Banda Aceh – A convicted gambler from North Sumatra was caned in front of hundreds of spectators Friday in Banda Aceh.

The convicted gambler, identified as Syafaruddin Nasution, 35, was lashed 10 times with a bamboo cane after Friday prayers outside the Ateuk Pahlawan Mosque in the Baiturrahman district.

Jakarta – The government has no intention of partitioning Aceh because it would violate the Helsinki peace agreement signed by Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) last year, Information and Communications Minister Sofyan Djalil says.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Ati Nurbaiti, Jakarta – Ahead of next week's legislative deliberation on the Aceh governance bill, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle reiterated its opposition, saying the bill would give too much to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Imran MA, Banda Aceh – The Blang Pidie representative offices of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) in West Aceh was attacked by a group of around 100 militia on Friday February 17. All of the office equipment including a typewriter, radio and other materials were destroyed. The office is now under a tight police guard.

Yophiandi Kurniawan, Jakarta – The general chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Megawati Sukarnoputri, is pessimistic that the implementation of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the government and the Free Aceh Movement will be in accordance with expectations.

Jakarta – Former president Abdurrahman Wahid, known as Gus Dur, has confirmed a report by the State Intelligent Agency (BIN) that the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) still wants independence for Aceh, even though it has made peace with the Indonesian government.

ST Pramono, Jakarta – An Acehnese member from the Joint Forum of the National and Regional House of Representatives, Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, says that the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) report on the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) must be accompanied by evidence."If it is not factual, it's difficult to believe", said Baldan at the national parliament in Jakarta on Tuesday February 14.

Salim Osman, Jakarta – Even before parliament starts its deliberation today, the Aceh Government Bill has already been slammed by critics for not sticking to the spirit of the Helsinki peace agreement.

Saiful Bahri, Banda Aceh – Wilayatul Hisbah officers (Syariah/Islamic law police) detained five women that were considered to have violated Islamic law on the afternoon of Monday February 12.

Jakarta – The government has promised to heed Acehnese leaders' demand for a greater say in a future law that will be used to guide how Aceh will be governed.

Jakarta, Antara – Former Army chief of staff, retired General Tyasno Sudarto, says that the Draft Law on a Government for Aceh or RUU-PA will endanger the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) because it has a number of clauses that lead in the direction of federalism.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Activists grouped in the Aceh Network for Democracy have demanded an rewrite of the Aceh governance bill, which they say accommodates Jakarta's interests more than those of the Acehnese.

Jakarta – Indonesia will miss a deadline to move tens of thousands of people made homeless by the 2004 tsunami into temporary houses because of problems obtaining timber, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

M Isma & Saiful Bahri, Banda Aceh – Demonstrations "opposing" the Home Affairs Department's revisions to the Draft Law on a Government for Aceh (RUU-PA) are continuing and spreading.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The House of Representatives has yet to start deliberating the bill on Aceh's future governance but opposition and criticism of its contents have already been voiced.

Banda Aceh – Vice President Jusuf Kalla says he opposes the inclusion of a clause in the bill on governance in Aceh that would allow independent candidates to run for public posts.

Bhimanto Suwastoyo, Jakarta – Indonesia's parliament is set to scrutinize a draft law granting war-torn Aceh unprecedented autonomy, which may spur demands from other regions for similar deals but poses no serious threat, analysts say.

Margie Mason – More than a year after the tsunami swallowed thousands of lives and homes in Indonesia, many survivors still lack of basic health and sanitation needs despite billions of dollars in disaster aid, a new study found.

Tony Hotland and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The government and the House of Representatives may allow independent candidates to contest local elections in Aceh, although the issue is not in the draft bill on Aceh governance.

Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – A draft law aimed at cementing a peace deal between Indonesia and rebels in Aceh province will be debated for the first time in parliament this week, with legislators facing a tight deadline to pass it.

Nasir Gabra, Lhokseumawe – A demonstration launched by hundreds of Malikussaleh Lhokseumawe University (Unimal) students almost ended in a clash with police when they pushed and shoved each other as students tried to break through the gates of the North Aceh Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) on Thursday February 2.

Nur Raihan, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Aceh has asked the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) to follow up the finding of graves of victims of the conflict in Aceh. Twenty-two graves have been recorded containing 37 skeletons that have been found since the Helsinki agreement was signed in August.

Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – Indonesia, which suffered the most from the Indian Ocean tsunami, dismissed on Thursday a report that accused several governments of failing to meet human rights standards in relief efforts.

Nur Raihan, Banda Aceh – The Acehnese Alliance of Private College Student Executive Councils (BEM PTS) believes that the Draft Law on a Government for Aceh that was submitted to the to the House of Representatives by the Home Affairs Department has disappointed the Acehnese people.

Adi W and Radzie, Banda Aceh – Hundreds of students from the Acehnese Alliance of Private Collage Student Executive Councils (Aliansi BEM PTS Aceh) held a demonstration on Wednesday February 1 protesting the central government's removal of a number of crucial articles in the Draft Law on a Government for Aceh (RUU-PA).

