Langsa, Aceh – Six years after the Indian Ocean tsunami swept more than 200,000 people to their death, Titik Yuniarti still clings to hope at least one of her children is alive.

The rebuilding of Aceh from the enormous destruction of the 2004 tsunami has been impressive, but the province continues to lag behind the rest of the nation in terms of poverty, life e

Christen Broecker – When President Obama went to Indonesia last month, he lauded its embrace of democracy in a speech at the University of Indonesia but made clear that equality was ess

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – If the Aceh legislature has its way, the province will soon have a supreme leader with the authority to dismiss the governor and disband the legislature.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Refugees from the Aceh conflict era admitted to having been intimidated by "anti-relocation" figures, saying that threats had deterred them from moving from a p

Nurdin Hasan, Jantho, Indonesia – Two people received eight lashes each in Islamic Shariah law-controlled Aceh on Friday after being found engaging in an extramarital kiss.

Nurdin Hasan & Nivell Rayda, Banda Aceh & Jakarta – Aceh's deputy governor and Shariah Police chief have dismissed a critical report on the province from an international human

"God will punish us by sending another great earthquake and tsunami if we don't uphold and enforce sharia [Islamic law] in this land," says a resident of Banda Aceh.

These two laws deny people's right to make their own decisions about who they meet and what they wear. The laws, and their selective enforcement, are an invitation to abuse.

Jakarta – Two local Shariah laws in Indonesia's Aceh province violate rights and are often enforced abusively by public officials and even private individuals, Human Rights Watch said i

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Islamic boarding schools, called dayah in Aceh, are not just for the pious.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Hundreds of angry villagers in Manggi, West Aceh, on Saturday raided a subdistrict police station they believed was being used as a brothel and attacked a nak

Nurdin Hasan & Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Banda Aceh & Jakarta – Seventy-eight civil society groups in Aceh have denounced a proposal to confer national hero status on former Pre

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Opposition by ulema and councilors in Aceh to a woman becoming district head is reportedly weakening.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – In a move criticized as an insult to the dignity of women, an Aceh district speaker has called for the replacement of a female subdistrict head, arguing that

Nurdin Hasan, Jantho, Aceh – With heads bowed, two young women walked toward a wooden stage outside Al Munawwarah Mosque in Jantho, Aceh Besar.

Ulma Haryanto, Jakarta – The Indonesian Council of Ulema have rejected comments from West Aceh district head Ramli Mansur that woman who fail to wear Islamic clothing are "asking to be

Dewi Kurniawati, Aceh – Meet Ramli Mansur, a 46-year-old leader of the Aceh Party, whose members are mostly drawn from the ranks of former combatants of the disbanded Free Aceh Movement

Dewi Kurniawati, Banda Aceh – On a recent Friday afternoon, the face of a young woman detained at a Shariah Police station in Aceh's provincial capital Banda Aceh was contorted in anger

Dewi Kurniawati, Banda Aceh – It doesn't take much to notice "Echa," a transvestite who lives in Banda Aceh.

Dewi Kurniawati, Banda Aceh – Agnes Monica, the famous Indonesian actress and singer, is a given to wearing sexy clothes, whether on stage, TV or advertising billboards.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – More than 1,000 people gathered on Friday in Pidie Jaya to watch the district's first public canings for violations of Islamic law.

Meulaboh, Aceh – Almost a full week after three American citizens were deported from Indonesia's Aceh province for allegedly converting local Muslims to Christianity, Shariah Police and

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Aceh's Sharia Police censured hundreds of women for wearing tight pants and jeans in Wednesday's raid in Banda Aceh.

Nurdin Hasan, Aceh – Authorities in West Aceh have told three Americans accused of converting local Muslims to leave the district for their own safety, while three of their alleged conv

Banda Aceh – An Indonesian court on Thursday jailed two Islamic policemen for gang-raping a young woman in custody, a case that has sparked outrage in the deeply religious province of A

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – A blockade of the giant Arun liquefied natural gas plant in northern Aceh by more than 500 villagers demanding the company honor 36-year-old promises entered

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – A group of men relaxes in a coffee shop in Lamkabeu village, Aceh Besar, chatting about the breaking news of terrorism in their village.

Nurdin Hasan – Public order officers readying to demolish illegal structures in Aceh's provincial capital were lucky to escape with their lives when protests quickly turned violent on T

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Aceh is currently the fourth-biggest distributor of illegal drugs in the country and a major producer of marijuana, Vice Governor Muhammad Nazar says.

Nurdin Hasan, Jantho (Aceh) – Three of 21 men caught gambling on cards last month were caned with seven lashes each in public on Friday in Jantho, Aceh Besar district, the second time t

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Prosecutors on Tuesday asked the Langsa District Court in Aceh to sentence a member of the province's Wilayatul Hisbah Shariah Police to 12 years in prison fo

Armando Siahaan – Aceh's government has failed to eradicate corruption in the province and has instead become mired in more graft, according to a scathing new survey released on Tuesday

Damien Kingsbury – Teungku (Lord) Hasan di Tiro, who led the bloody independence movement in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh for three decades, has died of complications from l

Fabio Scarpello, Denpasar – The death of Teungku Hasan Muhammad di Tiro, the founder of the former pro-independence Free Aceh Movement (GAM), could intensify existing divisions in Indon

Peace in Aceh was Tengku Hasan Muhammad di Tiro last wish before he died at the age of 84 on Thursday, his trusted aide Farid Husain said. "He asked for peace to be developed in Aceh.

Tom Allard, West Aceh – "Let me ask you a question," says the regent of West Aceh, Ramli Mansur, leaning back in his chair in his spacious office.

Nurdin Hasan – If you are a Muslim woman who likes wearing tight jeans or miniskirts, then the West Aceh district may not be the place for you.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – An East Aceh district councillor was hospitalized after an angry mob that suspected him of committing adultery attacked him while he was trying to escape from

Ade Mardiyati – After the devastating tsunami in 2004, Aceh – then in the midst of an armed rebellion – entered a new era.

Selma Milovanovic – One-year-old Mayuri wriggles out of her father's arms and flops to the ship's deck.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – A West Aceh district bylaw banning Muslim women from wearing short skirts or tight jeans is unclear and could lead to chaos, a female activist said on Friday.

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Nurfika Osman – For 40-year-old Syarifuddin, serving in the Shariah Police in staunchly Muslim Aceh was his life's calling.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Almost six years after the devastating 2004 tsunami, which killed more than 130,000 people in Aceh province, most victims have recovered from physical and

Jakarta – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is calling for the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission to resolve the lingering problems over past gross

Executive summary and recommendations

Indonesia on Friday promised a full investigation into the public humiliation, mob beating and possible caning under Islamic law of two people suspected of having an adulterous tryst.

An official from the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Aceh Barat and the married woman he was caught having intercourse with were paraded naked through a village, tied to a pole and bru

Nurdin Hasan & Nurfika Osman, Banda Aceh – A day after a powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake shook Sumatra Island, Aceh is starting to count the costs.