Jakarta – Former members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) denied on Friday any involvement in corrupt practices in local administrations and challenged anti-graft groups to come forward with evidence of their involvement.

"Please give us proof about our involvement in corrupt practices," said former GAM member Suadi Sulaiman, now a member of the Pidie local council.

Sixty-five punks detained and sent through a 10-day forced "re-education" program at a police camp in Aceh Besar were released on Friday. In an interview with the Jakarta Globe, Insp. Gen.

Farouk Arnaz – Sixty-five punk rock enthusiasts detained by the Aceh Police and sent for "re-education" were released on Friday after 10 days of spiritual and physical coaching.

Jakarta – An anti-graft non-governmental organization has alleged that former members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), now members of the local `government, were involved in corrupt practices.

Banda Aceh – Several community organizations issued a joint statement on Wednesday rejecting the presence of punks in Aceh and called on the local government to issue an ordinance that would outlaw a punk lifestyle.

Arientha Primanita & Antara – Muslims students and clerics in staunchly Islamic Aceh on Wednesday came to the defense of the local authorities, saying that punks were trying to undermine Islamic law in the province, as officials claim.

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – About 20 people staged a protest in front of the Indonesian Consulate General in San Francisco, the United States, on Monday in connection with the arrest of 65 youths during a punk rock concert in Aceh.

Fakhrurradzie Gade, Seulawah, Indonesia – Mohawks buzzed and noses free of piercings, dozens of youths march in military-style for hours beneath Indonesia's tropical sun – part of efforts by authorities to restore moral values and bring the "deviants" back into the mainstream.

Arientha Primanita – Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf said on Tuesday that police actions to re-educate punks did not violate human rights and instead showed government concern towards the punks.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Police have recaptured two young punks, one of them a minor, who escaped "re-education" at a police camp in the hills 62 kilometers east of Banda Aceh.

Banda Aceh Police chief Armensyah Thay said Syaukani, 20, and Saiful Fadli, 17, escaped from police custody around noon on Saturday because they "missed their parents."

Tifa Asrianti and Novia D. Rulistia, Jakarta – Following the round up and imposition of penalties upon a group of youths in Aceh for wearing punk rock haircuts or attire, some believe that it is clear that certain members of the sharia police in the region require additional education and training.

A group of self-proclaimed anarchist-punks in Moscow have released a video that shows them allegedly defacing the Indonesian embassy in Moscow in a show of support for dozens of punks being detained in Aceh.

Farouk Arnaz – The arrest of 64 punks in Banda Aceh for the alleged crime of being "punk" spurred a group of punks under the name of Solidarity for Aceh Punks United to rally in front of the National Police headquarters in Jakarta on Monday.

Nurdin Hasan – "We are not criminals but we were beaten up like animals when the [police] tried to arrest us. We've never made trouble before," said a 20-year-old who managed to escape a raid last week by Aceh police officers for the supposed crime of being "punk."

The Banda Aceh Ulema Assembly (MPU) accused dozens of youths described as "punks" that were arrested during a concert at the city's cultural park, of manipulating the concert permit.

Nurdin Hasan & Dessy Sagita, Banda Aceh – Amid rows of youths dressed in police uniforms, 15-year-old Arismunadar kept his head bowed and answered in brief snatches when questioned about his treatment at the police camp in Lembah Seulawah, Aceh Besar district.

Michelle Natalie – News of the recent detainment and "re-education" of some 60 punks in Banda Aceh has stirred up a hornet's nest of outrage among local and international punk rock communities, many of whom have responded with campaigns to signal support for their Sumatran brethren.

Nurdin Hasan – Indonesian sharia police are "morally rehabilitating" more than 60 young punk rock fans in Aceh province on Sumatra island, saying the youths are tarnishing the province's image.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Deputy mayor Illiza Sa'aduddin Djamal says she doesn't mind getting her hands dirty in her crusade against the punk community of Banda Aceh, proudly telling of how she has supervised police raids at cafes and city parks in recent months.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – About a thousand police officers, out of 13,000, in Aceh were identified as drug users, Aceh police chief Ins. Gen. Iskandar Hasan said on Tuesday.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Dozens of young people were being held and punished by Aceh police on Tuesday for the supposed crime of being "punk," despite not being charged with any crime nor being brought before a court.

Antara & Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Arab movies good. Punk rock bad. That was the message from the staunchly Islamic province of Aceh, where authorities in the capital scrapped a scheduled punk rock concert but allowed a film festival screening Arabic movies to go ahead as planned.

Fakhrurradzie Gade, Aceh – The man known as Indonesia's "green governor" chases the roar of illegal chainsaws through plush jungles in his own Jeep. He goes door-to-door to tell families it's in their interest to keep trees standing.

That's why 5,000 villagers living the edge of a rich, biodiverse peat swamp in his tsunami-ravaged Aceh province feel so betrayed.

Nurdin Hasan – Three people died and five were injured during a shooting in Lhokseumawe, Aceh on Sunday.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Political tensions in Aceh have begun to rise again with a grenade blast on Jl. Daud Beureueh, Lampriet, Banda Aceh, at around 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, which slightly injured three civilians.

