Word: jakarta
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...even by Aceh's standards, the past year has been grim, and there is scant promise of relief. Last May, after the collapse of peace talks, Jakarta launched a massive military campaign against G.A.M.?a move that many saw as politically expedient for President Megawati Sukarnoputri, bestowing upon her an image of toughness that would belie her reputation as a remote and indecisive leader. The campaign was also popular with senior army brass, still smarting at their loss of prestige and power after dictator Suharto's toppling in 1998. But the quick success the generals predicted...
...Ominously, the past year of bloodshed, dislocation and military law has only intensified the sense of alienation among ordinary Acehnese. "It's totally polarized what was left of civil society in Aceh so that there is effectively no third way between Jakarta and G.A.M.," warns Damien Kingsbury, an Indonesia specialist at Melbourne's Deakin University. Some hope the situation will improve after Indonesia's July 5 presidential election. Retired military chief Wiranto, one of the three leading candidates, told TIME that "the use of force" in Aceh is a mistake, noting: "the problem of Aceh is not a security problem...
...imagine not living in Indonesia. My life is here." SIDNEY JONES, Jakarta-based human-rights analyst, after her work visa was not renewed by Indonesian authorities, who have strongly criticized her probing reports on the country
...four years, the Jakarta branch of the International Crisis Group (ICG) has provided one of the clearest windows into the troubled state of Indonesia. The Brussels-based ICG's mission is to use research to help prevent violent conflict, and it has been in the right place at a turbulent time: American human-rights activist Sidney Jones, head of the organization's Southeast Asian office, and a handful of expatriate and Indonesian researchers have produced 39 uncompromising reports on subjects ranging from bloody conflicts in Aceh, Ambon and East Timor to the origins of Islamic terror in the region...
...Jakarta has apparently decided it has had enough of the ICG's warts-and-all reports. Last week, the government refused to renew work permits for Jones and an expatriate staff member. Indonesia's powerful intelligence czar, A.M. Hendropriyono, told the press that Jones' reports had tarnished the image of the country and that "many were untrue." Jones, who has written for TIME, says she's not sure what has upset Hendropriyono's intelligence agency, known by its Indonesian acronym BIN. "The accusations against us keep changing," she says. "First it was our reports on Aceh and Papua. The latest...