WOMEN IN POST-CONFLICT ACEH: PARTICIPATION IN SOCIO .
Shadia MarhabanWCFIARESEARCH PAPERWOMEN IN POST-CONFLICT ACEH: PARTICIPATION IN SOCIOECONOMIC AND POLITICAL PROCESSESINTRODUCTIONSix years after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in Helsinki (HelsinkiMoU) that ended the 30-year separatist movement in Aceh, Indonesia, there remainunresolved issues of the fairness, effectiveness and sustainability of post-conflicteconomic assistance programs, especially those concerning women. This paper exploresthe extent to which economic assistance since the Helsinki MoU was signed on August15, 2005 between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Government of Indonesia,has helped or hindered the quality of life of the women in Aceh, specifically theireconomic and political status.In this analysis, I draw upon my own observations and experiences in the field asPresident and Co-Founder of the Liga Inong Acheh (LINA- Acheh Women’s League)and as an Acehnese woman directly involved in the conflict and the peace negotiations.These information sources include meetings, talks and interviews I conducted withvarious people relevant to this topic, and are supplemented with a literature review. Iprovide the necessary historical, cultural, and political context regarding women inIslamic Aceh to address the specifics of economic assistance and to review the currentstatus of women in this unique province of Indonesia. Central to my analysis are theresults of interviews conducted by the Acheh Women’s League in the districts of1
Bireuen1 and Pidie2 in 2010. The women in these interviews spoke about lost politicalopportunity since the conflict. They have a good understanding of the realities of life andwhat they could gain if economic programs targeted to them are designed to empowerthem economically in a sustainable way. Our interviewers used the house visit method toreach families who received assistance between the periods of 2007-2010 and who arestill running their own businesses. The average age of the women interviewed is 20-45years old. Most owned a medium scale business such as provision shops including, dryfish, fruit crackers, coffee shops and food stalls in the market area. Bireuen and Pidie aresimilar, both considered “hot spots” of the conflict where armed clashes between thegovernment forces and GAM guerillas took place almost daily. Consequently, theircivilians suffered the most brutalities from the military and police. This paper seeks tomake recommendations to improve the lives of Acehnese women who are still sufferingthe consequences of the 30-year war.BACKGROUND OF THE CASEThe History of Conflicts in AcehThe history of Aceh differs from the history of the 35 other provinces of Indonesia.Before the advance of European colonization to Southeast Asia, Aceh enjoyedsovereignty for more than a thousand years. The Dutch declared war on Aceh on March26, 1873. The province has been fighting for independence ever since, including severalrebellions against the Republic of Indonesia, which was established in 1945. When theAcehnese invited the Japanese to enter Aceh and expel the Dutch in 1942, the AcehDutch war was still ongoing. In 1945, when Japan surrendered to the Allied forces at the1Bireuen, has the reputation of being the “Kota Juang” (the struggle city). Historically, this district has always been atthe forefront in war and conflict. The people of Bireuen are perceived as more educated and outgoing as compared toother districts of Aceh, and its elites hold relatively high positions in the Indonesian civil service. Located at thecrossroads between the hinterland and the coastal areas, Bireuen is the least parochial district in Aceh.2. People of Pidie are known for their trading acumen; birthplace of several great Acehnese religious leaders the districtis more feodlistic.2
end of World War II, the Dutch colonial administration tried to retake Aceh. Acehneserevolutionary forces not only defeated the Dutch, but also expelled all remainingJapanese occupational forces from Aceh. Between 1945 and 1949 not a single foreignofficial remained in Aceh, and the country thus achieved de facto independence.However, in 1949 Aceh was incorporated by the United Nations into the Republic ofIndonesia. The Acehnese felt that the surrender of its sovereignty to Republic ofIndonesia was illegal.Upon becoming part of the Republic of Indonesia, the relationship between Aceh and thecentral government in Jakarta became problematic. The new Republic did not treat Acehmuch better than the Dutch and the Japanese had done. Despite its being one of therichest provinces in the Republic in term of natural resources, the people of Aceh lived insuch poverty it became the second poorest province in Indonesia after West Papua.3These issues of historical claim, economic injustice and identity are unified in Aceh’sstruggle for the right to self-determination and independence. These ideas formed thebasis of the 1976 Declaration of Independence by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Thevast majority of people in Aceh believed in this cause and therefore willingly participatedor at least contributed to the war effort. Despite Aceh’s commitment to the ideologicalfoundations for GAM, the Helsinki MoU4 peace accord does not address these core issuesof the conflict. Rather, the MoU focuses on political, economic and social powerarrangements acceptable to both parties and necessary to end the conflict immediately.This process occurred in the context of the