Humanitarian Encounters in Post-Conflict Aceh, Indonesia The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters. Citation No citation. Accessed February 19, 2015 11:44:27 AM EST Citable Link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:10433473 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University's DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA (Article begins on next page) Page intentionally left blank Humanitarian Encounters in Post-Conflict Aceh, Indonesia A dissertation presented by Jesse Hession Grayman to The Department of Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of Social Anthropology Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts 6 December 2012 © 2013-Jesse Hession Grayman Co-Advisor: Professor Byron J. Good Author: Jesse Hession Grayman Co-Advisor: Professor Mary M. Steedly ABSTRACT Humanitarian Encounters in Post-Conflict Aceh, Indonesia In “Humanitarian Encounters in Post-Conflict Aceh, Indonesia,” I examine the humanitarian involvement in Aceh, Indonesia following two momentous events in Aceh’s history: the earthquake and tsunami on 26 December 2004 and the signing of the Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that brought a tentative, peaceful settlement to the Free Aceh Movement’s (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, GAM) separatist insurgency against Indonesia on 15 August 2005. My research focuses on the international humanitarian engagement with Aceh’s peace process but frequently acknowledges the much larger and simultaneous tsunami recovery efforts along Aceh’s coasts that preceded and often overshadowed conflict recovery. Using ethnographic data based on five years working with four different international humanitarian organizations concerned with post-conflict recovery in Aceh, I address two main topics in my dissertation. The first is an insider’s perspective on the anthropology of humanitarianism. From one chapter to the next, I recreate and situate a particular humanitarian world’s relation to local structures of power and suffering that expands upon and complicates some of the prevailing debates in the anthropological literature on humanitarianism. From the unique vantage point within various humanitarian organizations, stories of Aceh’s post-conflict recovery filter through with selective and idiosyncratic ethnographic clarity. The accumulation of these stories reveals, by way of mosaic example, a logic of humanitarian intervention. The second topic I address in my dissertation is the story of Aceh’s peace process within the larger context of Indonesia’s post-New Order transition to democracy. I situate my data within a iii rapidly growing literature of insightful histories and critiques of Aceh’s conflict and subsequent transformations since the tsunami and the formal end of hostilities between GAM and Indonesian security forces. My focus on the ethnographic details in each chapter is set against some of the broadly taken-for-granted histories that have come to define Aceh’s recent successes and failures in its transition to peace. iv Table of Contents Front Matter Title Page i Copyright ii Abstract iii Table of Contents v List of Maps, Tables, Figures, and Images vi List of Acronyms vii Maps ix Acknowledgements x Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Inbox 70 Chapter 2: Remote Fieldwork 136 Chapter 3: Recovery Narratives 163 Chapter 4: Recognition 194 Chapter 5: Humanitarian Subjects 237 Conclusion 298 Works Cited 348 v List of Maps, Tables, Figures, and Images Map 1: Indonesia ix Map 2: Aceh by Districts (Kabupaten) and Municipalities (Kota) ix Images 0.1, 0.2, & 0.3: Humanitarian and Military Technologies of Management 31 Images 0.4 & 0.5: Humanitarianism and the Appeal to Moral Sentiment 35 Figure 0.1: GAM-GoI and Local Level Conflicts by Month 41 Figure 0.2: Violent Conflict Incidents by Month 42 Table 1.1: Summary of IOM “General Bulletin No. 1157” 99 Table 1.2: “Makings of a Good Email User” 102 Table 1.3: List of Durhaka Images Sent to "All National Staff in Aceh" 117 Table 1.4: Examples of “Kindly” Commands in the Email Archive 126 Image 2.1: MSR Logo 137 Image 2.2: Table of Contents for the MSR Case Studies 138 Images 2.3 & 2.4: Posters on a Cafe Wall in Bener Meriah 142 Image 2.5: Takengon Panorama 146 Image 3.1: A Volleyball Game for Peace in Bener Meriah District 165 Image 4.1: Tips for Living in Aceh 203 Image 4.2: The Incumbent’s Campaign Banner was “Too Big” 206 Images 4.3, 4.4, & 4.5: ICRS / PIKR Branding 209 Image 4.6: An overcast view of the Babahrot River from Pak Zak’s garden 223 Table 5.1: Donors Need to Identify "Champions" 259 Image 5.1: Dôkarim is the Iconic and Playful Face of the Tikar Pandan Culture League 290 Images 6.1 & 6.2: Unofficial Election “Assistants” 300 Image 6.3: “If Partai Aceh Loses, Aceh Will Be Destroyed!!” 