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Cablegate: Aceh: Major Breakthrough in Gam Reintegration

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DE RUEHJA #3289/01 3280447
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
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FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2202
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0117
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 3266
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0114
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 1145
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHHJJPI/USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 013289

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

Embassy Jakarta Medan Affairs Office # 34, 2006

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM ASEC ID
SUBJECT: ACEH: MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH IN GAM REINTEGRATION

1. (SBU) Summary: After refusing for more than a year, GAM
finally provided a list of ex-combatants to the government,
paving the way for some reintegration payments to be made
before the end of the year. GAM's providing names breaks
the impasse, but persisting differences on land
compensation, a major part of a settlement consistent with
the MOU, will take longer to resolve. End summary.

Stalemate
---------
2. (SBU) Finding a way to overcome GAM's refusal to provide
the names of the 3,000 ex-combatants eligible for
compensation has been the bane of Yusni Saby's existence.
Saby, a respected intellectual and Muslim scholar, heads the
Aceh Reintegration Agency (BRA) that oversees reintegration
payments to persons affected by the conflict. Yusni
recently confessed to being discouraged that previous BRA
attempts to solve this problem did not work, and he opined
there was no guarantee that the latest scheme would
accomplish more than simply "spend the reintegration
budget." The possibility either side would compromise no
longer entered into his calculus.

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3. (U) GAM's continued refusal to provide a list of names
was rooted in several factors, including fear and
pragmatism. Based on their experience in 2003, GAM leaders
feared the military might us the list to target the ex-
combatants if the peace process faltered. There was a
practical problem as well: how to choose the names for the

list.

4. (U) The Helsinki MOU used the GAM-supplied number of
3,000 combatants to calculate reintegration payments.
According to GAM leaders now, however, the real number of ex-
combatants is substantially higher, with some leaders
claiming the total may be as high as 20,000. If the
government made paymen*ts directly to the 3,000, GAM leaders
feared, GAM would have nothing for the thousands of others.

Breakthrough
------------
5. (SBU) At a Joint Forum meeting in October, however, GAM
and GOI reached a compromise solution. GAM agreed to supply
3,000 verifiable names and BRA agreed to make payments to
the individuals listed, but in a way that enabled local GAM
commanders to gain control of the funds and redistribute
them more widely. The key to the compromise: payment by
check.

6. (SBU) If the deal holds, BRA will prepare a check for
each of the ex-combatants and distribute them at public
ceremonies throughout Aceh. At the ceremony, each person
receiving a check will endorse it and hand it over to the
local GAM Commander for deposit into a central account. GAM
leaders told us commanders plan to distribute 90 percent of
the funds to ex-combatants in their districts and set aside
10 percent for future projects.

State of Play - Deal Mostly on Track
------------------------------------
7. (SBU) Early in November, GAM provided the Aceh Monitoring
Mission (AMM) and BRA with a list of nearly 3,450 ex-
combatants. BRA checked the names and determined that
approximately 2,500 of them qualified for payment. Although
a final schedule has yet to be established, BRA aims to
distribute the funds by mid-December.

8. (SBU) Sources in AMM, the provincial government, GAM and
BRA told us that although the breakthrough was significant,
it did not bring the issue to closure. Instead, it reopened
disputes about the size and composition o the payments.
BRA planned to pay IDR 25 million((USD 2,750)per combatant
(IDR 10 million plus IDR 15 million in lieu of land). GAM
representativeZ
akaria Salman argues that each ex-combatant
is entitled to two hectares of "functional plantation" and
that IDR 15 million is only enough to buy a small plot.

9. (SBU) Aceh Governor Mustafa threatened to block payments
if GAM does not drop its demand for land. Former acting
governor and current gubernatorial candidate Azwar Abu Bakar
claims that GAM and the BRA previously agreed on

JAKARTA 00013289 002 OF 002


compensation payments and that both GAM and the BRA are
deliberately misinterpreting the agreement. The government,
he said, did promise ex-combatants two hectares of land, but
no one ever said it had to be two hectares of "palm oil
ready to harvest." Abu Bbakar believed Jakarta would not
provide additional funding to meet this promise, leaving the
problem for the provincial government to solve. (NOTE: The
Helsinki MOU, section 3.2.5, states, "GOI will allocate
suitable farming land as well as funds to the authorities of
Aceh for the purpose of facilitating the reintegration to
society of the former combatants." Section 3.2.5 a) says,
"All former combatants will receive an allocation of
suitable farming land, employment or, in the case of
incapacity to work, adequate social security." END NOTE.)

10. (SBU) Officials in BRA and the provincial government
told us despite the disagreements, a significant portion of
the payments will likely be made in the coming weeks as part
of a compromise plan. Under the compromise plan, each ex-
combatant will be given a choice between IDR 25 million now
or IDR 10 million now and a plot of land at some unspecified
future date. The pressure for local GAM leaders to deliver
something to supporters in their region is simply too strong
for GAM to reject the deal outright, said one contact.
Although they had not yet decided on their final course of
action, GAM leaders acknowledged to us that they need to
deliver something to their supporters in the field, and they
need to do it quickly.

Further complications
---------------------
11. (SBU) While GAM's providing the names of its ex-
combatants is a substantial breakthrough, GAM has undermined
its credibility by listing hundreds more names than the
3,000 they claimed in the Helsinki MOU. Ever since the MOU
was signed, skeptics inside and outside of Aceh have voiced
suspicions that GAM lowballed the number of weapons and
personnel during negotiations in Helsinki to mask its
strength and make it easier to rearm should the peace
process break down. While those complaints have subsided
somewhat as the peace process progressed, by formally
admitting to having more combatants than acknowledged in
Helsinki, GAM's has re-opened the door for groups to reopen
these allegations.
Pascoe

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