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Recommendations

To the Government and Armed Forces of Indonesia

1. Immediately revoke Presidential decree No. 43/2003, which places unnecessary restrictions on access for the United Nations, international agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), journalists and foreigners in Aceh. Human rights organizations and journalists should have unfettered access to the province.

2. Respect press freedom and allow full and independent coverage of the armed conflict. Remove immediately and unconditionally the prohibition on direct news gathering and reporting from Aceh by the Indonesian and foreign media.

3. Permit humanitarian agencies to deliver aid directly to populations in need, instead of requiring that agencies send aid through official Indonesian agencies.

4. Following Indonesia’s welcome decision to allow the ICRC into Aceh, ensure that the ICRC has free and unfettered access to carry out its work.

5. Investigate fully allegations of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Discipline and/or prosecute as appropriate all officials, armed forces, and police personnel implicated in abuses, including extra-judicial executions; forced disappearances; torture and other ill-treatment; rape and sexual violence; looting; and extortion.

6. Allow Indonesia’s National Commission on Human Rights to carry out investigations free from intimidation or interference by martial law authorities.

7. Take all steps necessary to ensure that Indonesian military and police forces act in full accordance with international human rights and humanitarian law. Make sure that all forces operate under rules of engagement that are consistent with international humanitarian law. Move as quickly as possible to return Aceh’s administration to accountable civilian control.

8. Ensure that all commanders deployed in Aceh, at every level, have received basic training in the fundamental principles of humanitarian law, particularly the protection of civilians and non-combatants. All combatants should be trained and drilled in the proper treatment of civilians and non-combatants, including captured fighters.

9. Hold all detainees only in officially recognized places of detention. Inform all detainees immediately of the grounds of arrest and any charges against them. Provide all detainees with immediate and regular access to family members and lawyers, and allow detainees to petition for judicial review of their detention without delay. Recognize the procedural rights of all persons detained and/or accused of crimes. Inform the families of detained persons of their detention, and the reason for and location of the detention.

10. Make publicly available regularly updated figures on the number of individuals charged and arrested for security-related crimes in Aceh, with information on the nature of their alleged crimes and the places of their detention. Maintain accurate registers of the names of detainees and places of detention and make such registers readily available to detainees’ family, counsel, and other legitimately interested persons.

11. End the practice of using civilians in military, paramilitary, or security related functions, including the practice of compulsory night guard duty for men and boys.

12. End the requirement of a special identification card for residents of Aceh so long as the government cannot ensure that such cards will not continue to result in abuses against the local population, including arbitrary arrests, ill-treatment and unwarranted restrictions on freedom of movement.

13. Respect international humanitarian law prohibitions on displacement of civilians providing that the displacement of the civilian population should occur only where the security of the civilians or imperative military reasons demand it. Indonesia should also adhere to the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement ensuring adequate facilities for those displaced.

14. Immediately remove—from any role relating to the conflict in Aceh—all Indonesian military personnel who have been convicted or indicted for serious violations of human rights or humanitarian law or for whom there is evidence of such abuse. Any indicted personnel should be removed from active duty until the completion of their trial process. Contrary to current Indonesian practice, officers who are convicted of serious offenses should begin to serve their sentences immediately and be subject to administrative discharge from the armed forces.

15. Invite United Nations thematic mechanisms to visit Aceh. Priority should be given to the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions and representatives from the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

To the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)

1. Publicly state GAM’s commitment to abide by international humanitarian law. Ensure that all forces abide by international humanitarian law. Refrain from taking actions that place civilians at special risk, such as the confiscation of identification cards.

2. Ensure that all commanders, at every level, receive basic training in the fundamental principles of humanitarian law, particularly the protection of civilians and non-combatants. All combatants should be trained and drilled in the proper treatment of civilians and non-combatants, including captured fighters.

3. Take measures to ensure that enforceable mechanisms are put in place to hold members of their forces individually accountable for abuses, including summary executions, torture, kidnappings, and forced displacement. Release all detainees held in violation of international law, including the two journalists currently in GAM custody.

To the “Quartet” (U.S., E.U., Japan, World Bank)

1. The United States, Japan, and the European Union should jointly follow up on their November 2003 joint statement expressing “concern over the extension of the state of military emergency in Aceh” and encourage Indonesia “to carry out its activities with the minimum possible impact on the well-being of the people of Aceh and in an approach that includes humanitarian aid, restoration of civil institutions and upholding the law.” Together and individually the three should press the government of Indonesia to abide by international human rights and humanitarian law in Aceh.

2. Continue to urge Indonesia to open Aceh to international NGOs, journalists, and international agencies. Raise conditions in Aceh in all meetings with Indonesian authorities and insist upon regular diplomatic access to Aceh.

3. All aid decisions, such as World Bank lending, should incorporate dialogues on human rights violations in Aceh, as well as those concerning corruption and reform noted in the Country Assistance Strategy for Indonesia issued on December 3.¹³³

To the Malaysian Government

1. No Acehnese should be forcibly returned to Indonesia so long as their security would be at risk in Aceh. Acehnese in Malaysia should be afforded full protection and assistance.

To the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)

1. Asean and its members should exert their regional authority and call upon Indonesia to respect its international law obligations in the conflict in Aceh. This would include urging that impartial humanitarian agencies be able to provide assistance to the population, especially those displaced by the conflict. In light of the participation of Thailand and the Philippines in monitoring the Cessation of Hostilities Framework Agreement, Asean should press for involvement in an international monitoring presence in Aceh.

To states, such as the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, providing military assistance or training to Indonesia

1. In light of concerns about serious abuses in the Indonesian campaign in Aceh, arms-supplying countries should consider a moratorium on arms transfers to Indonesia. Those states that have provided Indonesia with military assistance, including weapons, other equipment, and training, have a special responsibility to ensure that such assistance is not used to contribute to human rights violations.

2. Impose strict conditions on use of weapons or other military assistance, consistent with human rights and international humanitarian law standards.

3. Put in place effective measures to monitor and ensure accountability for any misuse of the weapons or other assistance. Indonesia has a complementary duty to keep and offer for inspection the documentation necessary to demonstrate how it has used foreign-supplied equipment, and if necessary provide other forms of access to facilitate effective end-use monitoring.

4. Any provision by the United States of military training or assistance to the Indonesian armed forces should be conditioned on clear progress in bringing to justice military and police responsible for human rights violations. Counter-terrorism training should be carefully designed not to undermine the effectiveness of existing restrictions, and must not be directed towards branches and units known to be human rights abusers, such as Kopassus or Brimob.