JAKARTA, 31 August 2005 — Indonesia’s president yesterday signed a decree granting amnesty to separatist rebels in Aceh province, clearing the way for more than 1,400 guerrillas to be freed from jail, the state secretary said. The decree was the expected next step in the implementation of a historic peace agreement signed between the rebels and the government in Finland earlier this month. It had to be passed by today at the latest.
“Today the president (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) signed the presidential decree ... on amnesty for those involved in the Free Aceh Movement (GAM),” Yusril Ihza Mahendra told a press conference.
The decree, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, stipulates that amnesty is granted to all GAM members, whether they are detained and serving jail sentences or are currently free. GAM members convicted of crimes unrelated to the separatist movement are not eligible for amnesty.
“With the general amnesty, the person’s social, political, economic and other rights shall be restored,” the decree said.
The peace accord, inked after six months of negotiations that were sparked off by last December’s tsunami, paves the way for an end to 29 years of conflict which has left about 15,000 people dead, mostly civilians.
Under the deal, GAM dropped its long-held demand for independence for a form of local self-government and agreed to disarm and demobilize its fighters.
Indonesia promised in return to withdraw its non-local security forces by the end of the year, offer amnesties to rebels by Aug. 31 and allow the creation of political parties in the resource-rich province. More than 1,400 prisoners are now expected to be released from jail today under the arrangement.
The decree authorizes pardons for both Indonesian and foreign members of the separatist group, as was expected. GAM’s top leaders live in exile in Sweden.
“Everybody who gets an amnesty but has lost his Indonesian citizenship, and currently holds foreign citizenship or no citizenship, has the right to obtain his Indonesian citizenship back,” the decree said.
Rebels must abandon any foreign citizenship however within six months, it added, and pledge allegiance to Indonesia.
Parliamentarians, annoyed at not being consulted during the largely secret negotiations with the rebels, had called for them to swear an oath of allegiance to the government as a precondition for amnesty.
But Mahendra said Monday that the signing of the Helsinki peace accord showed already that the rebels would adhere to its content and Indonesian law. Both sides have said the new accord is the best chance for peace yet. Two earlier truces failed.
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