6788 displaced, 600 Pidie people perished outside Pidie, 59 large refugee camps. We have no exact figures of the refugees in these camps as we have no access to them.

Received through sms messages from Peusangan, North Acheh TNA/GAM spokesman:

Jan 4 05 - 14h.30
- Darwin bin Yunus, 24, TNA soldier from Paloh Peradi village was shot dead by TNI troops at Alue Krup, Peusangan at 14h.30. Enemy forces are now occupying hills overlooking Matang Geulumpang Dua, Cot Gapu and Krueng Mané in Bireuen District.

Received through sms messages from Acheh Rayeuk TNA/GAM spokesman:

Jan 2 05 -
- 06h.00 : Mrs. Wanti binti Burhan, 20 wife of Mukhlis, Montasik area commander of GAM was kidnapped by TNI in plain cloth riding a civilian Kijang van in Indrapuri.

Jan 6 05
- More than 50 Brimob (paramilitary police) conducted an operation and shooting wildly in all direction at Gurah, Lambaet, Lamteungoh, Lampageue villages in the district of P

Aceh: uccisi 120 ribelli Print E-mail di redazione 20 Jan 2005 Terremoti: Indonesia, 120 ribelli uccisi in provincia Aceh

Aceh: uccisi 120 ribelli Print E-mail
di redazione
20 Jan 2005
Terremoti: Indonesia, 120 ribelli uccisi in provincia Aceh

GIAKARTA - 20 Gennaio 2005 -- L'esercito indonesiano ha ucciso 120 guerriglieri nelle due ultime settimane nella provincia separatista di Aceh, devastata dal maremoto del 26 dicembre.

Lo ha reso noto l'agenzia ufficiale Antara.

I ribelli e l'esercito indonesiano avevano proclamato una tregua per agevolare i soccorsi alle vittime dello tsunami, che ha causato circa 166.000 morti nel nord di Sumatra. Ma ufficiali dell'esercito avevano detto che i militari avevano proseguito gli attacchi contro i guerriglieri.
(tio)


http://www.reporterassociati.org

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/GA21Ae01.html



COMMENTARY
US ties and challenges to peace in Aceh
By Abigail Abrash Walton and Bama Athreya

Aceh, so long isolated from international view by the Indonesian government and military, is now - tragically - at the center of world attention. Members of the US Congress and their staff, United Nations officials, journalists, and humanitarian aid workers have arrived on the scene after years of blocked access. These shifts offer the administration of US President George W Bush and other actors an unprecedented opportunity for peace-building and enhancement of human security and stability in a region dominated by violent conflict for decades.

This report analyzes three key factors in responding effectively to the challenges of emergency aid and reconstruction efforts as well as long-term sustainable development and conflict resolution: 1) the role of the Indonesian military (TNI) in aid delivery and in ending the ongoing conflict; 2) the differences between Aceh's indigenous insurgents (Free Aceh Movement or GAM) and newly arriving extremist Islamic militias; and 3) the role of ExxonMobil in the province.

Shortsighted US opportunism in the face of disaster?
In the aftermath of the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated much of Aceh, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is pushing yet again the Bush administration's frustrated desire to strengthen ties with the Indonesian military over the well-grounded objections of the US Congress, as cemented in US law. In his trademark Orwellian rhetoric, the secretary argues that such a move is essential to winning the "global war on terror". This myopic logic ignores the numerous reports documenting the Indonesian military as a de facto terrorist entity with a long track record of undermining human security in Aceh and other parts of Indonesia as well as near-daily news reports about the TNI's control-happy undermining of emergency relief efforts.

Indeed, the US State Department's 2003 Indonesia country report notes, "Security-force members murdered, tortured, raped, beat, and arbitrarily detained civilians ... Human-rights abuses were most apparent in Aceh ... however, no security-force members have been prosecuted for unlawful killings in Aceh ... Retired and active-duty military officers who were known to have committed serious human-rights violations occupy or have been promoted to senior positions in both the government and the TNI."

The TNI is also a massively corrupt institution, relying on its private business interests for an estimated two-thirds of its annual budget. The TNI's businesses include illegal logging, drug production and trafficking, and prostitution, as well as "security" payments, viewed by many as extortion, from Indonesian and US businesses. ExxonMobil reportedly pays the military about US$6 million per year for "security" at its Aceh natural-gas operations; Louisiana-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc paid the Indonesian military and police at its West Papua mines $10.7 million during a recent two-year period. These relationships with the TNI have cost US multinationals and their shareholders both in terms of reputation and financial liabilities resulting from associated TNI human-rights abuses.

