Please keep Aceh Peaceful

The signing of the Helsinski Peace Agreement on 15 August 2005 has ended many years of violence in Indonesia's eastern most Province of Aceh, and since then people in the province have been enjoying a peaceful life.

This peaceful situation was confirmed after Irawadi Yusuf, an independent candidate supported by former separatist GAM, won the Governor election on December 2006, and the Aceh Party (reincarnation of GAM) won the provincial parliamentary elections in 2009.

And then there was a verdict of the Constitutional Court on December 2010 which determined that independent candidates may be nominated as candidates in the 2011/2012 Governor and Regents elections. The Court's reason was to provide opportunity for not-political party backed candidates to be nominated, and the fact that more than 50 % of the Regents and Governor were independent candidates.

This verdict was protested by the Aceh Party who said that independent candidates can only be nominated in the 2006 election, after that all candidates should be nominated by political parties.
The general election commission plan to implement the Constitutional Court's verdict, therefore the Aceh Party said that it will boycott the elections.

In recent months, there has been lots of shootings that have killed 13 people and wounding 13 others. According to the Coordinating Minister of Politics, Laws and Security General Djoko Suyanto this violence is related to the Regional Election in Aceh.


Due to this violence, there is a possibility that the regional election in Aceh will be postponed.

Considering the above, I hope that the central government in Jakarta, the general election commission and all the parties in Aceh would seat down together and find the best solution acceptable by all the political parties, including the Aceh party.

Atika Shubert of CNN

Something's wrong with my home's cable TV this evening, it can only show CNN program.

Because of this I have to watch the wedding ceremony of Great Britain's Prince William and Catherine Middleton, which was really good. Their wedding dresses, wedding vows, and balcony double kisses.

CNN has a team of to report the event, the one that I noticed most was Atika Shubert. It was the first time that I saw her reporting again after she reported the Tsunami that devastated the Province of Aceh in late 2004.

The reason why I was interested in Atika because she has an Indonesian name.

According to CNN's website, Atika has been stationed at CNN's bureau in London since 2008. She is responsible for covering general news in the U.K and other regional assignments.

She joined CNN in 2000 and covered news from the Jakarta Bureau. She was one of the first CNN correspondents to report live from Aceh, Indonesia on the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004 that killed more than 200,000 in Aceh alone. Her reports from the devastated region helped earn CNN the prestigious Alfred I. Dupont-Columbia Award in 2005.

In 2004 Atika moved to CNN's Tokyo bureau and then Jerusalem, Israel, in 2006.

According to Wikipedia, prior to working for CNN, Atika was a correspondent for The Washington Post and The New Zealand Herald in Indonesia as she speaks both English and Indonesian fluently. She is a graduate of the Class of 1991 of Jakarta International School. She is an Economics graduate of Tufts University in Massachusetts,.U.S.A.

Aceh's Logging Moratorium Nominated for International Award

When the Flash Flood hit Pidie in the province of Aceh, on 28 February, the Governor of Aceh stated that the tragedy was caused by illegal logging i.e. cutting of forest trees, in said province.

This statement surprised me because the provincial government of Aceh has issued a Logging Moratorium i.e. stop the cutting of forest trees, since 2007.

But today I was happy when I read on The Jakarta Globe that the World Future Council  has nominated the Instruction of the Governor of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam No.5/INSTR/2007 re: Logging Moratorium as one of the nominees for the World's Best Forrest Policies.

Beside Aceh's Logging Moratorium, Forrest policies from Bhutan, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Finland, Gambia, Guatemala, Kenya, Nepal, Norway, India, Rwanda, Turkey, the United States of America and Vietnam had also been short-listed.

Three winning policies will be announced on 21 September at the United Nations headquarters in New York. 

Considering the above I felt that in spite of the obstructions in the implementation of the Logging Moratorium that caused illegal logging still exist, efforts to preserve forrest in Aceh are still considered successful.

I hope that this nomination will strengthen the will and spirit of the provincial government and law enforcement agencies in the province of Aceh to eliminate illegal logging and bring those responsible to the Court of Law.

Flash Flood in Aceh

The magnitude 8.9 earthquake and tsunami in Japan seemed to have " robbed " our attention from the natural disaster that has struck our own land.

According to The Jakarta Post, a Flash Flood has hit the District of Tangse, Pidie Regency, Aceh, last Thursday, killing 21 people, and estimated to cause a financial loss of up to Rp 1 Trillion (US$ 114 million).
Search and rescue efforts are still being carried out while waiting for additional support from the government.

According to local official, the biggest obstacle for the search was access to villages, particularly to Rantau Panjang village, because a bridge that serves as the main access point had been cut off due to heavy damage to its construction foundation.

The possible cause of the flash flood is heavy rain fall and massive deforestation in the area.
 
In this connection I would like to express my condolence and deepest sympathy to the families of the victims.
I hope that the central and local governments would do their very best to provide all the help needed by those affected by the flash flood.

I also hope that efforts would be made to prevent the cause of such flash flood, among others by preventing massive deforestation.

What's Wrong With Miss Indonesia?

Since she was selected as Miss Indonesia 2009, Qory Sandriova (19) has been the target of the news media.

There were several reasons for this, first because she originated from Aceh where females must wear Hijab (head scarf) whenever they appear in public.

When she was selected as Puteri (=Miss) Indonesia and  represent Indonesia in recent Miss Universe 2010 contest the media have been reporting about Qory's failure to speak fluent English during an interview at the contest.

Lately, the media have been reporting about the statement made by Qory's mother Fariawati that Qory has disappeared from home after returning from the Miss Universe contest on 23 August.

