Kalle Liesinen to help disarm Aceh guerrillas

Head of multinational disarmament group digs into own pocket to get effort started

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By Sami Sillanpää in Banda Aceh
     
      For 30 years the rebels of Aceh have lurked on the jungle hills, fighting the Indonesian army.
      Now a Finnish man has arrived in Aceh with a mission - to disarm the guerrillas.
      "The electricity has been cut off again", says the head of the disarmament effort Kale Liesinen, 51, at his office in Banda Aceh, the capital of the Indonesia's Aceh province.
     
Without air conditioning, the office in a large villa-type building will heat up rapidly. However, when the air conditioning is on, the wires threaten to overheat.
      There have been plenty of minor problems ever since Liesinen arrived in Aceh in late August to prepare for his international peace monitoring task.
     
Liesinen is part of a group of monitors from the European Union, which together with five Asian countries are to begin monitoring the new peace agreement in Aceh.
      However, the EU has was not able to decide on the operation before the Indonesian government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) had signed their peace agreement.
      With no EU decision, there was no EU money.
      Liesinen was sitting in his hotel room on the edge of his bed, thinking of where to get the cash for an office for the operation, for telephones, printers, office chairs, and other necessities.
      "I went to an ATM and withdrew money from my own bank account", Liesinen laughs.
      The cash point has a withdrawal limit of 1.5 million rupiah (about EUR 123), which is not much for setting up an international operation involving 200 people.
      "You are only allowed to make ten withdrawals a day."
      Just under two weeks later came the Finnish and British governments and their money. The peace has now been signed, and Liesinen is preparing for the post-September 15th period.
      It is on that date that the disarmament of the Free Aceh movement begins under his supervision.
     
"All preconditions exist for them to come out of the bush and give up their weapons."
      The Free Aceh Movement has an estimated 3,000 - 5,000 members hiding in a jungle that is difficult to pass through.
      "We collect the weapons where they are. The arms are dispersed over a wide area, so we can't get very many at a single location", Liesinen points out.
      Under the peace treaty, GAM will hand over a quarter of its weapons every month. In return, the Indonesian army will withdraw more and more forces from Aceh each month.
     
The guerrillas have a relatively small number of weapons: 840.
      "In the peace treaty, both sides have agreed that this is the number of weapons to be handed over. I have no reason to suspect that Indonesian intelligence would not have the necessary information about the guerrillas' weaponry", Liesinen says.
      It is possible that the guerrillas might hide some weapons in the jungle. That is not really Liesinen's concern, as his task is to see to it that the terms of the peace treaty are implemented.
      Liesinen says that the guerrillas' weaponry includes at least hand guns, assault rifles, a few machine guns, and explosives.
     
Liesinen has been involved in crisis management missions in Sri Lanka, Macedonia, Iran, and Lebanon. In Aceh he is to lead a group of 46 disarmament experts.
      Their first task will be to contact guerrillas in the jungle using mobile phones and satellite telephones to agree on locations where weapons are to be handed over.
      Then the disarmament experts will use bolt cutters and electric tools to render the weapons useless.
      The destruction will be recorded on video, and the multinational monitoring group will sign official witness statements.
      Liesinen is also prepared to ask for satellite pictures of the location in order to make sure that it is safe for all parties to enter.
     
The remnants of the destroyed weapons will be handed over to the Indonesian army against a receipt.
      "Then it will be their turn to keep their part of the deal."
      When the weapons are handed over, the guerrillas will be asked to give their personal information. Those who officially register as members of the Free Aceh Movement are to get a pardon from the Indonesian government, and financial support to get started in life after the struggle.
     
Liesinen's group will also be in charge of monitoring how the guerrillas get started in civilian life. The members of the group are likely to get to know some of the former fighters very well.
      If everything in Aceh goes according to plan, the guerrillas' weapons should be destroyed by the end of the year, and Liesinen can return home.
      "I am rather confident that this is going to work", he says.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 21.8.2005  

More on this subject:
 BACKGROUND: EU's most ambitious project

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Thousands in Aceh celebrate as peace treaty is signed in Helsinki (16.8.2005)
  Finnish observers to be first into Aceh to monitor peace (15.8.2005)

SAMI SILLANPÄÄ / Helsingin Sanomat
sami.sillanpaa@hs.fi