REVIEW BY KATHY FAIRFAX
Aceh: The People's Struggle
Produced by Actively Radical Television, Sydney
Send $24 to ARTV, 73-75 Princess Highway, St Peters, NSW, 2044
Phone (02) 9565 5522
The people of Aceh, in the far north-west of the Indonesian archipelago, have a long and proud history of rebellion against repression. They fought hard against Dutch colonialism and played a vital part in the struggle for Indonesian independence in the years following the second world war. In 1976, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) unilaterally declared Aceh's independence from Indonesia. The people of Aceh have been fighting for that independence ever since.
The war waged against them by Jakarta has resulted in more than 39,000 deaths. Unfortunately for the Acehnese people, the Indonesian military has significant commercial interests in the region's huge deposits of oil, gas, gold and other metals, as well as in timber and marijuana. It will not willingly give them up to an independent Aceh.
Actively Radical Television's latest film, Aceh: The People's Struggle, is a short but powerful documentary about this growing movement for self determination. Director Jill Hickson has produced several other films about the Indonesian democracy movement, including There is Only One Word: Resist and Indonesia in Revolt — Democracy or Death.
Through interviews with activists from Aceh and Australia and scenes of the devastation caused by the Indonesian military, Hickson graphically portrays the suffering and courage of a people fighting for independence and justice.
In spite of cease-fires between GAM and the Indonesian military, the killing continues. The film reveals that more than 100 people have been killed since January and 30,000 Indonesian troops are in the region. Aceh's capital Banda Aceh resembles a war zone.
The military justifies the murder of GAM supporters by saying that GAM is an armed rebel force with little support. But as Kautsar, chairperson of the recently formed Acehnese People's Democratic Struggle Front, explains in the film, the brutal military occupation of Aceh encourages more and more people to take up arms.
As the film makes clear, it is the military repression of the people that has strengthened the resolve of the strong mass movement to force Jakarta to hold a referendum on independence.
Syadiah Marhaban from the Aceh Referendum Information Centre (SIRA) says in the film that in December 1999, 2 million people — half the population of the province — took to the streets to demand a referendum. A poll conducted by SIRA in November found that 92.6% were in favour of independence rather than the "autonomy" offered by the Indonesian president.
Aceh: The People's Struggle helps make sense of a complex situation. It presents the different points of view within the independence movement and puts them in context, while at the same time showing the great suffering of the people. It is recommended viewing for anyone interested in Indonesia, its people and their struggles.