Resolution on Acheh submitted to the US Congress
Calling on the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement to immediately declare a ceasefire and halt hostilities in the Indonesian province of Aceh, end all human rights violations, and return to negotiations with significant Acehnese civil society and international involvement, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Mr. CROWLEY submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Calling on the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement to immediately declare a ceasefire and halt hostilities in the Indonesian province of Aceh, end all human rights violations, and return to negotiations with significant Acehnese civil society and international involvement, and for other purposes.
Whereas the Government of Indonesia declared martial law in
the province of Aceh on May 19, 2003, following the breakdown of the Cessation
of Hostilities Agreement between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM);
Whereas the United States strongly supported the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement,
which manifested dramatic reductions in human rights abuses and provided a promising
framework for peaceful resolution of the conflict; Whereas the Government of
Indonesia's military campaign has displaced thousands of Acehnese civilians
and extensive violations of human rights have been reported, including extra-judicial
killing, torture, rape, sexual assault, arbitrary detention, forced displacement,
and destruction of property; Whereas the Indonesian Government, armed forces,
and police have cracked down on domestic human rights and humanitarian non governmental
organizations and agencies through extra-judicial killing, disappearance, physical
intimidation, detention, and destruction of property in Aceh and elsewhere;
Whereas lawyers of Acehnese detainees have reportedly been threatened and in
some cases assaulted, and many of the human rights and political activists detained
have been denied legal representation;
Whereas those responsible for approving, planning, and carrying out the extrajudicial
execution of Acehnese human rights lawyer Jafar Siddiq Hamzah & shy; a United
States permanent resident who testified before Congress, advocated human rights
and a peaceful political solution for Aceh, and was later abducted, tortured,
and murdered upon his return for a visit to Indonesiahave not been
prosecuted and brought to justice;
Whereas the armed forces and police of Indonesia have yet to publicly release
any surveillance files they may have maintained on Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, or materials
they may have pertaining to his abduction, torture, and execution;
Whereas Muhamad Nazar, one of Aceh's most prominent civilian leaders, was sentenced
to five years in prison in an apparent revival of Suharto-era legislation for
''sowing hatred and hostility'' against the Indonesian Government for peaceful
political activities;
Whereas the Indonesian Government has severely restricted access to Aceh by
international humanitarian and human rights agencies and nongovernmental organizations,
effectively precluding their operation in Aceh;
Whereas the Indonesian Government has curtailed the free flow of information
on conditions in Aceh by severely limiting access by international and domestic
journalists and intimidating local journalists, including the reported murders
of several local journalists;
Whereas the Free Aceh Movement has been accused of serious violations, including
the burning of schools, extortion, and taxation of many Acehnese residents;
Whereas President Bush and senior United States Government officials have stated
that the conflict in Aceh is not amenable to a military solution, and leading
religious figures, civil society leaders and
politicians in Indonesia have called for a ceasefire in Aceh;
Whereas the Indonesian Government and the armed forces of Indonesia are likely
to prolong the duration of martial law in Aceh, from the initial six months
to the completion of nationwide elections in mid-2004;
Whereas the Government of Indonesia has publicly pressured the Governmentof
Malaysia to forcibly return Acehnese seeking refuge in Malaysia;
Whereas the Government of Malaysia, in contradiction to internationalrefugee law and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) guidelines on detention, has forcibly returned Acehnese asylum seekers to Indonesia where they are at risk of serious human rights violations and has further detained several hundred asylum seekers with the indication that they too will be forcibly returned, although some of them have been issued protection documentation by the UNHCR or have indicated a desire to seek protection from the UNHCR; and
Whereas a previous decade-long (1989-1998) military campaign
in Aceh led to the death of more than 10,000 civilians and broad human rights
abuses, while failing to resolve the conflict in Aceh: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That
(1) Congress
(A) condemns past and ongoing violations of human rights by
allsides inthe Indonesian province of Aceh;
(B) calls on the Government and armed forces of Indonesia to allow immediate,
free, and unhindered access to Aceh by international humanitarian and human
rights organizations and by international
and domestic journalists;
(C) calls on the Government and armed forces of Indonesia and
the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to immediately declare a ceasefire and halt hostilities,
end all human rights violations, and return to negotiations with significant
Acehnese civil society and international involvement;
(D) calls on the armed forces and police of Indonesia to publicly release any
surveillance files they may have maintained on Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, and all
materials they may have pertaining to his abduction, torture, and execution;
(E) calls on the Government and armed forces of Indonesia to immediately end martial law in Aceh and withdraw all non-organic troops, intelligence forces, and special forces such as ''KOPASSUS'' and paramilitaryand special police such as ''BRIMOB'', GEGANA'', and ''SGI'' components; and
(F) calls on the Government of Malaysia to refrain from the
forcible return of Acehnese asylum seekers to Indonesia, allow these asylum
seekers full access to representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) to enable them to apply for asylum should they wish to
do so, respect protection documentation issued to refugees and asylum seekers
by the UNHCR, and release asylum seekers thus far detained; and
(2) it is the sense of Congress that the President and Secretary of State should
(A) expeditiously increase efforts, in conjunction with theGovernment of Japan,
the European Union, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
and others instrumental in securing the December 2002 ceasefire, to press both
sides to the conflict to suspend hostilities and return to negotiations;
(B) increase pressure on the Government, armed forces, and police of Indonesia,
and the Free Aceh Movement, to cease all human rights violations;
(C) press the Government of Indonesia to prosecute and bring to justicethose
responsible for approving, planning, and carrying out the extrajudicial execution
of Acehnese human rights lawyer and United States permanent resident Jafar Siddiq
Hamzah;
(D) press the armed forces and police of Indonesia to publicly release all surveillance
files they may have maintained on Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, and all materials they
may have pertaining to his abduction, torture, and execution;
(E) urge the Indonesian Government, armed forces, and police
to endrepression and intimidation of nongovernmental organizations and to allow
immediate, free, and unhindered access to Aceh by international humanitarian
and human rights organizations and independent monitors;
(F) press the Government of Malaysia to release Acehnese asylum seekers in detention,
allow them full access to representatives of the United NationsHigh Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) to apply for asylum should they wish to do so, immediately
refrain from forcibly returning Acehnese seeking asylum in Malaysia, and cooperate
fully with the UNHCR;
(G) increase efforts to assist in the rehabilitation and economic development
of Aceh;
(H) raise and protest human rights violations committed in Aceh at all appropriate
international fora and actively support involvement of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, through the dispensation of special rapporteurs,
to investigate human rights violations in Aceh;
(I) press the Government of Indonesia, working through the Indonesian National
Commission on Human Rights (''KOMNAS HAM''), to identify those individuals within
the Indonesian armed forces, police, and others who should be prosecuted for
human rights crimes committed in the
military campaign in Aceh and ensure that trials are conducted which meet international
standards of justice;
(J) review its bilateral relationship and military assistance to Indonesia in
light of serious human rights violations committed by the Indonesian armed forces
and police in Aceh; and
(K) urge the Indonesian Government and armed forces to refrain from using United
States-supplied weaponry in Aceh.