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THE WAKE UP CALL FOR ACEHNESE WOMEN 
By Suraiya IT 

(From Conference: Years of Living Dangerously. December 12, 1998. New York University) 

Aceh, which occupies the northern part of the island of Sumatra, and is also the Indonesian republic's most western province, was historically the first home of Islam in the Indonesian Archipelago. Aceh's role in the past and its contribution to independence was no a small one. The Acehnese have been known throughout their history as courageous in every struggle. Although they armed themselves only with a dagger called a rencong - A sharp pointed dagger or knife usually carried on the hip by the Acehnese adult male outside the house -, they never feared to face enemies having advanced military equipment. Therefore, Aceh became the last region of Indonesia that was colonized by the Dutch.

Religion is taken very seriously by the Acehnese. They are proud of their religion, their learning, and the part that they have played in the Islamization of the Indonesian Archipelago. Hence, the average Acehnese is usually an enthusiastic practitioner of religious life. Women are seen as an important part of the community. The Acehnese consider the status of women to be inseparably tied to the status of the nation. When the status of a nation is low, reflecting an "uncivilized" condition of that nation, the status of women also tends to be low; and when the status of a nation is elevated, reflecting the progress and civilization of that nation, the status of women in that country is often also elevated. 

In Aceh, from the early fifteenth century until Indonesian independence came in 1945, women there had been given the opportunity to be leaders of the country and to participate in public life. In Aceh, in earlier times, there appeared many important women figures at the national level, either as leaders of the government or as a heroes in the struggle with the Dutch colonialists.

The Acehnese women were very strong and committed in their loyalty to their country and religion. They cannot be bought by money or material goods, and many displayed more loyalty than men to their country. Throughout Acehnese history many wives preferred being separated to following the disloyal behavior of their husbands. In fact, many such cases occurred with the uleebalangs who betrayed the kingdom and supported and cooperated with the Dutch. Their wives left them because of their loyalty to, and love for, their country.

Accordingly, Acehnese women, in matters related to national interest and religion, have directly or indirectly shown themselves, to be leaders no less than their men. Moreover, the Acehnese women who were struggling in the Sabilillah (the way of God) rejected every compromise. They would never be disloyal to their mentality as women who know only the alternative: kill or be killed.

But since the independence of 1945, the condition of the women of Aceh has been declining and has become not far different from the condition of that of women in other parts of Indonesia. However, since independence of 1945, it may be assumed that women's position has taken a different form. 

During struggle for national freedom, the women of the "Revolution of 45" in Aceh not only served as public kitchen staff and "Pasukan Bulan Sabit" (Red Cross Staff), but also involved themselves actively in fighting, like "the Regimen Pocut Baren."

For various reasons, including Acehnese dissatisfaction with national conditions, Aceh was in rebellion again from 1953 until 1961, when it became a special province of the Republic, and therefore Acehnese women did not take part in the discussion of
national issues at that time.

This rebellion, however, affected the women's movement greatly, because in that period women did not have an opportunity to study. The war went on from generation to generation and many great ulama and scholars who supported the women's movement died in the war. Parents were worried about allowing their daughters to go to school in such a situation. Further, the continuing warfare delayed education for the whole younger generation, not only the women but also for the men. Education in Aceh had already declined during the period of Dutch colonialism.

This situation was followed by another problem to problem. Furthermore, the military offensive in Aceh began 1989 to put down a fundamentalist Muslim movement fighting for an Islamic state in the mainly Muslim province. Local grievances were
fanned by economic injustice as the people of Aceh watched their valuable gas and oil resources being skimmed off by the central government and multinational companies with few benefits returning to the province.

The military operation against Aceh Merdeka targeted suspected sympathizers as well as guerrillas. Various violations on human rights befell Aceh people during the military operations, hundreds of missing peopleeither through abductions or slaughtered, those accused of being of GPK. And according to International Amnesty there were 2000 people killed between 1989 and 1992, and another 1600 disappeared.

According to the sources, during national elections last year the campaign of fear and brutality was stepped up again to ensure support for the ruling Golkar party.

Accordingly there is a great deal of trauma and fear in Aceh, widows of men who were killed were even excluded from society because people feared they would be taken as well if they associated with the surviving family members.

