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Indonesia wants to look past alleged Aceh crimes

The military will not be held accountable for alleged killings, rapes and torture during a three-decade separatist war in Aceh province, Indonesia's information minister said, calling this is a time to look forward not back.

A peace agreement signed last week paves the way for the creation of a human rights court and a truth and reconciliation commission, but the government's public stance is that past crimes will not be investigated.

The two bodies will only hear cases carried out after the accord's Aug. 15 signing date, Information Minister Sofyan Djalil said late on Tuesday, adding that the "spirit of the accord was to forgive."

The 29-year war in the oil and gas-rich province on Sumatra Island's northern tip claimed the lives of 15,000 people, many of them innocent villagers.

Killings

Human rights groups accuse the military, and to a lesser extent Free Aceh Movement rebels, of widespread atrocities during the conflict, including killings, disappearances and collective punishment of civilians.

Some analysts say the government is playing a delicate balancing act aimed at appeasing the military and conservative lawmakers -- many of whom are upset because the peace accord was negotiated without the approval of parliament -- and could later change its stance.

Truth, reconciliation

Exiled rebel leaders who signed the pact say they are confident the proposed human rights court and truth and reconciliation commission, which could be patterned after the one that examined apartheid-era brutality in South Africa, would hear past crimes.

Rebel spokesman, Bakhtiar Abdullah, said separatist negotiators were under the impression major atrocities would be heard by the human rights court, while less serious abuses would come before the truth commission.

"Amnesty would be given if they appear before commission," Abdullah said by phone from Stockholm, Sweden.

"But it must be under international standards, if it were done by Indonesia alone I'm afraid nothing would be achieved," Abdullah said.
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