New legislation requires the TNI to abandon its economic activities within the next five years - a crucial yet challenging undertaking that will require consistent backing by the international community to Indonesia's civilian reformers, not the business-as-usual stance proffered by normalization of military relations.

When will policymakers grasp the common-sense wisdom "With friends like these, who needs enemies?" Attempting to build working relationships with human-rights abusers with agendas and interests of their own is a long-failed policy that costs lives rather than saves them. US support and assistance - financial and political - are best channeled to civilian-led emergency aid, good governance, and development programs.

The political landscape and the threat to aid delivery
Because of its territorial command structure, which gives it bases of operation from the village level up, the TNI would in theory be the best-placed Indonesian institution to provide disaster relief. However, the TNI cannot play an effective leadership role in disaster relief and reconstruction for numerous reasons. Its brutal reputation, gained during years of unfettered human-rights atrocities against Aceh's civilians, has hindered the TNI's effectiveness by casting grave and well-founded suspicion on the military playing any sort of unsupervised or managerial aid role.

By severely restricting the movements of aid workers and unilaterally setting an arbitrary March 26 deadline for the departure of US and other foreign troops assisting with disaster relief, the TNI has further lost credibility as an institution capable of meeting the needs and challenges confronting disaster survivors. Instead, the TNI's overriding mission of destroying the estimated few thousand GAM fighters in the region - and the TNI's interest in sustaining the conflict so as to continue to profit from the region's war economy - constitute a conflict of interest that irreparably undermines aid work.

In recent days, the international press has reported that foreign aid workers to Indonesia will be restricted to two areas: Banda Aceh and Meulaboh. The Indonesian military has claimed that it cannot guarantee the safety of foreigners in any other part of the province, alleging GAM might at any time attack foreigners in other parts of the province. The alleged GAM threat is a red herring, meant to prevent foreign aid workers, journalists, and other observers from witnessing the TNI's ongoing military offensive in Aceh's inner regions even since the disaster of December 26 or from hearing the stories of survivors of pre-disaster human-rights abuses.

GAM has issued statements declaring a unilateral ceasefire (though fighters in the field say they will return fire if the TNI strikes first) and also declaring its intent not to fire on civilian aid workers of any nationality. Adding to the credibility of these statements is the simple fact that GAM members believe that a foreign presence throughout Aceh ultimately benefits their cause. While GAM has indeed engaged in violence against Indonesian forces and, on occasion, civilians in the past, the group has no record of aggression against foreigners.

It is important for international audiences to understand that anti-foreign, violent Islamic elements do exist in Indonesia, but these forces are not GAM. There are a number of other extremist Islamic groups that operate in Indonesia, although historically these groups have had no presence in Aceh. However, within the past several weeks, the Indonesian government and military have facilitated the movement of these extremist groups into Aceh. It is crucial for the international donor community to recognize the past role of the Indonesian military in aiding and abetting such groups, and the present interest the military may have in maintaining such groups' presence in Aceh as a proxy base for its military operations against GAM.

In fact, the TNI has a documented record of using proxy militia groups to engage in violence in East Timor and elsewhere. A 2002 study for the US Naval Postgraduate School notes that the Indonesian army has become "a major facilitator of terrorism" due to "radical Muslim militias they ... organized, trained, and financed". The study adds that the military gave one terrorist group an estimated $9.3 million "embezzled from its defense budget". According to a Congressional Research Service report first released in 2002 and updated in 2004, "Radical groups such as Laskar Jihad and the Islamic Defenders Front ... received assistance from elements within the Indonesian military in organizing [and] securing arms and transport to locales throughout the Indonesian archipelago."

The Islamic Defenders Front - known for its violent attacks on Jakarta nightclubs - as well as Laskar Mujahidin, the security wing of the Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia (MMI), have established a presence in Aceh reportedly to support Islamic law and tradition in the region during aid relief efforts there. MMI once was headed by Jemaah Islamiah (JI) leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who is currently on trial for his alleged role in the 2002 bombing of a Bali nightclub in which 202 people were killed and a 2003 blast that killed 12 people at the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta. JI reportedly also is responsible for a 2004 bombing at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta.

In maintaining a coherent position in promoting peace in the region, governments and other institutions providing disaster aid should not shy away from protesting the entrance into Aceh of outfits with a documented history of violence.

Corporate good citizenship: ExxonMobil in Aceh
Multinational corporations based in Indonesia, including ExxonMobil, Newmont and Unocal, have given generously to assist relief efforts in the region. However, in view of the unparalleled and, in many ways, destabilizing role that ExxonMobil has played in Aceh over the years, it is incumbent on the corporation to do more.

