Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has renamed its local party, and ended its armed struggle for Acehnese social welfare under the Indonesian political system.
With a redesigned symbol and flag the new party, Partai Aceh (Aceh Party), also has a different agenda to GAM.
Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Despite peaceful conditions, the reintegration of ex-combatants and victims of human rights abuses in the once-restive Aceh province has stalled on political and economic issues.
Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – Former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari has said that in general the peace process in Aceh is running well, however, the reintegration process is not yet maximized.
"There is still much to do as far as reintegration is concerned for all of us during the next few years," he said when visiting Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam yesterday.
Imran MA, Jakarta – The Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) office in Lhokseumawe has been occupied by hundreds of tsunami victims.
The victims, who are members of the People's Movement for Tsunami Victims, are demanding that the BRR Regional II at Lhokseumawe pay out rehabilitation funds amounting to Rp15 million per home.
Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – As many as 300 tsunami victims from the West and South coasts of Aceh have rejected the policy of the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Board (BRR) for Aceh and Nias regarding assistance and reconstruction funds of Rp2.5 million for each family.
Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – A score of protesters gathered at the offices of the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) here Tuesday to demand money to rebuild their homes.
Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – An American freelance journalist believed to be linked with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has been deported from Aceh after attempting to enter the province on Feb. 8.
Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Three years after the Aceh peace agreement, many former rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) are still serving their jail sentences in prisons in Sumatra and Java. Following the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the government and GAM in Helsinki on Aug.
Afrida, Banda Aceh – Hundreds of people set fire to the offices of former separatist rebels in Central Aceh on Saturday, killing four people and throwing one person down a 35-meter well.
Around 1:30 a.m. the crowd attacked the Aceh Transitional Commission's office in the remote Atu Lintang area, 30 kilometers from the regency's capital, Takengon, a village head said.
Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – The GAM Party, one of the local political parties in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh, has officially changed its party name and symbol.
Jakarta – Poverty in tsunami-struck Aceh has fallen below the pre-disaster level, a new World Bank report shows, due to both peace and the large reconstruction effort.
The Aceh Poverty Assessment 2008 report shows poverty in Aceh increased slightly in the aftermath of the tsunami, from 28.4 percent in 2004 to 32.6 percent in 2005.
Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Journalists in Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam have protested against a draft qanun (bylaw) on Islamic media and broadcasting proposed by the Aceh legislature and the provincial broadcasting regulator.
The press code of ethics and Press Law No. 40/1999 had been accommodating, but the proposed qanun was "an exaggeration", the journalists said.
Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – It has been a year since Aceh held a direct gubernatorial election made possible by the peace agreement between Jakarta and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), yet analysts say little progress has been made in improving the lives of residents.
Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Only two out of 10 local political parties in Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam have satisfied requirements to participate in the verification process scheduled for February. The event is in preparation for the direct regional elections to be held across the province next year.
Jakarta – After three years post-tsunami reconstruction in Aceh has resulted in worsening deforestation, Greenomics Indonesia says.
The non-government organization said in its release international donors failed to translate their campaign against global warming into action in their reconstruction program in the country's westernmost province.
Jakarta – Leading human rights groups urged Tuesday for the creation of a truth and reconciliation commission to address past crimes against humanity in Aceh.
Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – The Aceh Reintegration Agency (BRA) has urged to the government to speed up its slow compensation of former members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), and conflict victims, which it said had contributed to an increase of crime and public unrest over the past few months.
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Banda Aceh – A new Aceh government has already been formed, security has improved and the Aceh Monitoring Mission which was tasked to watch over the implementation of the peace agreement has concluded its tasks. But human rights abuses have yet to be resolved and many former combatants are still without adequate skills to feed their families.
The Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR), which was given the task of helping to rebuild communities in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami of late 2004, is set to end its mission in April 2009.
Calang – Hundreds of Indonesians prayed at mass graves in Aceh province on Wednesday to remember relatives who died in the Indian Ocean tsunami three years ago.
On December 26, 2004, giant waves triggered by one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded pulverized villages along Indian Ocean shores, killing or leaving missing about 230,000 people.
Alfian, Jakarta – Disaster and post-tsunami support focused on reconstruction and rebuilding in Aceh, Sumatra, has seen tsunami-survivors and others lose the will to work, a social scientist said Tuesday.
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Despite the imposition of a moratorium on logging in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, illegal logging has been rampant, causing the state about Rp 123.7 billion (US$13.70 million) in losses the past six months.
Banda Aceh – Commemorating World Human Rights Day, hundreds of activists in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh held a torch-lit procession from the Simpang Lima roundabout to the City Park in front of the Baiturrahman Great Mosque on the evening of Monday December 10.
Alfian, Jakarta – Activists proposed Sunday a model for a truth and reconciliation commission in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam aimed at accommodating the victims' sense of justice.
Jakarta – Economic and political authority needs to be shared equally in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam to ensure the brighter future envisioned at the signing of the 2005 Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), experts on Aceh say.
Jakarta – A rights watchdog group and victims of the conflict in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam lodged a complaint against the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) on Monday for the slow progress in handling human rights violations from Aceh's long and bloody separatist conflict.