Girls and women have been attacked and raped by men when Aceh was designated as a military operation. Hundreds of women experience another kind of torture as well: sexual torture inflicted and permitted, indeed considered standard procedure, by military personnel. This adds to the exercise of power, when power is sexualized, because it means that the person who is tortured is being violated at deeper level. This means to send the message, a sense of terrorization of people at their most intimate level. The sexualization of violence is a form of terrorism and is a form of instilling a kind of instability. These issues of the domination of women both by the military and also in the patriarchal culture of the society of those women who are being raped doubly dominated. It is this coincidence domination that needs to be recognized. It makes women vulnerable. 

As women being violated as a form of domination by the military, they feel shamed, no longer clean, They do not feel like they can just go to the street and decry what has happened to them. Because they live in a society where sexual violence against women something is seen as shameful. This is very important, that the victims of the violence are themselves terribly and doubly victimized. They feel themselves as full of shame for what has been done to them.

The violence is brutal. It not only goes against their will and violates their integrity but also puts them in a dangerous position, because the members of their own society feel that they have been diminished. The aspect of the sexualizing of violence is so important and makes it such a powerful tool of domination in cases of against people trying to organize people against military regimes or tyrannical government.

Targeting women is a way of communicating that the military and its collaborators are every where. This is a form of building very deep kind of fear, a sense of being controlled inside of women body, sense of being controlled in women intimacy.

The Indonesian armed forces (ABRI) are above all the ones responsible for the violations of human rights that have included torture, rapes, beatings and enforced disappearances on a mass scale that have occurred during the decade when Aceh was designated as a military operational region.

Although the status of Aceh as a military operational region has now been lifted and the non-organic troops are to be withdrawn from Aceh, there is no sign yet that the cases of during the military operations in Aceh are going to be resolved.

The most urgent matter to do now is to restore the cultural characteristics which is almost uprooted from the Acehnese community as caused by the human rights violations performed by the ABRI personnel. With regard to the apology or request for forgiveness, it is not enough just to ask for forgiveness as this should also include concrete actions to contribute towards the living costs of the families of the victims who have suffered at the hands of officers who acted beyond the pale. There are witnessed people being tortured, then killed. Such experience had great impact on their psychological attitude. As this is a sociological matter then its solution also lies in the sociological handling.

As any woman who has suffered an injustice knows, the laws that exist are not adequate. They not adequate because they reflect the particular political, social, and economic perspective of those who wrote them.

And there are some solutions that can be used to solve this problem:

1. Pressure government for more gender sensitive policies and legislation. At local, regional and country levels, women are building pressure from the bottom up by bringing violations to public attention and thus forcing governments to recognize and protect women's human rights.

2. Hold government accountable for commitment made. The government must take responsibility for restoring a sense of security for the population, and release them from the burden of actions taken in the name of security. Unless such safeguards are provided, the lifting of DOM (military operational region) will be nothing more than formality.

3. Bring women human's rights violations to international forum. 

4. Provide a legal basis for new interpretations or changes in existing national laws, and the passage of new legislation.

5. Create an expanded human rights framework for women (ultimately greater freedom) for women (who are victims) than that is allowed within their own culture or under their own legal system.

6. Provide the women educational and professional skills that will help them to build self confidence and a brighter future.

7. Create an organization for the widow victim of DOM, such as, the foundation of widow of DOM which will handle their needs, and their money which was donated from around the world. The creation of such organization brings us back to the history of "Armada Inong Bale" (Regiment of Widows) in 1588-1604, during the reign of Sultan Alaidin Riayatshah IV, the grand father of sultan Iskandar Muda. The women who joint to be members of "Armada Inong Bale" were mostly widows whose husbands had died in war. This armada consisted of 2000 women mariners. It had hundreds warships with heavy artillery. For that time, this armada was considered the strongest in the Malaca strait, and probably even in Southeast Asia.

From this perspective I am not suggesting that a regiment such as "Armada Inong Bale" be established again. Rather I am using this as an example of what women in the past have done to confront their victimization in a previous time. Women in Aceh, particularly those of the victims of DOM need to wake up and do something about their plight.