ExxonMobil currently faces a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, filed by the Washington, DC-based International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF) on behalf of Acehnese villagers who were tortured and murdered by the TNI on ExxonMobil's premises. Concerned about its investments, the city of New York has filed a shareholder resolution with the US Securities and Exchange Commission calling on ExxonMobil management to report on the details of the company's financial relationship with the TNI.

What did ExxonMobil do? The Arun gas field in North Sumatra is one of the world's largest sources of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and Exxon Mobil Corp (originally Mobil Oil Corp) has had a contract with the government of Indonesia since 1969 to process LNG from this site.

There have been credible reports that ExxonMobil Corp, along with its predecessor companies, hired TNI military units to provide "security" for the company's Arun project. The result has been TNI-perpetrated torture, murder, rape, and other acts of terror against the local population. In some cases, the TNI used ExxonMobil equipment or facilities to conduct the torture and to dispose of those killed. For example, one of the plaintiffs in the ILRF case was "disappeared" for a period of three months, during which time he was repeatedly beaten and tortured with electric shocks. He was then taken to an open pit where he was shown a large pile of human heads. He was told that he would be killed and his head would be added to the pile. He was eventually released, but soldiers burned down his home thereafter. Another plaintiff, who was several months pregnant, was raped and beaten by a soldier who forced his way into her home. These examples are typical of the stories of dozens of innocent civilians living around the ExxonMobil area of operations.

The ExxonMobil facilities were not significantly damaged by the tsunami, thanks to concrete barriers that had been erected long ago to protect the site. The company's gas-extraction operations are ongoing, and ExxonMobil personnel reportedly are continuing to work in the area without problems. However, despite the announcement of a $5 million donation to relief efforts, the company has been silent regarding its own role in facilitating relief operations in the Lhoksumawe area. The Indonesian military has denied access to Lhoksumawe to foreign relief workers, supposedly on the grounds that the TNI cannot protect foreigners' safety in that area, but no such restrictions have been placed on ExxonMobil employees. ExxonMobil owns its own airstrip at the site, but it is unclear whether the company has offered to make it available to facilitate aid delivery by humanitarian workers or whether ExxonMobil intends to provide meaningful assistance to reconstruction efforts.

The company owes far more to the people of Aceh than a mere $5 million donation. ExxonMobil reportedly has extracted some $40 billion from its Arun gas operations during the past decade alone, including earnings of an estimated $2 billion annually in recent years. ExxonMobil's role as a major player not only in Aceh, but also in terms of Indonesia's national economy and the other US-based multinationals operating there, makes the company a stakeholder with unmatched clout. (ExxonMobil executive Robert Haines serves as chairperson of the US-ASEAN Business Council's Indonesia subgroup and led a high-level delegation to Jakarta early last month to meet with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other top-ranking government officials.) The company should use its resources and influence to advocate that foreign aid workers be given access to the area, facilitate their transport and delivery of aid and, on a broader scale, encourage the Indonesian government to move toward a ceasefire and resumption of peace talks with GAM as an absolutely vital condition to aid delivery and long-term security throughout the province.

Conclusion and recommendations
To ensure that the response to the tsunami contributes to both short-term relief and long-term peace and security for the people of Aceh, the Bush administration must support Indonesian efforts at strengthening the country's civilian democratic governance and military reform. Above all else, this means ensuring that in the immediate and near term, the TNI plays a limited, non-managerial role in relief efforts. For example, Indonesian military personnel could usefully employ the TNI's logistical infrastructure to provide transport of aid under the direction of local civilian government and Indonesian and international humanitarian organizations.

The Bush administration should support efforts by the UN as well as international and local humanitarian organizations to provide long-term reconstruction assistance in Aceh. For recovery and reconstruction to be effective, fighting in the region must end. The task of building peace in Aceh is complex but, at a minimum, the US and other members of the international community must prioritize a ceasefire between the TNI and GAM, insist on demilitarization of the province, and once again vigorously support peace talks. Indeed, Germany has explicitly linked its massive aid pledge to President Yudhoyono's stated commitment to pursue a peaceful solution to the conflict in Aceh.

