Indonesia - A Rebel Encounter |
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April 2nd, 2007 - 05:59PM |
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Former GAM soldier Junandi, 25, explains guerilla tactics. Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC From the International Rescue Committee's Peter Biro, in Indonesia: (23 March 2007) Today I visited the village of Pantong Krueng, located inland from the Acehnese fishing town of Teunom. Pantong Krueng and other surrounding hamlets lie in what was the heart of rebel-held territory and clashes between the Indonesian army and guerillas from the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) were frequent here up until a peace agreement was signed in 2005. The IRC is just about to launch a series of programs in a dozen villages in former conflict zones, to help people recover after years of damage and neglect. As we bounced up and down on the potholed road leading to the village, the IRC's program manager here, Samwel Wandera, told me that while a lot of international support has helped the victims of the tsunami get back on their feet, little has been done in these villages. As I walked through the little village, past rice fields overgrown with tall grass and poorly maintained houses, a young man carrying a bag with firewood approached. 'Where you from?' he asked, exhaling cigarette smoke through his nose. Finding out I am Swedish, his face lit up. 'Do you know Hasan di Tiro?' he asked, referring to the exiled GAM leader who has run the insurgency from his Stockholm flat for the past 25 years. The young man introduced himself as Junandi, a former GAM soldier and a sworn enemy of the Indonesian state. 'But when I was fighting, everyone called me Rambo,' he added. With great enthusiasm, Junandi started explaining guerilla tactics to me, drawing arrows and squares with a stick in the sand. 'We got up at four every morning and we spent the days patrolling and hiding. About three times a week we attacked army posts,' he said. In conversations with villagers in this area, people told me that they were caught in the crossfire and that they suffered reprisals following rebel attacks on local army posts. The village chief in Pantong Krueng, Anhar, told me that his 17-year-old brother Mustaryadi was killed as a result of the conflict. When asked about the repercussions for the villagers, Junandi explained that it was regrettable, but necessary. 'And sometimes we were even asked by villagers to attack, as revenge for mistreatment by local soldiers,' Junandi claimed. I ask Junandi what he thinks of the peace agreement and the fact that he can live as a normal man in his village again. 'It is very good,' he says. 'Nobody wants war. People here are poor and need a lot of help.' 'But,' he hastily added, 'we can only have a true peace if everyone keeps their promises. The Acehnese people are not convinced just yet. And if I get the order from our leaders in Sweden, I'll go back to the jungle again, to fight.' Under the peace agreement, GAM agreed to set aside claims for independence, accepting instead a form of local self-government. In turn, the Indonesian government has vowed to release political prisoners and offer farmland to former rebels to help them reintegrate into civilian life. 'By creating a way for people to earn a living and making life better in the villages, we are aiding the reintegration process,' Samwel Wandera explained as we drove out of this jungle-clad area towards the coast. 'If there's hope for the future, people are less likely to take up arms again.' Earlier: A Village Celebrates Posted By: theirc | Asia, Diaries & Journals, Rebuilding Communities, Tsunami Relief Permalink |
