Joint Statement: Civil Society Coalition for the Victims of Earthquake and Tsunami

In the action for mourning, prayer and platform ofsolidarity
Sunday morning, December 26th 2004, Tsunami waves hitAceh and North Sumatra. It was the biggest disaster inIndonesia since the last 40 years. The Tsunami wascaused by an earthquake of 8,9 richter scale. Up untilnow, Aceh is totally paralysed, its infrastructure isdestroyed and, according to the latest record, morethan 30,000 lives were lost; thousands others werewounded and took refuge. The death count is expectedto mount due to the possibility of following earthquake and post-disaster disease outbreak. The diasater had also rampaged some areas in eight Asian countries.
Amidst the ongoing Aceh conflict and the suffering ofthe acehnese ever since the implementation of theMilitary Operation (1989-1998), the Martial Law(2003-2004) and the Civil Emergency (2004-until now),we are obviously concerned with this catastrophe thathas destroyed almost all resource in the province. Thedestruction of telecommunication network has causeddifficulty in accessing any information from and tocertain parts of Aceh; difficulty in sending food,clothing, and shelter as relief for the victims in thecoastal areas; and the lack of relief worker that canreach the areas.
In the name of humanity, we, Civil Society Coalitionfor the Victims of Earthquake and Tsunami, expressedour sorrow and concern over the disaster. As a form ofsolidarity act, we consolidate ourselves to directlymake intervention by giving aid immediately, as wellas within mid-term and long-term period, in the formof:
1. Making assessment of the situation and of theneeds in the areas hit by the disaster
2. Sending humanitarian volunteers to helpevacuation, investigation and registering process
3. Collecting information of post-disasterdevelopment
4. Setting up relief posts (posko) that can beaccessed by anyone who wants to donate various kinds of aid. To ensure that the donation will becoordinated, effective, correctly allocated, and willreach those who need it. The posts and their addressesare attached.Besides that, we also call for:
1. the solving of any technical and non-technicalproblem of the relief operation and the opening ofaccess for national and international humanitarian aid
2. demanding that the government provide means oftransportation to accelerate the distribution of aidand relief, communication means and medics
3. a humanitarian pause in Aceh and demanding thatthe belligerents stop armed contact
4. demanding that the government inform the publicabout the location of aid centers that are accessibleto the public and ensure that logistic help andhumanitarian fund received by the government willactually be distributed to the victims
5. urging all layers of society to collectivelymonitor the allocation of logistics and humanitarianfund conducted by the government so that it willactually reach the victims. This is very important asa lot of corruption cases of humanitarian fundhappened in the past.
6. ensuring that the recovery system in the areas hitby the disaster is implemented well and is supportedwith enough resources, as well as managedtransparently and with responsibility.
Thus we made our joint statement as a call to everyoneto forge solidarity and to share with the people ofAceh and North Sumatra who have become victims ofearthquake and Tsunami.
Jakarta, December 29th 2004Civil Society Coalition for the Victims of Earthquakeand Tsunami(Walhi,KontraS,AcehKita,Kalyanamitra,SEKAR,SEGERA, LBH-Apik,Shmi,TRK,Ciliwung, Amos,Yappika,JMP-KWI, Imparsial,AWG,Garda Bangsa,PerempuanMahardika, PMII,IMAPA,LMND,FPPI,FMN,PRD,FNPBI,KPI)