urgent need to allow unhindered internationalassistance delivery to the victims of the earthquakes and tsunami that devastated Acehand killed nearly 200,000 people on December 24, 2004.3The eastern half of the island is the Republic of Papua New Guinea that obtained its independence from Australia in1975. Volonized by the Dutch western part was incorporated into Indonesia by the UN on 1 May 1963. Following the1998 commencement of reforms across Indonesia, Papua and other Indonesian provinces received greater regionalautonomy. In 2001, "Special Autonomy" status was granted to the region, although to date, implementation has beenpartial. The region was divided into the provinces of Papua andWest Papua in 2003.4The Helsinki MoU grants Aceh self-government except over six authorities retained by the central government:foreign affairs, external defense, national security, monetary and fiscal matters, justice and freedom of religion.3
As indicated by the recent complaint raised by the Free Aceh Movement leader to thepresident of the Republic, the mediator5 and to the European Union, that the IndonesianGovernment has failed to fully implement the clauses of the agreement, it is clear thispeace agreement is facing many problems in its implementation. However, this paper willnot look into these problems directly. Instead, I will focus on the position of Acehnesewomen in the post-conflict era, and how the economic empowerment contributes to thesociopolitical status of women in Islamic culture in Aceh.Religion and Tradition as the Way of Life in AcehIn this era of increasing uncertainty in the Islamic world, there is a growing trend in manyMuslim communities to return to Islam. Implementing the Sharia law6 is one of thepreferred answers, especially in post-conflict areas where people are overwhelmed bynewly found peace, freedom and democracy, and by inadequacy to face the challenges ofsuch a sudden and drastic change of situation. As in the case of the success of popularupheavals in Tunisia and Egypt to bring down dictatorships that is now known as the"Arab Spring", it is no surprise that the Islamic parties, albeit the moderate ones won themajority of the votes. These outcomes leave the initiators of the revolution, mostly youngliberals, alienated. The people still feel the need for a comfort zone in which they don'thave to think for themselves, their needs are provided for, as bad as they may have beenunder the tyranny of the regimes they have brought down. It is the same in Aceh. Whilein no way can the “return to Islam” in Aceh be described as a rise in conservatism orextremism, it is nevertheless stricter than the Acehnese had previously experienced intheir long history of spreading and defending the faith in the region.75Crisis Management Initiative based in Helsinki and chaired by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Presidentof Finland, the peace talks and the eventual agreement were backed by the European Union that stands as guarantor forits implementation.6Shariaor sharī ah is the moral and legal code of Islam. Sharia deals with many topics addressed by secular law,including crime, politics and economy. There are two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth inthe Quran and the examples set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah.7Evidence concerning the initial coming and subsequent establishment of Islam in Southeast Asia shows that it wasthrough the Aceh region. When Venetian traveller Marco Polo passed by Sumatra on his way home from China in 1292he found that Perlak was a Muslim town while nearby 'Basma(n)' and 'Samara' were not. 'Basma(n)' and 'Samara' are4
In general, the rise of conservatism is often due to a desire to regain one’s “lost identity”in the wake of an oppressive and lengthy military rule that destroyed the very fabric ofone’s way of life— a way of life based on the combination of traditional rules andreligious tenets. A whole generation of people born during the conflict was deprived ofeducation, both in religious knowledge and even more neglected in general/seculareducation. Very often this desire of regaining one’s identity is translated into “quick fix”measures; the people are easily attracted to foreign influences delivered along witheconomic assistance when such influences help them realize this wish to find an instantsolution to their identity confusion. Being religious is often embodied in dress and otherdemonstrative postures, rather than in adherence to higher ideas of justice or morals. Thismore superficial form of religiosity is especially notable as regards women. Whenconfronted with the reality of how women are discriminated against, religious leaders inAceh always point to how Islam has raised the dignity of women, how the Koranic versespraise and command the protection of women and how the Prophet Muhammad respectedand cared for women. This situation leads many women in Aceh to fear that not adheringto the new Islamic conservatism would signify them as anti-Islam. Indeed, their fears arenot unfounded, as in some sermons and local media many religious and social leadershave berated young activists as “westernized and un-Islamic.”Since the implementation of the Sharia law in Aceh in 20018, many have found itsregulations confusing, rather than finding it a source of solace for a people recoveringfrom the trauma of conflict and natural disaster. The issue of Sharia law was notdiscussed during the negotiations in Helsinki and is not mentioned in the agreement.This law