Geoffrey MG's Beyond Wallacia

A widely-circulating Aceh Humanitarian Assistance Fund email soliciting donations for earthquake/tsunami-disaster relief work in the Indonesian province describes itself as a 'non-partisan civilian humanitarian organization.' Its encouraging message is that 'through local contacts and groups' in Aceh, it can 'reach people quickly, helping those who are often overlooked by other agencies'.

No person's name or address appears on the circular but the email address is registered to Lesley McCulloch of Villa Putra, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. When lecturer in Asian Studies at the University of Tasmania in 2002, Dr McCulloch was identified by Radio Australia as co-founder of the AHAS and the fund's Commonwealth Bank account in Hobart was later used in 2002-2003 as a collection point for donations to her legal expenses when she was arrested in Aceh for breaches of her Indonesian tourist visa.

A British citizen, Dr McCulloch was jailed for five months along with her friend, US nurse Joy Lee Sadler, and their Indonesian translator, amid accusations of her spying for the Aceh armed separatist movement, GAM. On her release, she was publicised by Australian Radio National's Philip Adams as a 'pro-independence activist' and by the NSW Labor Council as a representative of the 'Free Aceh Movement'.

In May this year Dr McCulloch delivered a joint paper, Military Business in Aceh and East Timor: A Comparative Study, with Deakin University's Damien Kingsbury at the University of Singapore and was keynote speaker at the Justice For Acheh' rally in Sydney in December commemorating '28 years since the peoples declaration of a free Acheh'.

Dr McCulloch's 'non-partisan civilian humanitarian organization' can be contacted at info@eyeonaceh.org or acehyouth@yahoo.co.uk. Its 'eye-on-aceh' website 'where one might expect transparent details on the fund's corporate registration in Australia, financial statements, Indonesian partners and record of service delivery in Aceh' is, unfortunately, still 'under construction'.

UPDATE

Another activist call for donations for Aceh was heard on Wednesday's edition of Democracy Now!, a television news program airing daily on over 300 stations in North America. Interviewed by Amy Goodman, veteren progressive journalist Allan Nairn and Suraiya IT, chairperson of New York-based International Forum for Aceh, were asked how to help the people of Aceh.

Allan Nairn recommended sending donations to "grassroots groups on the ground in Aceh" through the Washington DC-based East Timor Action Network and through the Tapol organisation (meaning political prisoner in Indonesian) in Britain. "This money will find its way to grassroots Acehnese activists who are also working for human rights, and will try to save people and build something better in the long run for Aceh", he said.

Tapol's "Aceh emergency appeal fund" webpage doesn't detail the "grassroots humanitarian organisations in Aceh" it will be forwarding the donations to. ETAN also doen't detail to whom it will forward donations for "grassroots humanitarian relief and reconstruction in Aceh." However it does offer US-tax deductibility for contributions of $50 or more made out to A.J. Muste Memorial Institute/ETAN.

Suraiya IT emphasised the need for financial aid from international communities, particularly from the United Nations. "They can give support to the mosques, to the churches," she said. "We establish the -- what we call a Fund Relief for Aceh. They can contact us, either to us or through the International Fund for Aceh."

Unfortunately there appears to be no listing for either the "Fund Relief for Aceh" or the "International Fund for Aceh" in the US and the webiste of the International Forum for Aceh is currently out of order. Those seeking more details of the charity registration of the groups and to whom funds collected will be directed could email Suraiya at ayathaib@aol.com or acehforum@aol.com (although these addresses may be out-of-date).

Please go on to: Indonesian deaths hit 80,000 - More aid needed