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Activists demanded Monday that North Sumatra authorities put a stop to illegal fees imposed during transportation of imported timber from Medan to Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The final draft of the government's bill on Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam opens the possibility for the redrawing of its borders, which would violate the peace agreement signed by Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Tsunami-hit Aceh will soon face an environmental disaster if the government keeps on issuing logging concessions in the province's forests, an environmental group says.

Luhur Hertanto, Jakarta - The government has finally completed compiling the Draft Law on a Government for Aceh and is ready to submit it to the House of Representatives (DPR). President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will today - Wednesday January 25 - study the final draft to prepare a Presidential Instruction (Ampres).

The government's completed Aceh administration bill will allow the Acehnese to set up local political parties, as mandated in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the government and the now-defunct Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Helsinki – As snow floated down from the dark skies over Finland's capital Helsinki, Vice President Jusuf Kalla and exiled leaders of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) held a historic meeting aimed at building a long-lasting peace in Aceh.

Helsinki – Peace broker Martti Ahtisaari on Saturday praised former enemies Indonesia and the Aceh rebels for honoring a treaty that ended almost 30 years of bloodshed in the former separatist province.

Ahtisaari, a former Finnish president who mediated the negotiations resulting in a peace pact signed in Helsinki in August, declared the process a success.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The Acehnese will not be getting local political parties in the near future, home affairs minister M. Ma'ruf announced Wednesday. He said Jakarta had temporarily ruled out the creation of local political parties, pending consultation with the House of Representatives.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – The Aceh-Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR) admits it has turned a blind eye to hundreds of houses being rebuilt in prohibited, highly polluted areas that were devastated by last year's tsunami in Aceh.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Extending the term for the international Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) would be a good way to help Indonesian authorities and former separatists establish a long-lasting commitment to peace, legislators and a senior Acehnese politician said.

But the government still needs to explain the reasons behind the extension to the House of Representatives.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Establishment of local political parties and the partition of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam into three provinces are expected to be main issues of contention when legislators begin deliberations on the bill on Aceh later this month.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – A number of international relief organizations have been forced to import timber to build houses for tsunami survivors whose homes were destroyed in the catastrophe.

The decision to import timber was taken due to the scarcity of logs from sustainable forests in the country.

Hera Diani and Anissa S. Febrina, Jakarta – With containers of tsunami aid gathering dust at ports in Jakarta and Belawan, North Sumatra, the government is relying on oft-heard excuses to explain the delay in clearance.

Tedi Hikmah, Jakarta – The non-government organisation Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) has again raised questions about the investigation of gross human rights violations that have taken place in Aceh.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – After living in a tent in a tsunami refugee camp for months, Cut Samsidar left Aceh Besar regency for Medan two months ago to work as housemaid.

She said she could no longer stand the conditions in the camp as aid was no longer forthcoming. She still is at a loss to know why the assistance has been cut off.

The Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) said the tenure of the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) in Aceh should end as originally scheduled because otherwise a bad precedent would be set, a spokesman said.

Lhokseumawe – Indonesia withdrew the last of its police from Aceh province Thursday under a peace agreement with separatist rebels that was propelled by the tsunami one year ago.

The withdrawal – delayed several times in the past week due to a shortage of ships – was the last military step required under the deal to end a 29-year war that claimed 15,000 lives.

Aguswandi, Banda Aceh – The one-year commemoration of the tsunami could be the last time the world focuses on Aceh. Despite promises that the world will not forget Aceh, it is very likely that the commemoration marked the beginning of the end of global attention to Aceh. After all, second anniversaries are rarely heard of.

Radzie, Banda Aceh – The earthquake and tsunami at the end of 2004 and the signing of the peace agreement between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in August 2005 has resulted in a drastic decline in the number of human rights violations in Aceh.

Radzie, Banda Aceh – The earthquake and tsunami at the end of 2004 and the signing of the peace agreement between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in August 2005 has resulted in a drastic decline in the number of human rights violations in Aceh.

Jakarta – The spokesman of ther Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Aceh Irwandi Yusuf confirmed that GAM high-ranking officials, Hasan Tiro and Malik Mahmud, would not visit Aceh in the near future.

Jakarta – An EU-led team monitoring a peace deal in tsunami-ravaged Aceh province will extend its mission by at least three more months to oversee crucial elections, Indonesia's vice president said Friday.

Before the tsunami, Banda Aceh was a ghost town at night except for patrols of feared paramilitary police. In the mornings, corpses scarred by torture would turn up in the paddy fields down the coast where the brutal guerilla war between GAM (Free Aceh Movement) insurgents and security forces was fought in the jungle.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – Indonesia is today scheduled to complete the withdrawal of its 21,000 non-local soldiers from Aceh as part of a peace agreement to end a 29-year separatist insurgency in the tsunami-ravaged province.

A'an Suryana and Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Ignoring mounting criticism, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has approved a plan for the Indonesian Military to deploy troops to help speed up post-tsunami recovery programs in Aceh.