was introduced when Aceh was given the status of special province in 2001, aspart of the strategy to boost the image of the central government in the eyes of theoften said to be Pasai and Samudra. The gravestone of Sultan Malik as-Salih, the first Muslim ruler of Samudra, hasbeen found and is dated AH 696 (AD 1297). This is the earliest clear evidence of a Muslim dynasty in the IndonesiaMalay area and more gravestones from the thirteenth century show that this region continued under Muslim rule. IbnBatutah, a Moroccan traveller, passing through on his way to China in 1345 and 1346, found that the ruler of Samudrawas a follower of the Shafei school of Islam.The Portuguese apothecary Tome Pires reported in his early sixteenth century book Suma Oriental that most of thekings of Sumatra from Aceh through to Palembang were Muslim. At Pasai, in what is now the North Aceh Regency,there was a thriving international port. Pires attributed the establishment of Islam in Pasai to the 'cunning' of theMuslim merchants.8Sharia Law in Aceh was introduced by President Abdurrahman Wahid in 2001 as part of the Special Autonomy.5
Acehnese people and to give the Free Aceh Movement the image of being anti-Islamwhen the latter declared their opposition to this Jakarta style of Sharia. GAM insisted thatits struggle was not religious based, but a national struggle for independence. PresidentAbdul Rahman Wahid 9 used his position as leader of the largest Islamic party inIndonesia, the Nahdatul Ulama (NU),10 with a reputation in Indonesia as promotingtraditional but moderate Islam, to impose Jakarta’s Sharia law. The introduction of thislaw (UU No.18/ 2001)11 was not well publicized to the people but was propagated to theIslamic leaders and to religious schools and religious based civil society organizations.Free Aceh Movement (GAM) did not take this development very seriously, as it did notconsider that it would have much effect on its struggle. Its relations with most of thereligious leaders were not too close anyway, having often criticized most of them ascowards for not daring to stand up against the tyranny of the State. GAM's political wing,the SIRA,12 still able to operate openly as an NGO and inspired by the breakaway EastTimor,13 was too busy in promoting referendum as the best solution for the conflict togalvanize popular opposition against the introduction of this Sharia law. Most otherAcehnese civil organizations at the time were also focused on more relevant issues of theday, such as the atrocities and grave violations of human rights perpetrated by theIndonesian military against civilians, the peace negotiation process being pursued by theHenry Dunant Center (HDC)14, and the implementation of the Cessation of Hostilities9Abdurrahman Wahid or known as Gus Dur is a well-known Indonesian moderate Muslim scholar and political leaderwho served as the President of Indonesia from 1999 to 2001. He was also the head of the largest Muslim Organizationin Indonesia, NU. Wahid was the first elected president of Indonesia after the resignation of Soeharto in 1998.10Nahdatul Ulama is a traditionalist Sunni Islam group in Indonesia.11Special Autonomy Law.12SIRA (Sentral Informasi Referendum Aceh) is a movement for referendum to solve the conflict in Aceh, proposingoptions of remaining with the Republic of independence, founded by Acehnese students and youth congress in Janury31, 1999.13East Timor, formerly a province of Indonesia, gained its independence in 1999 through Referendum backed by theUnited Nations.14Henry Dunant Center is a humanitarian NGO based in Geneva, Switzerland. The involvement of HDC in the peaceprocess is very important because it marks the first time the Indonesian government was willing to accept internationalmediation. This decision infuriated the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) who openly maneuvered to wreck it.The TNI committed open violations of the agreement that the mediator could register but could not to prevent. As anNGO, it did not have any pressure capacity on the warring parties. The Indonesian military opposition culminated intothe burning of HDC offices and physically attacking its officers by military supported militia in Central Aceh. Thepeople of central Aceh highland are ethnically different from the majority who lives in the coastal area.6
Agreement (CoHA).15 Today, Sharia law is the rallying flag of the conservative sector ofthe Acehnese society, and GAM leadership is too fearful of losing popular support tooppose it as it did during the conflict.While the strategy of using religion in order to alienate GAM from the people was notvery successful during the conflict, it did manage to polarize the Acehnese society intopro and contra Sharia, and by extension into pro and contra GAM. Pro governmentpreachers used Friday sermons to drum up support for Sharia and to attack GAM asirreligious for opposing the Sharia. The dayah16communities that form the backbone ofthe Acehnese religiosity were also split into pro and anti GAM. Delegation afterdelegation from the pro-government dayahs went to Jakarta to meet with the Acehnesemembers of Parliament between 1999-2002 to persuade them to push the approval of theSharia bill proposed by the Government. The then governor, Syamsuddin Mahmud,stated, “if GAM refused to accept Shariah it would be too much, all it is the foundation oflife on which Acehnese communities live.” (Kompas, September 8, 1999) This campaignto strengthen Sharia resonates strongly in the Acehnese