40463 Aceh Conflict Monitoring Update 1st ­ 31st March 2006 World Bank/DSF As part of an analytical support program to the peace process, the Conflict and Community Development Program, within the World Bank Office Indonesia, is using a newspaper conflict mapping methodology to record and categorize all incidents of conflict in Aceh as reported in two provincial newspapers (Serambi and Aceh Kita). The Program publishes monthly updates and analysis of the data, complemented by fieldwork where possible, in both English and Indonesian.1 In March, no new GAM-GoI incidents were reported and an AMM investigation of last month's attack on the SIRA office in Blang Pidie concluded that the GoI was not implicated. AMM did, however, request that the GoI confirm in writing that all illegal groups or fronts had been disbanded. A serious incident of excessive police force, which resulted in one death and a number of injuries in Aceh Timur, was reported and highlights the importance of improving local level policing. Finally, local level conflict seemed to stabilize (albeit at a high level) with a slight increase in resource and political conflict. In March the World Bank presented the findings and recommendations of two studies related to both post-conflict and tsunami programming: the GAM Reintegration Needs Assessment and the Trucking and Illegal Payments monitoring. The institutional mechanisms for driving and coordinating post-conflict programming are becoming increasingly clear with the government finalizing the structure of the reintegration agency, Badan Reintegrasi Aceh (BRA). A brief explanation of this emerging institutions is included. No GAM-GoI-related conflict incidents reported in March In the month of March, no GAM-GoI were reported in our two newspaper sources, Aceh Kita and Serambi. With regard to last month's attack on the SIRA office in Blang Pidie, an AMM investigation concluded that the GoI was not implicated, but requested that the GoI confirm in writing that all illegal groups or fronts were disbanded as pursuant with clause 4.9 of the MoU. Figure 1: GAM-GoI incidents by month Source: Newspaper Dataset AMM investigates one serious incident of Police using excessive force Aceh Kita and Serambi both reported that on the 6 March 2006 a police officer beat to death a small fish trader with the butt of his gun in Kecamatan Peudawa, Aceh Timur. The incident took place 1 There are limitations to using newspapers to map conflict: newspapers, particularly those published at the provincial level, do not pick-up all incidents, and there may be bias in reporting certain incidents. For more information see: Patrick Barron and Joanne Sharpe (2005). "Counting Conflict: Using Newspaper Reports to Understand Violence in Indonesia", Indonesian Social Development Paper No. 7. Jakarta: World Bank. This report, as well as the monthly monitoring updates, are available online at: www.conflictanddevelopment.org The dataset is available for those interested. Please contact Samuel Clark at: sclark@wboj.or.id 1 while the police were checking the identity of motorists (sweeping) in front of their post and the victim failed to stop when requested by a police officer. Newspapers reported that the excessive use of force outraged the local community who quickly grouped to demonstrate in front of the police station. During these demonstrations two further citizens were wounded by shots fired by police and military. To resolve the incident and dispel the crowd, the district police head went to the scene to meet with local community leaders. AMM was also present despite the incident being considered outside the scope of the MoU and later requested that the GoI discipline those officers involved. Although incidents of this severity are fortunately not regular events in the post-MoU context, this incident highlights the importance of reforming and improving security institutions. Local level conflict seems to be stabilizing at high levels Local level conflicts declined to 68 incidents in March (see Figure 2). The number of violent incidents remained low with five incidents reported, a slight increase on last month (see Figure 3). As reported in previous months, local level conflict incidents rapidly increased after the MoU and seem to have stabilized at between 50 and 80 cases per month. The vast majority of local level conflict disputes are administrative in nature and relate to the delivery of government services and the provision of government and donor assistance (see Figure 4 below). Figure 2: GAM-GoI and Local level conflict by month Figure 3: Violent and non-violent local level conflict by month Resource and political conflict increasing slowly As shown in Figure 5 there has been a much slower but steady increase in the number of resource and political conflicts since the MoU. In March, 14 and 12 resource and political disputes, respectively, were reported, the highest levels since conflict monitoring began in 2005. Recent increases in resource conflict are largely down to a higher number of land disputes in tsunami areas. In both February and March approximately 40 percent of resource disputes related to such disputes whereas prior to this very few were reported. Of the 12 political disputes reported in March, four were at the village level and involved the selection of village heads; five were at the district level, including two disputes between districts over boundaries; and, four were at the provincial level. Two incidents involved intra-party conflict, which is a sign of things to come as parties resolve their internal politics before fielding candidates in the upcoming elections. Figure 4: Types of Administrative conflict by month Figure 5: Resource and Politicalconflict by month 2 March also saw NGOs, local politicians, Muslim school heads and women's groups reject Jakarta's draft of the LoGA (Aceh Governance Law). Positively, and hopefully indicative of a peaceful and democratic future, this dissent was registered not through street protests but through peaceful and coordinated lobbying.2 These Updates will continue to monitor politically-related conflict in the lead up to the elections and will draw where relevant on field data from the upcoming joint UNDP/WB conflict and elections study. Reintegration of combatants is progressing smoothly but challenges lie ahead In March the World Bank presented and finalized the GAM Reintegration Needs Assessment.3 The assessment concludes that overall the reintegration of `GAM returnees' is progressing