Armia AM, Lhokseumawe – As a result of delays in the ratification of the Acehnese version of the Draft Law on Aceh Government (RUU-PA), thousands of university and high-school students in the city of Lhokseumawe held a Aceh Peace action at the North Aceh Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) on Thursday April 6.

Jakarta – Considering the massive level of deforestation in tsunami-hit Nangroe Aceh Darussalam province over the last five years, the government should review its decision to revive eight forestry concessions there, an environmental organization says.

Jakarta – Illegal levies on trucks carrying relief supplies to tsunami-devastated Aceh province is adding to the costs of reconstruction, and Indonesia must crack down on the practice, the World Bank and the agency in charge of rebuilding said Tuesday.

Misdarul Ihsan, Banda Aceh – On Monday April 3, Acehnese student organisations from the Aceh Peace Alliance (AAD) once again held a demonstration in support of the Draft Law on Aceh Government (RUU-PA) that is currently being deliberated by the House of Representatives (DPR).

Jakarta – Uncovering human right abuses in Aceh will likely take time because of strong resistance from the military and police, observers say.

Indonesia has missed a deadline to pass a law granting autonomy to Aceh under a peace pact with separatists but both sides say the delay would not derail the process.

The pact signed last August by the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) called for a law granting Aceh partial self-rule by March 31.

Jakarta – More than 100 cases of sexual violence or harassment have been reported by Acehnese women living in camps and shelters after the 2004 tsunami, according to a report by an Indonesian women's commission released Thursday.

James Balowski, Jakarta – On March 16, left-wing Acehnese political activists publicly launched the Acehnese Peoples Party Preparatory Committee (KP-PRA), which they hope will provide the basis for establishing the first local political party.

Wellington – About 10,000 houses built by international aid agencies for tsunami victims in Indonesia are unfit for human habitation and may have to be rebuilt, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

Raden Rachmadi, Jakarta – The result of the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) research in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province on March 8-18 shows that most of the people there yearn for the establishment of a local party.

Bhimanto Suwastoyo, Jakarta – Indonesia will miss a deadline Friday to pass a crucial law granting autonomy to Aceh but the province's peace process should remain on track if the two sides maintain open dialogue, analysts said.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – Six months after the government and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) signed a peace deal, the Acehnese say they are feeling more secure but many still worry the accord could break down at any time, a survey says.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) in Aceh deplored the recent decision of the Forestry Ministry to grant forest utilization licenses to five companies in the province.

Wahyu Dhyatmika, Jakarta – Although the recess at the House of Representatives (DPR) starts next week, the Special Committee for the Aceh Government Draft Bill will still continue its discussions in order to meet the deadline.

They took their place behind a piece of card bearing their name in orderly fashion, a sharp click signaling an end to their moment in front of the camera.

Shinta Shinaga, Banda Aceh – The peace process in Aceh has encountered a stumbling stone. Militia groups still exist and recently their level of activity has even been increasing. Added to this is the spread of illegal weapons.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – A number of legislators backed Thursday a call for the inclusion of articles into the bill on Aceh governance specifically disbanding the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Nur Raihan Banda Aceh – Not long from now a local political party will enliven the political dynamics in Aceh. An embryonic Acehnese political party has already been officially launched.

The embryonic local party is called the Acehnese Peoples Party Preparatory Committee (KP-PRA) which already has representatives in 11 regencies/cities across Aceh.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The Golkar Party, the biggest faction in the House of Representatives, has led the way in declaring its support for independent candidates to contest direct elections in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

Chris Brummitt, Jakarta – International aid group Oxfam has suspended some of its tsunami-relief operations in hard-hit Aceh province while it investigates suspected financial irregularities there, a spokesman said Thursday.

Radzie, Banda Aceh – Civilian activist have launched the Acehnese Peoples Party Preparatory Committee (Komite Persiapan Partai Rakyat Aceh, KP PRA), which represents the precursor for the formation of the first local political party in Aceh.

Max Lane – The second congress of the Acehnese Peoples Democratic Resistance Front (FPDRA), held on February 23-26 in Aceh Besar, took a decision to form a new political party in Aceh. The FPDRA was established in the late 1990s and grew out of student, women's and farmers' groups struggling against the Suharto dictatorship.

Radzie, Banda Aceh – As many as 62 Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members detained in a number of correctional institutions in Sumatra have yet to be granted amnesty by the Indonesian government. As a result they are still incarcerated in jail. The tragedy is that several of them have fallen ill.

Jakarta – A former separatist peace negotiator in Indonesia's Aceh province may face public caning after he was caught with a French humanitarian worker alone inside a car, in violation of partial Islamic law in force there, police said Tuesday.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Acehnese appealed once again for an end to lingering suspicion about their allegiance to the country as the House committee deliberating the bill on the province's governance made a weekend trip to Banda Aceh.