community in Jakarta, wherepractically all pro-Jakarta Acehnese leaders reside. The campaign was well funded by thegovernment and its supporters were able to carry out large and frequent meetings inJakarta as well as in Medan, the third largest city in Indonesia and capital of the provinceof North Sumatra that is adjacent to the province of Aceh. Medan is important for Aceh,for it is home to a large and influential Acehnese community and serves as the traditionalimport-export gate for Aceh, whose own ports lack basic facilities. Meanwhile in Aceh,the military and police banned public meetings. Government propaganda started to dig upHasan Tiro's 17 personal background, presenting him to Acehnese as untrustworthy. In his15CoHA (Cessation of Hostilities Agreement) between the Government of Indonesia and GAM held on December, 9th2002 is the utmost achievement in terms of settling the disputes in Aceh. Besides controlling the armed conflict, theAgreement has also created an opportunity to build more democratic and transparent political, economical, social andcultural life. However, COHA failed in 2003.16According to American anthropologist James T. Siegel the traditional dayah is a religious school that inculcates boyswith the understanding that becoming a man means following the rules of Islam (Siegel, 2010). Today besides Islamiceducation, nationally set curriculum is obligatory. While children in Aceh tend to be spoiled by their parents, in thedayah they are taught discipline and very simple life, cook their own food and wash their cloths, it is more a communalset up than a boarding school. Today more girls are sent to the dayahs than boys.17On December 4th 1976, Dr. Teungku Hasan Muhammad di Tiro declared the independence of Aceh and formed theAceh/Sumatra National Liberation Front (ASNLF) popularly known as Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM) or Free AchehMovement. Di Tiro was educated at Columbia University and later in his life became a Swedish national and lived in7
younger days, Tiro was a fervent Indonesian nationalist, he married an American Jew,and he studied and lived for decades in the United States. These biographical facts wereused to smear him as a westernized opportunist and anti-Islam, despite his descent fromthe most illustrious religious family of Aceh. Such revelations confuse ordinaryAcehnese, who are mostly pious Muslim villagers. On one hand, they want to supportGAM's struggle for independence, to rally behind the prodigious descendant of their mostvenerable religious leader, and on the other, they are confronted with the image of anorganization portrayed as opposing Sharia with an “unholy” leader at its helm.Islam is indeed deeply rooted in the mindset of the Acehnese, and this fact is not lost tothose who want to exploit it for political purposes. Even the Dutch came to realize thatthe only way to defeat the Acehnese was to use their religion against them. Following theadvice of its famous orientalist scholar, Snouck Hurgronje,18 who had the reputation ofbeing sympathetic to oppressed Muslim societies in colonized countries, the Dutchgovernment started to favor Acehnese aristocrats and alienated their religious leaders,thereby breaking the partnership that was the foundation of the Sultanate. The Acehnesegovernance system had always been based on the positive dichotomy of religion andtradition. “Adat bak Po Teumeureuhom, Hukom bak Shah Kuala” is the saying thatplaces worldly power in the hand
Aceh always point to how Islam has raised the dignity of women, how the Koranic verses praise and command the protection of women and how the Prophet Muhammad respected and cared for women. This situation leads many women in Aceh to fear that not adhering to the new Islamic conservatism
12. Rencana Pembangunan Jangka Menengah Aceh tahun 2012 – 2017 yang selanjutnya disebut dengan RPJM Aceh adalah dokumen Perencanaan Pembangunan Aceh untuk priode 5 (lima) tahun terhitung sejak tahun 2012 sampai dengan Tahun 2017 yang merupakan hasil penyesuaian. 13. Rencana Strategis Pembangunan Jangka Menengah SKPA
lt 0t Universitas Muhammadiyah Aceh, Banda Aceh Ilmu Hukum 322 B t2 0l Universitas Muhammadiyah Aceh, Banda Aceh Kesehatan Masyarakat 315 B l3 0l Universitas Setia Budi Mandiri, Meclan Teknik Informatika 2tt C t4 0t Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh Agroteknologi 368 A l5 02 Sekolah Tin
pemerintahan gampong sebagaimana diatur dalam Pasal 115, Pasal 116 dan Pasal 117 Undang-Undang Nomor 11 Tahun 2006 tentang Pemerintahan Aceh; d. bahwa berdasarkan pertimbangan sebagaimana dimaksud dalam huruf a, huruf b, dan huruf c, perlu membentuk Qanun Kabupaten Aceh Utara tentang Pemerintahan Gampong. Mengingat : 1.
Functional vs Dysfunctional Conflict Functional Conflict- Conflict that supports the goals of the group and improves its performance Dysfunctional Conflict- Conflict that hinders group performance Task Conflict- Conflicts over content and goals of the work Relationship conflict- Conflict based on interpersonal relationships Process Conflict .
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1.4 Women’s Role in Decision-Making and Peacebuilding 17 1.5 Role of Women in Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution20 2. METHODOLOGY 23 2.1 Study Limitations 23 3. FINDINGS 24 3.1 Types of Conflicts and Main Actors 24 3.2 Means for Conflict Resolution 26 3.3 Impact of Conflict on Women and Gender Roles 27 3.4 Impact of Conflict 28 TABLE OF .
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