As the largest debtor among the countries hit by the tsunami, Indonesia puts roughly 25% of its annual revenues toward debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and wealthy countries such as the United States and Japan. The Bush administration should support an immediate, interest-free debt moratorium and the convening of an International Debt Conference. A moratorium will enable the Indonesian government to undertake emergency aid and reconstruction planning; a conference is needed to develop an effective and comprehensive approach to Indonesia's massive $132 billion external debt burden, much of it accrued during the corrupt, 32-year regime of ousted military dictator Suharto. Coordinated by an independent institution such as the UN Development Program, and based on independent research, the conference would assess the sustainability of current debt repayments with respect to immediate disaster relief as well as the country's overall poverty reduction and development goals. These measures should enable the Indonesian government to meet the new challenges of effective emergency aid and reconstruction without having to enter into more debt slavery or by escalating exploitation of Indonesia's unique and sensitive natural environment.

To combat terrorism effectively, the US arguably needs the friendship of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation. Aceh's natural disaster offers an unprecedented opportunity for enhanced long-term human security. The way to achieve these goals is not by building ties with the very elements that engage in destructive violence there. It is by demonstrating that the United States is ready to contribute materially to peace-building, sustainable development and democratic reform.

Abigail Abrash Walton is on the faculty at Antioch New England Graduate School and has monitored conditions in Indonesia since 1993. Bama Athreya is deputy director of the International Labor Rights Fund. Both are regular contributors to Foreign Policy In Focus.

In Tsunami Area, Relief Is Very Slow in Coming
By SETH MYDANS
International Herald Tribune

Published: April 6, 2005



Steve Crisp/Reuters
Three months after a tsunami devastated the Aceh Province, almost nothing seems to have been done to begin repairs and rebuilding.

Seth Mydans/International Herald Tribune
Tasya, 5, plays with her shadow in the ruins of her home. The graffiti behind her is aimed at looters and says, "Don't seek wealth out of suffering."


BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, April 3 - Three months after a tsunami devastated this city, vast areas remain a flatland of rubble, mud and stagnant water where only palm trees and the stumps of broken buildings break the low horizon.

Tens of thousands of bodies from among more than 126,000 reported dead in Aceh Province have been cleared away and nearly half a million homeless people have found other places to live.

But among the ruins here, and for many miles along the coastline of barren fishing villages, almost nothing seems to have been done to begin repairs and rebuilding.

There is little sign in Aceh of the billions of dollars in donations from governments, aid organizations, civic groups and individual people who reached out to help from around the world.

"The only thing we've gotten is small packets of food and supplies," said Samsur Bahri, 54, a shopkeeper who lost his home and now lives with nine people in a small room. "Where the money is, we don't know. It's just meetings, meetings, meetings."

The government and the United Nations defend the pace of the reconstruction, saying the scope and complexity of the challenge requires a careful and well-planned response.

"Governments need to take time, and this in-between period is a difficult time," said Margareta Wahlstrom, the deputy emergency relief coordinator at the United Nations. "It's a time of managing expectation, when progress is not so visible as the expectation is."

Aid officials say the international relief effort is a test case, an unprecedented response to one of the greatest natural disasters in history.

"There is so much at stake," said Lilianne Fan, the advocacy coordinator for Oxfam Aceh. "The international community has invested so much, not just governments but on an individual level. People need to know what is happening and where their money is going."

Indonesia's state auditing agency said it was having difficulty accounting for portions of more than $4 billion it says has been received so far in donations, mostly from abroad, as it was being put in the hand of various government agencies.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who has been at the center of the response effort, said any shortcomings in the handling of aid money came from the pressures of what he called an emergency situation that had strained government resources.

Rufiradi, who heads a local lawyers' group called the Legal Aid Foundation, said: "We have seen no reports from the government. We only read in the media that there are large amounts of money coming in. But it is not clear how much exactly that is, or how it is being used or where it is going. Did it come to Aceh at all?"

There are no bulldozers or heavy equipment to be seen here; no one is clearing away rubble or repairing roads or bridges; wells are not being decontaminated; power lines are not being put up; there are no sounds of hammers or saws.

The only people who seem to be hard at work are the looters, who have chewed their way through the ruins like carpenter ants and are now ripping at the guts of buildings for scrap metal to sell.

"In our area there are 15 families that want to go back home," said Isna Nusulul, 21, a university student. "We can fix our houses but we cannot clean the wells and we cannot live without sanitation. I do expect that from the government."

As the months have passed, the government has been taking a long run-up before it jumps into action. On March 26, well past the original deadline, it issued a draft of what it calls its blueprint for rehabilitation and reconstruction, subject to discussion, local input and revision.

"It's still an overview," said Imogen Wall, the spokeswoman for the United Nations Development Program in Aceh. "The details of course will take several months to work out." Until the blueprint is ready, international aid groups are also constrained in committing money.

The draft itself is a daunting thing; it comes in 12 volumes. Even lawyers and aid officials say it is a challenge to read. For the people here who simply want to start rebuilding their homes, it is baffling.


