Jakarta – Indonesian police said yesterday that rebels from the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) were behind last month's bomb attack on Parliament, and that one man still wanted over the incident had fled to the rebellious province.
Police arrested two men late on Wednesday over the July 14 attack that caused minor damage. No one was hurt in the incident.
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Lhokseumawe – The martial law administration in Aceh probably had not anticipated that people in the province would suffer when troops drove them into refugee camps in a bid to split them from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels.
Indonesian troops have shot dead another eight suspected separatist rebels in Aceh province, the military said.
Troops shot dead five men believed to be Free Aceh Movement (GAM) guerrillas during a clash at Meukek in South Aceh district on Wednesday, said military spokesman Ahmad Yani Basuki. A marine was shot and wounded in the 30-minute clash, he added.
Nurul Hidayati, Jakarta – The presidential decree authorising a military emergency in Aceh is being challenged by the People's Lawyers Union (Serikat Pengacara Rakyat, SPR).
A US journalist arrested in June while reporting on a separatist war in Indonesia's Aceh province expects to be freed Sunday after being sentenced on immigration charges, his lawyer said.
Robert Go, Jakarta – A team dispatched by Indonesia's Parliament to review the progress of martial law operations in Aceh has returned to Jakarta bearing reports of possible violations by soldiers and government officials.
Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri said on Friday that the martial law in Aceh province would not last long and claimed the ongoing military operation to crush Acehnese separatist rebels was on the right track, despite reports of many civilian casualties.
Nani Farida and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh/Lhokseumawe – Two former negotiators for the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) went on trial in the Banda Aceh District Court on terrorism and treason charges on Thursday.
Jakarta – The People's Democratic Party (PRD) has rejected holding general elections in Aceh for as long as the military emergency in Tanah Rencong [Aceh] continues.
Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – Facing two months imprisonment for immigration offenses, an American freelance journalist asserted that he had not committed any acts or activities that violated Indonesia's immigration law.
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Lhokseumawe/Denpasar – Armed clashes continued in many parts of Aceh province on Tuesday despite the martial law administration's claim that the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) had been terminally weakened.
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Lhokseumawe – Saturday night is no longer lively in the North Aceh capital Lhokseumawe where youngsters used to gather in street cafes downtown or just ride around on motorcycles.
Nani Farida and Teriani ZB Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh/Lhokseumawe – A House of Representatives delegation visited Aceh on Monday and was quick to judge the military operation in the province a success merely from the number of red and white flags they saw.
Lesley McCulloch, Melbourne – The message came via satellite phone. The caller was out of breath and desperate: 15 civilians shot dead by the Indonesian military, including two children. The location: the village of Tutut Sungaimas, West Aceh. The date: July 19.
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and Nani Farida, Lhokseumawe/Banda Aceh – The Martial Law Administration in Aceh is intensifying efforts to prevent Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leaders from fleeing the province or country, an official says.
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Lhokseumawe – Tengku Hanafi, 65, was back at the Baktiya district office in North Aceh for the seventh time this week desperately inquiring as to when he could get his new red-and-white identity card.
War in Indonesia's Aceh province will last until separatist rebels are rooted out, the military said. "What is clear, the operation to crush Aceh separatist rebels is not limited to six months. As long as those rebels still exist, they will have to be rooted out," Aceh military commander Major General Endang Suwarya was quoted by the official Antara news agency as saying.
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto apologized to the Acehnese people on Friday for what he called the negative impacts of the war there.
Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – William Nessen, an American freelance journalist who spent weeks traveling with independence-seeking guerrillas in the restive northwestern province of Aceh, went on trial Wednesday on charges of immigration violations.
Al Gedicks, who teaches sociology at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and is the author of "Resource Rebels: Native Challenges to Mining and Oil Corporations", says the internal conflict in Aceh is much more about politics and economics than religion.
Jakarta – Three months after placing Aceh province under martial law, Indonesia is losing its campaign to win the "hearts and minds" of the Acehnese people, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) warned on Wednesday.
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Topo Susanto, a legal observer from the University of Indonesia's School of Law, said on Tuesday that despite the imposition of martial law, the martial law administration in Aceh did not have the power to impose martial law on civilians.
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Lhokseumawe – After two months of martial law in war-ridden Aceh, the situation in the province turned more uncertain as pro-Jakarta groups of Acehnese took the law into their own hands .
Jakarta – Rebels trying to extort money from a family in Aceh have killed a woman and wounded her journalist husband and their daughter.
Three armed men visited Mr Idrus Jeumpa in Lhokseumawe town late on Sunday to demand that he pay 20 million rupiah in overdue "taxes" to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the Banda Aceh-based Serambi newspaper said.
Jakarta – Residents of Kuala district, Nagan Raya, took the law into their own hands over the weekend, taking hostage 36 family members of suspected members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
According to military authorities, this is the second action of its kind since a military operation was launched against the separatist movement.
A Lin Neumann, Jakarta – Using tactics inspired by the US military during the war in Iraq, the Indonesian military is keeping the domestic press under control and virtually barring foreign correspondents from covering the ongoing military offensive against separatist rebels in the northern province of Aceh.
