Can things get any worse for the Acehnese? For almost three decades, the people of Aceh have suffered a brutal civil war. Then came the tsunami. And now, as this high quality documentary discovers, the Indonesian military are using the disaster to make life worse still. This high budget film uncovers opportunism of the worst kind. The Indonesian military is accused of exploiting the disaster, both to secure more economic benefits and as a cover to crush Aceh's desperate and impotent population.
The Indonesian province of Aceh bore the brunt of the Boxing Day tsunami, with 230,000 killed and a similar number still missing. The massive relief effort is nominally being run by the Indonesian armed forces, the TNI. But this same army has been fighting a brutal war against the Acehnese for almost 30 years. The TNI has been accused of human right abuses against rebels and civilians: "When they don't find GAM, they just grab ordinary people and torture them," laments Nurdin from the Free Aceh Movement.
General Bambang Darmono implemented martial law in Aceh, but is now in charge of its reconstruction. He admits "a very small number of human rights violations" in the past. Now he travels to devastated villages, trying to persuade survivors to relocate to refugee camps. "Just suppose we accommodate you in Calang. At the very longest, it would be two years while we fix everything. What do you think?"
The villagers are terrified that they will be forcibly removed to clear the path for an assault against the GAM, whilst the General claims he wants to protect them from the rebels. The army is asking for the people's trust, but the same army is accused of massacring civilians since the tsunami. Teungku Eck is a GAM rebel commander for the Pidie region: "Aceh is so rich in natural resources but development in Aceh is so far behind that of other provinces". GAM says if the international community pulls out of Aceh, the TNI will become more brutal then ever. "There will be war again", one commander tells us. "They'll attack our headquarters; threaten people, torture them, exploit them. Terrorise them".
Only 30% of the army's budget comes from the government, the rest from its business empire and bribes. Equipment and material for a new road is provided by a Jakarta conglomerate called Artha Graha, partly owned by the TNI. And every business in Aceh pays the military in some way or other - either for protection against the rebels or in outright corruption. In a careful PR move, the Indonesian government has extended the initial deadline for foreign agencies to leave Aceh. They are concerned that the presence of foreigners is giving greater exposure to Aceh separatists and highlighting human rights abuses by the military. "This is the time for Aceh to get away from the agony, from suffering, not only of the past decades, but also from the disaster", says the Indonesian Minister for Welfare.
People say they can hear the dead calling from beneath the rubble. The tsunami swept away hundreds of thousands of lives, but it also swept aside the veil of secrecy which concealed a brutal war and massive corruption. Without international pressure, the veil will be drawn again - a poor epitaph to the victims.