"They say they have a blueprint," said Andi Ryanidi, 23, a street vendor, as he stood in the drizzle near the ruins of his home. "What's a blueprint? Blueprint - we don't even know what that means. And meanwhile, nothing happens."

The devastation in Aceh was so total, said Ms. Wahlstrom, the United Nations official, who recently spent six weeks in the region, that advances were sometimes hard to appreciate.

"I met some people in Banda Aceh who had started in that terrible barrenness to rebuild their house," she recalled. "It was a sad little house, and then we talked to them and they told us that out of their community of 1,300 people, only 11 had survived."

Indeed the government faces a huge and complex task. It cannot simply throw up a few new dwellings; it must rebuild entire neighborhoods and towns, entire economic and social environments.

"It is very difficult to rebuild, especially permanent structures, if you don't have a clear idea who the land belongs to and how many people are going to be living there," Ms. Wall said.

To begin with, a clear tally of the dead and living must be made, and with more than 100,000 people still listed as missing, the final death toll in Aceh alone is likely to be well above 200,000.

The complications of rebuilding come in many forms.

For one thing, this disaster may not yet be over. Seismologists predict more earthquakes, perhaps even stronger than the aftershock that devastated several small islands last week. Aid groups are already stockpiling more relief materials. "This is going to happen again," Ms. Wall said.

For another, there is a war going on: For more than a decade, Aceh has been the scene of a Muslim separatist rebellion and brutal military repression. There are reports that violence from both sides has continued since the tsunami.

The greatest problem is a circular one. To a large extent, the tsunami swept away the basic elements of recovery, destroying personal and government records and taking the lives of many of the city's officials and skilled people. Thousands of civil servants, teachers, medical workers, engineers and technicians were killed.

With recovery plans being formulated in the capital, Jakarta, civic groups here fear that local needs and conditions are not being heard.

As recovery inches forward, these groups say, it will encounter conflicts over inheritance and land ownership, bureaucratic inefficiency, competition among aid groups and among government departments and, with so much money flooding in, the possibility of vast corruption.

Several aid officials said they were concerned that the blueprint for reconstruction was being drawn up in the context of the martial law restrictions already in place in Aceh.

Among other things, martial law could provide a reason for expelling most foreign aid groups from Aceh, said Mr. Rufiradi, the lawyer, meaning there would be few outsiders to monitor the use of recovery funds. Torn by unending war and repression, battered by a natural disaster that may not yet be over, paralyzed by a reconstruction effort that just cannot seem to get started, Aceh today is not a place of hope.


Warren Hoge contributed reporting from the United Nations for this article.

The Bush Beat

« November 2004 | Main | January 2005 »
December 30, 2004
Morning Report 12/30/04
Bush Misoverestimates It
But at least the tsunami halted the murder, rape, and torture in resource-rich Aceh

300-bush-lifts-logs-crawfor.jpg
Pitching in: A scolded Bush finally tried to do some heavy lifting in the tsunami disaster, just as he did on his Crawford ranch in 2002 (above), when he stopped picking up sticks and started hauling away logs (White House photo)

The unluckiest people in the path of history's deadliest tsunami were those on Sumatra, in Indonesia's Aceh province—and the luckiest were the executives of ExxonMobil.

The stupidest single person in the wake of the wake was George W. Bush, who missed a once-in-a-planet's-lifetime chance to win over the hearts of a billion Muslims. Why didn't he jump into action right away? All he had to do was say some words. But he kept on picking up sticks at his ranch, instead of doing his real job. There's never been a more lazy-ass president.

The storm didn't force the world's largest oil company to lift a finger, either. Australia's ABC News reported this morning that the death toll in Aceh alone could top 80,000. But the tsunami left untouched the very northern tip of Aceh, site of ExxonMobil's Arun natural-gas field. The industry news service Schlumberger put things in the right perspective in its Monday story "ExxonMobil: Indonesia Quake Caused 'Minor' Ops Disruption":

Despite the horrific toll in human suffering, analysts and government officials are breathing a sigh of relief that Indonesia has been spared the economic impact of serious earthquake-related damage to the liquid natural gas facilities in the quake-stricken province.

Indonesia, the only Asian member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is the world's largest LNG exporter and relies heavily on petroleum revenues to support its sputtering economy, which has seen growth falling behind that of its regional neighbors in recent years.

The oil bidness in Aceh is where the murder, rape, and torture come in. In way, the people of Aceh who did survive are lucky: The killings have stopped, many of the killers probably swept away as if Travis Bickle's daydream had come true.