smoothly but that challenges lie ahead.4 The research found that almost 75 percent of GAM returnees are currently unemployed and that the vast majority are young men. The provision of livelihood assistance is therefore urgent to keep them occupied and secure them a future. The research also found that the needs of conflict victims and communities are also great and similar to GAM returnees. These findings have important consequences for post-conflict and reintegration programming. The report makes three sets of recommendations that can provide a framework for facilitating reintegration and consolidating the peace process. First, supporting programs are necessary to sustain an environment conducive to reintegration, including ongoing monitoring, reform of local law and justice sector agencies, and socialization. Second, assistance in the form of both individual benefits (private goods) to specific groups and community benefits (public goods) are necessary. The former should not only be provided to GAM returnees, but also to other "conflict-affected" and vulnerable individuals including widows, IDPs, conflict victims, women and children. Third, the report recommends that community-based mechanisms be used to both identify eligibility for individual assistance and prioritize community needs. These recommendations have been well received by both GAM and the GoI's newly established reintegration agency (see below). Illegal payments made by trucks remain high In March, the World Bank with the BRR released another study that indicated that illegal payments made by trucks on the Banda Aceh ­ Medan road remain high.5 In March 2005 the World Bank completed qualitative research that indicated trucks were paying approximately Rp. 600,000 at 70 to 110 security posts between Banda Aceh and Medan. In November 2005 BRR and the World Bank began monitoring illegal road payments by having researchers travel with trucks and record all payments. This ongoing monitoring shows steep declines in illegal levies at security posts associated with the pull-out of military troops and police forces as part of the Helsinki peace agreement. For trips in to Aceh, the amount paid at these posts fell from Rp. 242,500 to Rp. 50,666 (See Figure 6). However, illegal payments at weigh stations by overweight trucks have risen, overtaking posts as the biggest source of on-road payment, so that total illegal payments have remained high (see Figure 7). 2See ICG, `Aceh: Now for the Hard Part', Asia Briefing No. 48, Jakarta/Brussels, p. 5. 3 The overall report incorporates qualitative and quantitative data and has sections on: a) the characteristics of GAM; b) current peace process and reintegration dynamics; c) needs and aspirations of GAM returnees; d) needs and aspirations of receiving communities; and, e) conclusions and recommendations. The complete report can be downloaded from www.conflictanddevelopment.org and printed copies can be requested from Andi: atama@wboj.or.id. 4The report defines GAM returnees as including combatants, those involved in GAM's civil, police and training, as well as political prisoners. 5This report can also be downloaded from www.conflictanddevelopment.org. 3 Figure 6: Amount Paid at Posts Figure 7: All Illegal Payments Source: World Bank/BRR Trucking and Illegal Payments Monitoring The institutions for driving and co-ordinating post-conflict programming are becoming increasingly clear The implementation of the MoU creates significant institutional challenges. The MoU's commitments relating to security arrangements, reintegration assistance, assistance to conflict victims and changes to Aceh's governance structures require action across a number of government departments and the participation of various actors. The large number of donors explicitly or potentially interested in assisting implementation of the MoU further increases the need for coordination. The government, GAM and other actors have recognized this and created various formal and informal mechanisms. Immediately following the MoU the government and GAM agreed to establish Tim Sosialisasi Aceh Damai in order to ensure consistent messages and co- ordinate the assistance available from various donors. The previous acting Governor also established Forum Bersama to co-ordinate a wider range of issues relating to the implementation of the MoU and post-conflict programming. The provincial government has sought to integrate and strengthen some of these more ad hoc mechanisms with the establishment of the Aceh Reintegration Agency (BRA). Diagram 1: BRA's Organizational Structure The Governor of Aceh Steering Committee established the Badan Reintegrasi Aceh (BRA) HEADofBRA originally with decree Mustafa Abu Bakar No.330/032/2006 on 11 HeadofImplementation Forum Usman Hasan Monitoring February but was then amended Bersama DeputyHead ofImplementation Committee Hanif Asmara by decree No. 330/106/2006 on 13 April. The agency is Secretariat overseen by the Governor, currently the acting Governor, Dr. Mustafa Abubakar, with ForumInteraksi Economic Politics , Law, Security Socialand Empowerment and Human Rights implementation delegated to CommunityWelfare Data and Finances Usman Hasan (Head) and Hanif Provincial Provincial Provincial Provincial Dinas Dinas Dinas Dinas Asmara (Deputy Head), the latter being the provincial head DistrictLevelBRA of the Department of Social Welfare (see Diagram 1). There is a large monitoring committee that includes GAM, civil society and community representatives, and the current structure incorporates Forum Bersama in an advisory role. The governor has also instructed that all Aceh's districts form corresponding bodies at the district level. 4 It is envisaged that BRA will be the key body for coordinating government and donor post-conflict programming. The structure includes working groups covering four broad areas: economic empowerment; politics, law, security and human rights; social and community welfare; and, data and finances. Currently, the agency is focused on providing economic empowerment assistance to GAM returnees and compensation (diyat) to conflict victims. This is currently being done with a mechanism by which groups of GAM returnees submit proposals for economic empowerment assistance and village heads identify conflict victims. Such an approach may face difficulties, particularly with regard to the verification of eligibility and ensuring funds are used productively, and for this reason BRA has committed to monitoring the current process. 5