Banda Aceh – Dewi Haryanti was in a hurry. The 25-year-old was exchanging her hotel waitress uniform for street clothes for the trip to her second job at a boutique she owns with her sisters in the capital of Indonesia's tsunami-torn Aceh province.

Mark Forbes, Jakarta – An Australian aid agency is among those to have lied about their lacklustre efforts in Aceh's $7 billion tsunami reconstruction program, the program's director says.

Oktamandjaya Wiguna, Jakarta – The government will continue observing alleged propaganda attempts by former members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to discredit Indonesia.

Duncan Wilson, Banda Aceh – Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias (BRR) chief Kuntoro Mangkusubroto has blasted non-governmental organizations, accusing some of dishonesty and a lack of professionalism, and threatened the agency would take over any projects that remain unfinished in June next year.

Anton Aliabbas, Jakarta – There are indications that the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leadership is actively carrying out anti-government propaganda. Nevertheless, in general the situation in Aceh is favorable.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – A scientist dismissed on Monday nationalist fears that the bill on Aceh governance would lead to the province's succession from Indonesia.

Riyadi Suparno – The high-ranking officials gathered around a table at a ministry office in Jakarta literally divided Aceh's forests into a number of concessions, to be offered to the interested businesspeople with the deepest pockets.

Washington – Mobil Corp., the world's biggest oil company, must face a lawsuit by villagers in Indonesia who say the company contributed to human-rights abuses by government security forces.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – After many years when it was too dangerous for him to visit his Aceh family home, Muslim Ibrahim finally returned with last August's signing of a peace agreement between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Sri Muninggar Saraswati and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Aceh leaders are optimistic that Jakarta will accommodate their people's political aspirations in the new bill on Aceh governance.

Tn. Arie Rukmantara and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The controversial bill on Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam governance would not make the tsunami-ravaged province into a federal state as some people feared, a group of constitutional law experts and political scientists told the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The Aceh legislative council is displeased with an article on the bill on governance in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam that would give Jakarta broader powers to issue regulations in the province.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Activists have slammed the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias for failing to perform its duty, asserting that many of its working units are totally inactive.

The finding was disclosed by the Anticorruption Movement (Gerak) and several non-governmental organizations in Banda Aceh, Aceh.

Banda Aceh – The Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) has asked the Indonesian government to immediately conduct an investigation into the illegal groups that were behind the recent attack on the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) in Blang Pidie, West Aceh. This is because it smacks of the behaviour of an illegal group resembling a certain type of militia group.

Banda Aceh – European Union peace monitors in Indonesia's Aceh province said Monday the EU has extended their mission by another three months until June 15.

"The mission has been extended by another three months, although the official announcement will be made in Brussels," said Faye Belnis from the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM).

Matt Wade – Government aid to the tsunami-devastated province of Aceh has been undermined by corruption, poor communication with locals and a failure to protect the environment, a report has found.

The document, by the aid-monitoring group Aidwatch, is critical of the Australian Government's assistance to Aceh, saying it has been painfully slow and excessively secretive.

Rilis, Banda Aceh – A meeting of the Commission for Security Arrangements (COSA) on Saturday February 25 has discussed a number of crucial issues that have taken place in Aceh such as violence against members of the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) and the vandalism of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) offices in Blang Pidie, West Aceh.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The new bill on Aceh governance is in line with the Constitution and the Helsinki peace pact signed last August with rebel leaders, the government said in its briefing to the House of Representatives on Friday.

Banda Aceh – If you happen to pass an alleyway in the Banda Aceh's Kuta Alam area at night, don't be surprised if you bump into beautiful, flirtatious and scantily dressed "women".

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – The religious police are earning a bad reputation among some Banda Aceh residents for arrogance and thuggery.

Jerry Norton, Jakarta – Sustaining world interest in aid to areas devastated by the December 2004 tsunami is about to get tougher, a top recovery official said on Thursday as he visited Indonesia's hard-hit Aceh province.

The peace process in the Indonesian province of Aceh is about to face its next big test., with parliament setting up a special committee to debate a draft law granting a level of autonomy to Aceh. The committee's 50 members hold their first meeting this week.

Nani Afrida, Aceh Jaya – Thousands of students in Aceh Jaya regency, Aceh, are still attending lessons in tents more than a year after the deadly tsunami destroyed many of the regency's schools.

At least 98 of 161 schools in Aceh Jaya regency were destroyed in the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami, Aceh Jaya Regent Zulfian Ahmad said.

Fitraya Ramadhanny, Jakarta – Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) has protested the unearthing of 23 sites suspected to be graves of victims of human rights violations in the North Aceh town of Bireun. Imparsial also expressed its disappointment with police for allowing it to happen.