Even before the tsunami, Aceh was hell on earth. This is how the International Labor Rights Fund explains it:

In the past decade alone, ExxonMobil has extracted some $40 billion from its operations in Aceh, Indonesia, leaving in its wake a legacy of death, destruction, and environmental damage.

There have been credible reports dating back several years that Exxon Mobil Corporation, along with its predecessor companies, Mobil Oil Corporation and Mobil Oil Indonesia, hired military units of the Indonesian national army to provide "security" for their gas extraction and liquification project in Aceh, Indonesia. Members of these military units regularly have perpetrated ongoing and severe human rights abuses against local villagers, including murder, rape, torture, destruction of property, and other acts of terror. ExxonMobil apparently has taken no action to stop this violence, and instead, reportedly has continued to finance the military and to provide company equipment and facilities that have been used by the Indonesian military to perpetrate and literally cover up (in the form of mass graves) these criminal acts.

The ILRF has sued ExxonMobil over the tortures and murders, but the company vigorously denies involvement. What's darkly hilarious about this is that the U.S. State Department has encouraged D.C. federal judge Louis Oberdorfer to throw out the case, warning in 2002 that the lawsuit "would impact adversely on the interests of the United States," meaning our financial interests, as well as compromise our "war on terrorism." See, the lawsuit gets in the way with our close relationship with Indonesia's military—whose butts our own Paul Wolfowitz has long kissed. And of course, the suit is directed at ExxonMobil, a huge contributor to Bush.

The problem is this: As many people have pointed out, the State Department itself has catalogued and condemned the murders, tortures, and rapes in Aceh. The State Department's lengthy 2003 human-rights report on Indonesia focuses mainly on Aceh. Here are some excerpts:

• Human rights abuses were most apparent in Aceh province, the scene of a long-running separatist revolt.

• Physical torture cases included random beatings and acts involving the hair, nails, teeth, and genitals. Heat, suffocation, electricity, and suspension were also used. Psychological torture cases reportedly included food and sleep deprivation, sexual humiliation, being forced to witness torture, and being forced to participate in torture.

• The [Government's] security forces committed numerous extrajudicial killings that were not politically motivated. The government largely failed to hold soldiers and police accountable for such killings and other serious human rights abuses, particularly in Aceh.

• The Government made no progress in establishing accountability in a number of extrajudicial killings in Aceh in 2002, including the June killings of two farmers on Kayee Ciret Mountain and the August killings of three women in the north Aceh village of Kandang. . . . The Government reported no progress in prosecuting those responsible for acts of torture committed in Aceh in 2002, including the beating and burning of civilian Rizki Muhammad.

• During the year, hundreds of disappearances occurred, most frequently in Aceh province, and large numbers of persons who disappeared over the past 20 years, mainly in conflict areas, remained unaccounted for at year's end.

• According to [human-rights group] Kontras, at least 17 verified cases of torture or beatings involving women or children were recorded in Aceh during the [Government's] military operation, which began on May 19 and continued through year's end. According to a November press report, a TNI [Indonesian Army] military commander in Aceh, Brigadier General Bambang Darmono, declared that beating suspected rebels was acceptable: "For example, my soldier slugs a suspect across the face. That's no problem, as long as he is able to function after the questioning. [But] if it's gross torture, which causes someone to be incapacitated . . . that's a no-no."

It goes on like this for page after bloody page—from our own State Department, no less.

Of course, the New York-based Human Rights Watch has been trying to wake up the world to Aceh's nightmare, doing real digging by interviewing victims and so on. HRW notes in its September 2004 report:

These are systemic failures, not just the acts of rogue soldiers and police or untrained, poorly resourced judges and prosecutors. The stories of torture are chilling and sadly similar to accounts of abuses committed by Indonesian security forces in Aceh in the past and in other parts of the country.

But here's what it gets really sticky for the U.S., thanks to the Bush regime. When the Abu Ghraib scandal blew up last April, so did officials of the countries we've long scolded for human-rights abuses. Indonesia condemned the Abu Ghraib abuses—and brutally. HRW tells it like this:

Major Farid Ma'ruf, a spokesman for Kopassus, the Indonesian military’s notorious special forces unit, said, "It is ironic that torture and sexual abuse were committed by the military of a country that always claims to be the world's human rights guardian. The treatment of Iraqi prisoners was clearly inhumane because the military should have strict standards on how to properly interrogate detainees."