305 Image 6.4: The Generals 345 vi List of Acronyms AMM Aceh Monitoring Mission ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations AusAID Australian Agency for International Development BRA Badan Reintegrasi Aceh (The Aceh Reintegration Agency) Badan Rehabilitasi & Rekonstruksi Aceh-Nias (The Aceh-Nias BRR Reconstruction & Rehabilitation Agency) Crisis Management Initiative, the Finland-based NGO that brokered the CMI peace agreement between GAM an GoI. CoHA Cessation of Hostilities Agreement Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies, at Syiah Kuala CPCRS University, just outside of Banda Aceh DDR(R) Disarmament, Demobilization, Reinsertion (and Reintegration) DGO Director General’s Office (at IOM headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland) DOM Daerah Operasi Militer (Military Operations Zone) EU European Union GAM Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh Movement) GoI Government of Indonesia Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (The German GTZ Agency for International Cooperation, Germany’s international development agency) HDC Center for Humanitarian Dialogue HMS Harvard Medical School INGO International Non-Governmental Organization ICRS Information, Counseling, & Referral Services IOM International Organization for Migration International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (international IRCT NGO based in Denmark) IT information technology Komite Peralihan Aceh (Aceh Transitional Committee, GAM’s civilian KPA successor organization) LNG Liquefied Natural Gas LOGA Law on the Governance of Aceh MDF Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Aceh and Nias MoU Memorandum of Understanding PA Partai Aceh (The Aceh Party, GAM/KPA’s local political party) PBI Peace Brigades International PCRP Post-Conflict Reintegration Program (at IOM in Aceh) PNA Psychosocial Needs Assessment Rehabilitation Action for Torture Victims in Aceh (local NGO in Aceh, RATA accredited member of IRCT) vii List of Acronyms (cont.) Sentral Informasi Referendum Aceh (Aceh Referendum Information Center, the largest student activist organization advocating for a referendum on Aceh’s independence in the post-Suharto era) SIRA or Partai Suara Independen Rakyat Aceh (Independent Voice of the Acehnese Party, a local political party in Aceh that contested the 2009 legislative elections) TCC The Carter Center TNA Tentara Nasional Aceh (Acehnese National Army) TNI Tentara Nasional Indonesia (Indonesian National Army) ToR Terms of Reference, a job description UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Program UNDSS United Nations Department of Safety and Security UNHCR United Nations Refugee Agency UNV United Nations Volunteers USAID United States Agency for International Development Undang-undang Pemerintahan Aceh (Law on the Governance of Aceh, UUPA LOGA) Yayasan Ekosistem Leuser dan Pemberdayaan Ekonomi Daerah, or the YELPED Leuser Ecosystem and Regional Economic Empowerment Foundation (a local NGO in Kutacane, Southeast Aceh) World Health Organization WHO viii Map 1: Indonesia Map 2: Aceh, by Districts (Kabupaten) and Municipalities (Kota) Municipalities include: Banda Aceh, Langsa, Lhokseumawe, Sabang, Subulussalam ix Acknowledgements What follows is a daunting, humbling, and lengthy account of the support I received as I pursued this dissertation research during more than a decade of graduate school, including five years of fieldwork in Aceh, Indonesia during its humanitarian encounter following civil unrest and natural disaster. I start with the material sources of support that sustained my education and fieldwork, continue with the humanitarian organizations in Aceh that employed me, then situate these work experiences within my network of academic interlocutors, and conclude with a special set of comments for my dissertation committee, personal friends and family, and a formal dedication. Before even contemplating a PhD, I was grateful for the generous support of the Foreign Language Area Scholarship (FLAS) during three consecutive years (1998-2001) of study at the University of Michigan (UM) at Ann Arbor where I pursued two Master’s Degrees in Southeast Asian Studies (MA) and in Epidemiology (MPH). Both before and after my fieldwork, I was fortunate to have received tuition, stipend and travel support from various sources within Harvard University, including the National Institute of Mental Health Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, the Helen L. and Benjamin J. Buttenweiser Scholarship, the Teschmacher Fund Summer Research Scholarship, the Graduate Society Pre-Dissertation Research Fellowship, the Harvard Kennedy