Kirsten E Schulze – As Indonesia's military operation against the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakin Aceh Merdeka, or GAM) is entering its third month, it is becoming increasingly clear that an end to violence is not imminent.
Shawn Donnan, Lhokseumawe – Major General Bambang Darmono believes his mobile telephone proves the popularity of Indonesia's military operation against the separatists in Aceh province.
Jakarta – The military operation in Aceh to incapacitate Free Aceh Movement (GAM) forces will result in prolonged trauma in children. After they have become adults, their minds will be filled with sadness, revenge and they will tend towards violence.
Jakarta – An American reporter detained after hiding out with rebels in Aceh has been charged with immigration violations and is expected to go on trial next week, prosecutors said Friday.
William Nessen, who was working as a freelance reporter, was arrested June 24 when he turned himself in to the Indonesian military in northern Aceh.
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Lhokseumawe – The number of refugees in war-torn Aceh keeps changing, but their misery remains due to poor sanitation at refugee camps.
Jakarta – Security personnel shot dead at least 25 rebels in two of the bloodiest days of the military offensive against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the Indonesian Military (TNI) said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the military has deployed its medical personnel to provide health aid for Acehnese people taking refuge in many districts in the province.
Indonesian troops waging war on separatist rebels in Aceh province have shot dead at least 15 guerrillas in one of the bloodiest days of their two-month offensive, the military said.
Spokesman Ahmad Yani Basuki said three members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) were killed in raids and 12 more in six firefights on Wednesday but no soldiers were hurt.
Jakarta/Lhokseumawe – Responding to widespread allegations of rights abuses in Aceh, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) is planning to set up posts in Bireuen and Lhokseumawe regencies to receive reports of rights abuses from local people.
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Lawyers have raised concern over the government's failure to provide defense lawyers for members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) who are facing trial, saying the government is bound by law to make sure that all defendants are assisted by defense lawyers regardless of their crime.
A'an Suryana and Nani Farida, Banda Aceh/Lhokseumawe – Entering the eighth week of the integrated operation to restore security and order in Aceh, the military offensive has been proceeding far ahead of the humanitarian operation, with eight more alleged rebels killed but more than 42,000 people languishing in worrying conditions in refuge camps in the resource-rich province.
The European Union will question the Indonesian government about a "disturbing" lack of access to war-torn Aceh province after one of its aid workers was detained there overnight, a diplomat said.
Max Lane – On July 11 at the Taman Ismail Marzuki Jakarta Arts Center, more than 30 community, cultural, human rights and other organizations are sponsoring an Aceh Peace Concert.
James Balowski, Jakarta – The Indonesian military's (TNI) vicious little war against the people in its northern-most province of Aceh is reaching new heights, and new regulations to restrict the media and limit aid groups' and human rights workers' access are making it almost impossible to monitor the situation.
Jakarta – At least 71 members of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) will face charges of subversion, police in the Indonesian province said on Wednesday. The offense can carry a death sentence.
A'an Suryana and Nani Farida, Banda Aceh/Lhokseumawe – Despite the military's recent claim of territorial control over Aceh, the war between the military and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) peaked on Tuesday when 18 rebels were killed and several more soldiers were injured in separate clashes.
Jane Perlez, Jakarta – The Indonesian military has now declared that its tough offensive against rebels in the northern province of Aceh, originally supposed to last six months, would last much longer, maybe even 10 years.
Jakarta – Indonesia's military has warned rebels in Aceh province to free five hostages, including a local TV crew, by a Tuesday evening deadline or face attack, an army spokesman said.
Jakarta/Lhokseumawe – The number of Acehnese who have fled their homes has soared to 48,000 as the Indonesian military (TNI) intensifies its operations in the province.
Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah said on Sunday the number of Acehnese fleeing to makeshift refugee camps had risen from 32,000 at the beginning of last week to 48,000 over the weekend.
Jakarta – At least 150 civilians have died, 80 have been wounded, and another 71 have gone missing since the government launched the integrated operation in the troubled province of Aceh on May 19, authorities say.
A'an Suryana, Lhokseumawe – At first she refused to be interviewed but then relented on the condition that she be quoted under a false name, Hanafiah. "I am afraid that I'll be killed after an interview," said the 50-year old women, a resident of Krueng Dhoe hamlet in Pidie regency.
Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's top general says Aceh operations are "ahead of schedule", but admit the authorities may extend martial law for the province beyond the current six-month order.
The military and the police have also asked Parliament for an additional fund of US$220 million to finance the campaign against the separatist Free Aceh Movement.
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said on Friday that the military operation against the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) had failed and urged both parties to go back to the negotiating table.
Indonesia's military claims it now controls all of Aceh province, six weeks after imposing martial law to crush separatist rebels. But local human rights groups are counting the civilian cost of the war... saying as many as 35-thousand Acehenese have fled their homes and hundreds more have been killed in attacks and air raids.
Presenter/Interviewer: Tricia Fitzgerald
John Aglionby, Jakarta – Separatists in the Indonesian province of Aceh yesterday dismissed military claims that Jakarta had taken control of the whole province and vowed to continue fighting until they get their freedom.