He should know. HRW interviewed numerous people who say they were tortured at the hands of Kopassus forces. But after Abu Ghraib, our moral authority is shot. (As if we had the right to claim it in the first place.) Last May, when the State Department released its human-rights report, Indonesian officials went ballistic. HRW tells it this way:

In response to the . . . report on human rights, which highlighted a variety of abuses in Indonesia, Marty Natalegawa, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, shot back: "The U.S. government does not have the moral authority to assess or act as a judge of other countries, including Indonesia, on human rights, especially after the abuse scandal at Iraq's Abu Ghraib Prison."

Yes, that's what the Bush regime has wrought. So yesterday, when Dubya finally put on a fittingly somber suit to pose as a businesslike world figure, what did he do to repair our image? He treated the English language the way Chuck Graner treated prisoners.

bush-on-phone-after-tsunami.jpg
Bush, taking a break from Operation Pick Up Sticks and Ride My Little Bicycle, on the phone from Crawford to Sri Lanka yesterday, in the kind of photo op he should have posed for early Monday morning. He appears to be digging into his pocket for some spare change. (White House photo)

Bush often transforms from prop to malaprop, but he really slashed syntaxes yesterday when, defensive as usual, he inarticulated the U.S.'s position on disaster aid:

"No, we're a very generous, kindhearted nation.

You know, the—what you're beginning to see is a typical response from America. First of all, we provide immediate cash relief, to the tune of about $35 billion."

Well, it was a typical response from Bush, anyway. We spend $35 billion every five months on the Iraq Debacle. Put another way, $35 billion equals two years of Wall Street bonuses.

He meant to say $35 million. Put another way, $35 million equals what two Wall Street execs got in bonuses last year.

Whoever types up the official White House transcripts probably has a macro for "[sic]"

The smirking Bush crowed about the U.S.'s generosity, blasting his critics as "very misguided and ill-informed." He's misinformed, as my colleague Jarrett Murphy pointed out Monday: Per capita, the U.S. is not the most generous.

At least the tsunami halted the murder, rape, and torture in Aceh. Latest reports say at least 500 Indonesian military officers on Aceh are reported missing. Guess it's their turn.

Posted by wharkavy at 03:31 PM
December 29, 2004
Morning Report 12/29/04
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
Showing solidarity with suffering Asians, a swamped Bush cleans up debris

bush-clearing-brush.jpg
Sweaty Samaritan: Bush knows what those Asians are going through. As a king of the hill country (above, in August 2002), he's cleared a lot of brush from his ranch, and that's a tough job, I tell you what. (White House photo)

Even a disaster of Biblical proportions failed to rouse the bored-again George W. Bush from his Christmas vacation in Crawford, Texas.

The monumental Indian Ocean tsunami was the closest thing to the Genesis flood that we'll probably ever see. Any other U.S. president, including Daddy Bush, would have immediately gone public with comforting words and a bucketful of money. This earth-shaking event, the most deadly tsunami in the planet's recorded history, has left hundreds of millions of Asians—those who weren't swept away—with mountains of debris to clean up and victims to mourn.

Our president spent yesterday clearing brush at his ranch, while making sure the U.S. was pitching in to help the unprecedented disaster's victims.

So yesterday, we pledged $15 million. My colleague Jarrett Murphy immediately put that rather small largesse into perspective. Here's some more context: Lloyd S. Blankfein, president and chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs, received a nearly $20 million bonus in 2003, the New York Times breathlessly reported in a totally unrelated story that I made fun of because it was totally unrelated to the real world.

But now I finally understand how our compassionate conservatism is only conservatively compassionate. The Bush regime's Scrooge-like behavior prompted an outcry, and the U.S. chipped in $20 million more. And the Washington Post reported this morning that, even though there were "complaints that the vacationing President Bush has been insensitive to a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions," the president wasn't ignoring the issue of debris:

Earlier yesterday [December 28], White House spokesman Trent Duffy said the president was confident he could monitor events effectively without returning to Washington or making public statements in Crawford, where he spent part of the day clearing brush and bicycling.

Now that's what I call homeland security—protecting your own territory from menacing tree limbs and branches. But the good news he brought to Asians was that the U.S. more than doubled its initial contribution of $15 million.

Here's another frame of reference: In 2003, E. Stanley O'Neal, the CEO of Merrill Lynch, (and a record-setting fundraiser for Bush's campaign), got a bonus of $13.5 million plus stock worth $11.2 million, as the Times calculated it.