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – An Acehnese civil society group says it has reported Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf to the National Police for issuing a business licence to a company to convert 1,605 hectares in Tripa Swamp, Aceh, into a palm oil plantation.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – A leading environmental group is suing Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf for allegedly approving a permit for an palm oil plantation inside a protected peat forest.

p>Jakarta – A General Elections Commission (KPU) member said that the upcoming gubernatorial election in Aceh had been prepared under the existing regulations.

"We will proceed with the electoral registration phases. There is no legal basis to suspend it," KPU member Endang Sulastri said on Wednesday in an electoral dispute trial at the Constitutional Court.

Banda Aceh – A brother and sister who had a child together have been banished from their Aceh village, despite officials struggling to find an offense to charge them with under the province's Shariah legal code.

Nurdin Hassan – An incestuous relationship between a brother and sister in sternly religious Aceh is the newest unconventional relationship to test the limits of the province's Shariah law, which fails to consider the possibility, authorities there said.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – A number of Friday prayer congregation members forcefully ended a sermon being delivered by a khatib (preacher) and dragged him down from the podium because "they were irritated by the sermon's content".

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Police have named three suspects, including a local councilor, in Friday's attack on a Muslim preacher and have detained two of them, an officer said on Sunday.

Seven couples, including three Indonesian soldiers, were arrested for illegally being in close proximity to unmarried members of the opposite sex during raids in Banda Aceh, Aceh, early on Friday morning, a top official said.

An imam preaching against violence in Aceh was attacked and beaten as he delivered his sermon during Friday prayers, a report said.

Saiful Bahri was speaking out against election violence allegedly committed by local politicians and former members of the disbanded Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Pidie, AcehKita reported.

Nurdin Hassan – Authorities in Aceh released a married lesbian couple from detention after the lovers agreed not to see each other again.

Nurdin Hassan, Banda Aceh – Security authorities in the deeply religious Indonesian province of Aceh have been forced to admit that they are clueless about how to handle a case involving the marriage of two lesbians, saying same-sex marriages are not dealt with under local Islamic laws.

Jakarta – Six years after the Helsinki peace deal ended the long insurgency of the Aceh Freedom Movement (GAM), activists now say the government has avoided bringing to justice past human rights violations that occurred in the province during the civil war.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government has yet to fulfill its commitment to realize the Helsinki Agreement in Aceh, a rights group says.

"We urge the government to realize the agreement by setting up a human rights court to try past human rights abuses in the province," Impasial executive director Poengky Indarti said in a press statement.

Jakarta – Cases of human rights violations during the conflict in Indonesia's northern-most province of Aceh must be investigated and resolved in accordance with the Helsinki peace agreement and the Law on Aceh Governance (UU PA). This is extremely important in order to provide justice to the victims and to ensure future peach in Aceh.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Sharia police in Aceh Besar, Aceh province, on Wednesday, arrested three men buying food in a restaurant during the fasting day.

"We have been watching the restaurant for several days to verify reports from the public," said Darul Imarah district chief, Azhari Awai.

Meulaboh, Aceh – Public Order Agency officers in West Aceh, Aceh, arrested three Muslims for failing to fast on Sunday.

Jhon Aswir, a spokesman for the agency, also known as Satpol-PP, said KN, ML and HD were arrested as they had lunch in a restaurant.

"We had to arrest them because they do not respect other Muslims who are fasting," Jhon said.

Violence in Aceh is becoming political, according to a human rights NGO.

"We are facing violence in relation to local political issues such as the regional elections and harsh competition between political parties," Harris Azhar, coordinator of the Missing Persons and Violence Victims Commission (Kontras), told a press conference on Sunday as quoted by kompas.com.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – A former combatant of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in front of his coffee kiosk in Bireun, Aceh, on Friday evening.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Political tensions were expected to calm gradually in the once-restive Aceh after parties agreed to accept nominations of independent candidates on the condition that the gubernatorial election would be rescheduled.

Index: ASA 21/021/2011

Amnesty International welcomed the decision by a US Court of Appeals that US-based Exxon Mobil can face claims relating to extrajudicial killings, torture, and prolonged arbitrary detention by Indonesian soldiers in Indonesia's Aceh province under the US Alien Tort Statute (ATS).

Stephen Schaber – Aceh will hold its second post-conflict election in November and, according to the International Crisis Group, it will be bitterly contested by two former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) allies.

Jakarta/Brussels – Five years after the first post-conflict elections in Aceh brought former guerrillas of the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, GAM) to power, local elections scheduled for November 2011 are turning into a bitter intra-GAM battle.

Over 100 demonstrators protesting the issuance of mining permits vandalized the gate of the Aceh governor's office on Monday after they were banned from staging a rally inside the building's compound.

The protestors, mostly members of environmental organizations, rallied to urge the governor to revoke 120 mining permits and to close mining areas in the province.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Aceh has decided to hold its provincial, district and mayoral elections on Nov. 14, but the absence of supervisory bodies at each level is raising concerns of possible campaign and polling irregularities.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Eighteen men and one woman were caned in the eastern Aceh town of Langsa on Thursday, less than a week after Amnesty International called for an end to the practice.

The caning took place in the town's Merdeka Park and was watched by more than a thousand onlookers.