Jakarta – Experts recommended Friday that Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam look toward locally implemented sharia laws to see established the Aceh Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR Aceh), despite the KKR's current lack of legal backing on a national level.
Reports from Indonesia say rogue elements of the Free Aceh Movement GAM are illegally hoarding weapons, two years after a peace agreement was signed with the government. The surrender of weapons and re-integration of former GAM rebels into the Acehnese community were part of a peace deal struck in August 2005 between the separatist group and the Indonesian government.
Fakhri, Banda Aceh – The Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) plans to form a local political party in Aceh soon. They will be sounding this out during an event titled Two Great Discussions (Duek Pakat Raya, DPR), which is being organised by the SIRA Preparatory Committee for the Establishment of a Local Political Party.
Christopher S. Rugaber, Washington – The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Bush administration for its view on a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corp. that alleges human rights abuses were committed at its natural gas facility in Indonesia.
Banda Aceh – Acehnese civil activists from the Aceh Anti-Corruption Coalition (KAAA) say they regret Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf has given his blessing to amnesty for former Aceh governor Abdullah Puteh, who was jailed over his involvement in a corruption case when he was still governor of Aceh.
Ridwan Max Sijabat and Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh/Jakarta – Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Governor Irwandi Jusuf has sent an official letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appealing for amnesty for his predecessor, Abdullah Puteh.
Politicians and activists in Aceh questioned the appeal, saying it undermined a sense of justice for the people of Aceh.
Ridwan Max Sijabat and Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam could face an unemployment explosion in two years after reconstruction work in Aceh is completed, says a local manpower office official.
Ridwan Max Sijabat and Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Since the establishment of the GAM Party in 2006, five more local political parties have been set up, although none has registered with the provincial authorities, a prerequisite for achieving formal recognition.
Daniel Rose, Jakarta – Nur, a young woman in a white shirt and green veil is quietly assembling a key chain from threads and other materials. Mouth open, her eyes focus on the movements of her own fingers. Behind her are children of all ages, sitting around on a red carpet, some just as deeply engrossed in making key chains as Nur.
Banda Aceh, Aceh – Six local parties have registered in Aceh ahead of the 2009 legislative election in the province, according to the provincial office of the Justice and Human Rights Ministry.
Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Deputy Governor of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Muhammad Nazar is upbeat regarding the implementation of sharia law in Aceh, denying it hindered reconstruction efforts and development in the region.
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – An Aceh-linked organization that advocates for environmental issues demanded that the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) apologize for implicitly blaming the slow reconstruction work on sharia in Aceh province.
Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta – Physical reconstruction and rehabilitation activities in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam alone cannot accelerate development programs in the province severely hit by the December 2004 tsunami and recovering from decades of armed conflict, an official says.
Kanis Dursin, Cot Keueng, Aceh Besar – It was around 3:00 p.m. and the sky above Cot Keueng mosque in Lamroh village, Kuta Baro district, some 13 kilometers east of Banda Aceh, was peculiarly blue.
Kanis Dursin – Wearing a headscarf, T-shirt and jeans, Nurhayati, 21, appears very much like any other girl in Aceh.
Jakarta – A call by Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Governor Irwandi Yusuf for the Acehnese to surrender all of their illegal guns has so far gone unheeded, police say.
"The call was circulated across the province a week ago, but no one has come forward to surrender any weapons yet," Aceh Police chief Insp. Gen. Rismawan said as quoted by Antara in Banda Aceh on Saturday.
Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – The swearing-in ceremony for the new Southeast Aceh regent turned into a clash between protesters and the police Saturday, leaving at least 26 people injured.
The new regent, Hasanuddin, and his deputy, Syamsul Bahri, were installed by Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf as scheduled on Saturday, despite controversy.
Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Accompanied by her mother, "Dedek" sat nervously in the Banda Aceh Islamic Court waiting to hear if her request for a divorce would be granted. There was no sign of her estranged husband.
"I requested a divorce because I couldn't take it anymore. I am sure the court will grant my request," she said.
Nani Afrida, Bener Meriah – Fatimah Inem Syam, 55, was just like any other woman in Aceh. As a wife and grandmother, she helped take care of her grandchildren, cook meals and harvest coffee beans on the family farm.
Just over a week ago, the people of Indonesia's western province, Aceh, celebrated the second anniversary of the end of thirty years of separatist hostilities. Now, the chief of the region's military has given his personal assessment of the former rebels, saying they're no longer considered an enemy of the Indonesian Defence Force.
Jakarta – Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) Commander Air Chief Marshal Djoko Suyanto said that the theft and burning of Indonesian flags in Aceh were not separatist actions. He believed the incidents were a legal matter for the police to handle.
Jakarta – Chief of the Iskandar Muda Regional Military Command Maj. Gen. Supiadin A.S. defended Monday former members of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), a number of whom are in leading government positions in the Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province.
Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid said Thursday Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf should be held responsible for a recent incident in the province in which an Indonesian flag was burned.
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Despite political obstacles, the Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam provincial administration is considering establishing a truth and reconciliation committee (KKR) to settle unresolved human rights abuse cases.