If you're keeping track, this is the running total:

• U.S. aid after tsunami: $35 million

• Bonuses paid in 2003 to corporate execs Blankfein and O'Neal: $44.7 million

Maybe Bush just blanks out when he's down in Crawford. Rick Perlstein captured the president's "divine calm" in a Voice story last May that began this memorable way:

For George W. Bush, August 6, 2001, had to have been a pretty harrowing day, reading as he did in his Daily Brief that operatives of Osama bin Laden were "in the U.S. planning attacks with explosives," and surveilling federal buildings in New York, and mulling over plans to attack Washington, D.C. But a reporter who saw him cavorting on his Crawford ranch not long after said, "The president was probably at the most relaxed I've ever seen him."

Adding insult to injury, Bush later refused to make public that warning he had received more than a month before 9-11 and hadn't taken seriously.

When Bush is in Crawford, nothing seems serious.

Posted by wharkavy at 11:56 AM

Jul 13, 2005






Setback to US's Indonesian ties
By Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON - A recent appeals court decision in Indonesia to acquit 12 soldiers convicted last year of a 1984 massacre in Jakarta could complicate efforts by the administration of US President George W Bush to normalize military ties with the country.

The acquittal, which was reported by the BBC but has yet to be officially confirmed, follows a series of court decisions that have freed military officers from responsibility for major abuses of human rights, particularly the 1999 rampage by military-backed militias in East Timor.

It also follows approval by the US House of Representatives of an administration request to lift all restrictions on military aid for Indonesia in next year's pending foreign aid bill.

The Senate, however, is expected to approve its own version later this summer, according to one aide, who warned that the reported acquittal would make it more likely that the upper chamber would maintain existing curbs.

"This kind of action suggests that it would be premature to drop existing restrictions," said the aide, noting that a recent finding by a commission appointed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that agents of the military-run State Intelligence Agency were behind the murder-by-poison of a prominent human-rights activist would also bolster lawmakers who opposed rapid normalization of military ties.

Human Rights Watch also strongly denounced the reported court acquittals in the case of the so-called Tanjung Priok massacre, which took place in September 1984 when security forces fired on Muslim protestors during anti-government demonstrations in north Jakarta, killing 33 people. The demonstration was held to denounce the arrests of several key Muslim leaders.

"Whether it is a massacre from the Suharto era or killings in East Timor, these verdicts show that the Indonesian military continues to get away with murder," said Human Rights Watch.

The Tanjung Priok case was one of two tried in 2001 under then-president Abdurrahman Wahid, based on a law passed by the Indonesian parliament the year before that established special human-rights courts.

The other was aimed at investigating and prosecuting those responsible for the 1999 rampage in Timor in which hundreds of people were killed and most of the territory's infrastructure was destroyed. Sixteen military officers and two civilians were put on trial. Last year, an appeals court overturned the convictions of all of the military officers, including Major General Adam Damiri, the highest-ranking military officer to be convicted of crimes against humanity.

The only convictions that were sustained were of ethnic Timorese civilians, including a militia leader, whose sentence was reduced from 10 to five years in prison, and the former governor of the province, Abilio Jose Soares, who is currently serving a three-year term.

This appeals court decision elicited protests from the Bush administration which, however, has made little secret of its desire to normalize military ties that were initially restricted following the massacre of over 200 civilian demonstrators in Dili, East Timor, in 1991 and then virtually severed altogether after the 1999 rampage.

As the world's most populous Muslim nation, and one where Islamic extremists have made some inroads, the Pentagon, in particular, believes that Jakarta has a key role to play in its "war on terror".

Since 2001, the Pentagon and the administration have waged a relentless and largely successful effort to ease restrictions on US military ties with Jakarta and open up new channels of military aid, mostly through the provision of "anti-terrorism" assistance and military exercises.

Under administration pressure, Congress gradually dropped a series of conditions on the resumption of military assistance after 2001, including accountability for the East Timor rampage and subordination of the military to civilian authority.

By late last year, only one condition on renewing military aid and non-lethal military sales to Indonesia remained - that the secretary of state certify that both the armed forces were cooperating fully with a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation of the August 2002 killings of two US schoolteachers and an Indonesian colleague in an ambush in Papua province.

In late February, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice certified accordingly, despite the fact that the individual named by the FBI as a perpetrator of the killings had well-known links to the local armed forces commanders and was probably acting at their behest.

Indeed, the suspect, Anthonius Wamang, remains at large in Papua and has yet to be indicted, let alone arrested, fueling suspicions that he has received military protection. The certification paved the way for the renewal of Indonesia's eligibility for the International Military Education and Training program, a giant step towards the Indonesian military's full rehabilitation.

This was followed late last month by the House, acting at the behest of the Pentagon and its Republican leadership, agreeing to lift all restrictions on military aid for Indonesia, beginning at the start of fiscal year 2006 on October 1.

Now this could be in jeopardy.

(Inter Press Service)