Fariawati also said that Qory has changed after she met a 65-years old man who she identified by his initial "R". She aleged that Qory has joined a Mystical Sect because she has been acting strangely.

In an interview with the media Qory denied her mother's allegation, saying that she is now living by herself in an apartment because she wants to live independent in connection with her very tight schedule.

Considering that Qory is still nineteen years old, unmarried, has represented Indonesia in international event, and now is the moth of Ramadhan, I hope that she would always act decently and resume good relationship with her parents.
 
Photo: Courtesy of Kapanlagi.com

Police Vs Terrorists in Aceh

On 15 August 2005, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Central Government in Jakarta and the separatists in the Province of Aceh, ending 29 years of violence there.

Since then, the media stopped reporting about violence and changed its focus into the adoption of strict Islamic Syariah Law in the province.

Last week, the media has reported about the shoot out between the Police's Anti Terrorist Unit, Densus-88, and a group of fully armed terrorists in Aceh Besar Regency, killing 3 Police officers 2 terrorists and 2 civilians. 13 terrorists were arrested and sent to a detention center in Jakarta.

After the shoot out, a group called the “Tandzim Al-Qoidah Indonesia Serambi Makkah” claimed on its blog: alufuq.wordpress.com that they belong to Al-Qaedah terrorist network. The Police is investigating about the said claim.

For details, please click here and here.

Considering that the number of the alleged terrorists were quite big and fully equipped a.o with M-16 automatic rifles, GPS communication, etc. I believe that they must have spent some time to organize themselves.

Transvestites Contest in Aceh

The Province of Aceh is the only province in Indonesia which strictly adopted the Islamic Law, whereby women must wear head scarf and unmarried couples can be punished by stoning if they committed adultery.

So when an Acehnese woman, Qory Sandioriva, was elected as Miss Indonesia 2009, Ulamas (Muslim cleric) in Aceh have strongly protested against it.

Due to the above, I was very surprised when I read that on 14 February, Transvestites (homosexuals)  in Aceh held its first beauty pageant for Transvestites. And Zifana Lestisia (19) from Lhokseumawe was chosen as the Social & Culture Envoy 2010 who will represent Aceh at the national level.

The event organizer told the media that Ulama in Aceh have given their permit for the event. But this was denied by the Ulama who said that the transvestites came to them to ask for guidance to hold a charity event, not a beauty pageant. The ulama felt that they have been fooled by the Tranvestites.

For details, please click here and here.

Hmmmm ...... it would be very interesting to know the further development of this case.


Photo :  Courtesy of Yahoo/Viva.

Syaria Police Rape Case

Fanatics tend to use their beliefs as grounds for their own selfish goals, that's what I thought when I read on The Jakarta Post about two Syaria Police (Religious Police) officers in Aceh, who were arrested for raping their detainee.

Sharia police arrested for ‘rape’
Hotli Simanjuntak , The Jakarta Post , Banda Aceh, Aceh | Tue, 01/12/2010 11:12 PM | National

A serious blow to the credibility and morality of Sharia police in Aceh province, has occurred after several members were detained for an alleged gang rape in Langsa regency.

Police in the regency said Tuesday they had arrested two Sharia police officers, or Wilayatul Hisbah, for reportedly raping a female detainee at the Langsa Sharia Police Station.

The Langsa Police are also hunting down another suspect who is currently on the run.

Langsa Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Yosi Muhammartha said the three suspects were accused of jointly raping a university student when she was held in a cell at the station.

The woman was gang-raped by the three Sharia policeman during her interrogation, he added.

Yosi said the issue began when Sharia police officers were conducting patrol on the night of Jan. 8, and found a couple on the side of the PTPN-1 Langsa ring road.

The police brought the pair to the Sharia police office in Langsa. The suspects then questioned the couple in relation to violating the 2003 Sharia Public Indecency Bylaw.

The by-law in Aceh

Last Wednesday, a controversial bill that allow the stoning to death of adulterers has officially became a by-law in the Province of Aceh.

According to the bill, passed by Aceh's parliament on 14 September, the by-law called Qanun Jinayat Code will replace certain articles of the national Criminal Law with a Syariah Law for Muslims in Aceh, and valid 30 days later.

Enactment of the by-law has been protested in Aceh, whereby the Governor refused to sign the bill. But lawmakers insists that the by-law would still come into force even without the Governor's signature.

Further, the by-law has also been protested in Jakarta, by human rights activists who called the by-law as inhuman and therefore asked the central government to review the by-law.

Furthermore, the by-law has worried non Muslim businessmen who feared that growing conservatism in Aceh and some other provinces might frighten investors. They believe, if this conservatism process is not stopped there is a big possibility that existing investors might close their businesses here and move to another country. Due to which fact, they hope that the central government would take necessary action to stop the process. They also hope Indonesian Muslims who are mostly moderate to voice their objection on the growing influence of hardline minority but very vocal Muslims.

In reaction to the protests, the central government has promised to study the said by-law. If they find that it is against the national laws and constitution, the Minister of Internal Affairs shall request the Supreme Court to review the by-law.

For detailed media reports on the above, please click here, here, here, here and here.

Considering that news about the controversial by-law have spread worldwide, there is a big possibility that foreigners may think that such law is valid all over Indonesia for Muslims and non Muslims. If this happen, foreigners would be frighten to invest here, even Indonesian non Muslim businessmen would move their business to another country. In the end, Muslims who are majority in Indonesia, would loose jobs and suffer with their families.
In order to prevent that, I hope that the Minister of Internal Affairs & the Minister of Law would check whether the by-law in Aceh and other provinces are in-line with the provisions set forth by the higher national laws. If the by-laws are contradictory, they should request the Supreme Court to review them.