James Balowski, Jakarta – A furor has erupted over the recent formation of the GAM party in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh.

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam governor Irwandi Jusuf agree the establishment of a local political party should have legal grounding.

Udin – At least 200 victims of the Aceh conflict from the Fraternal Solidarity for Victims of Human Rights Violations (SPKP HAM) demonstrated at the Aceh Regional House of Representativ

Nani Afrida, Berastagi – Five years after sharia was first implemented in Aceh, many residents, especially villagers, still do not fully understand it, an Islamic group says.

Banda Aceh – Victims of the Aceh conflict being assisted by the group Fraternal Solidarity for Victims of Human Rights Violations (SPKP HAM) will hold their second congress in Saree in

Aguswandi, Banda Aceh – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) establishing itself as a political party is the last thing Jakarta needs to worry about right now.

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Banda Aceh – United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has been asked to pressure the Indonesian government to resolve cases of human rights violations that befell

Banda Aceh – The case of RCTI television reporter Ersa Siregar, who died during a fire fight between TNI (Indonesian military) soldiers and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) during the perio

Udin, Banda Aceh – United Nations High Commission for Human Rights Louise Arbour is particularly interested in women's issues in Aceh.

[The following is a compellation of abridged translations from Detik.com on reactions to the establishment of the GAM Party by former members of the Free Aceh Movement in Banda Aceh on

Jakarta – The government denied Monday that it had given the go-ahead for ex-members of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to use the flag of the former rebel group as symbol for a

Banda Aceh – A plan by the Aceh government to liquidate the Asean Aceh Fertilizer (AAF) factory and have it managed by a foreign company has been opposed by the Aceh People's Party (PRA

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – More than 6,000 families that fell victim to the tsunami in Aceh are living still in temporary shelters because many newly built houses were not yet equipped wi

Imran, North Aceh – Residents of the Mee village in the sub-district of Syamtalira Aron, North Aceh, have discovered the remains of what they believe to be part of a skeleton of a perso

Jakarta – Many people in Indonesia's Aceh province remain traumatised two years after a peace deal ended almost three decades of war and if left untreated could trigger violence, a repo

Jakarta – Civilians in Indonesia's Aceh, which was wracked by a long-running civil conflict, suffer high rates of mental trauma that could trigger more violence, a report said Friday.

Banda Aceh – Angry residents in Indonesia's Aceh have disabled a tsunami warning system after a false alarm spread panic in a province still traumatized by the deadly 2004 Indian Ocean

Banda Aceh – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has begun to initiate steps to form a local political party.

James Balowski, Jakarta – On May 20, a group of women activists in Indonesia's northern-most province of Aceh declared the formation of a new local political party – the Acehnese People

Former Aceh Monitoring Mission chief Pieter Feith recently made his first visit to Jakarta and Banda Aceh since the mission's mandate expired in December 2006.

Dara, Banda Aceh – A number of women's activists that are concerned about the fate of women have declared a new local political party that has been given the name the Acehnese People's

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – An alliance of activists and human rights abuse victims in Aceh have completed a draft on the formation of a truth and reconciliation commission, which they pl

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Post-tsunami reconstruction works in Aceh are contributing to deforestation as reconstruction agencies use timber from illegal logging activities, an envir

Banda Aceh – The Acehnese People's Party (PRA), the first local political party to be established in Aceh, is appealing to the public to remain calm and not be provoked by the by the re

Jakarta – Experts on peace, women and religious affairs said Tuesday that women's roles in peace negotiations, and even in day-to-day activities, are still not recognized, especially fo

Dara, Banda Aceh – International Labour Day, which is known as May Day, was also commemorated in Aceh on May 1.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – A grenade exploded at the residence of former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) spokesman Sofyan Dawood in Muara Dua district, Lhokseumawe, early Sunday morning.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Aceh has accused the central government of breaking the law and betraying its promise to the Acehnese people to share more of the province's oil and gas revenu

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – More than two years after Banda Aceh was devastated by the 2004 tsunami, the agency handling much of the rehabilitation in the province has completed 44 percen

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Less than two years after the signing of the peace agreement between the Indonesian government and Free Aceh Movement (GAM), residents of Nanggroe Aceh Darusal

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Southeast Aceh regency was tense Monday evening after the installation of Marthin Desky as acting regent, replacing Rajidin, by Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Governo

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf warned the government Friday against issuing regulations that may contradict the 2006 Aceh Administration Law without consultin

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – A member of Aceh's sharia police was caught with a teenage girl in a Banda Aceh public bathroom on Thursday night.

Andi Haswidi, Banda Aceh – Aceh is a province that is blessed by abundant natural resources and wealth that have long lain undeveloped due to a 32-year insurgency that only recently cam

Sunil Jagtiani, Banda Aceh – Brightly coloured new homes now dot the Indonesian province of Aceh as it slowly rebuilds after the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, but some lie empt

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A majority of Acehnese people no longer believe in the effectiveness of the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) and are calling for it

Jakarta – Acehnese cultural experts are calling for the revival of traditional and religious culture in Aceh, saying that local customs were strong prior to their erosion by the region'

Seth Mydans, Bireuen – The little green car accelerated around a mountain curve and flashed through a village here in Aceh Province, scattering chickens, children, dust and pebbles.

Blessed with abundant resources, Aceh is now struggle to put almost three decades of armed conflict and the devastating tsunami behind it.

Jakarta, Sandy Indra Pratama – Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf has said that the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) will set up a local party.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The Nanggroe Aceh Darussalem administration and the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) announced their partnership Friday in an all-out battle against corru

The central government has issued Government Regulation Number 20/2007 on Local Political Parties in Aceh. The decision was announced at the State Palace yesterday.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam provincial administration is set to declare a moratorium on the logging of forested regions in the province.

Armia AM, Lhokseumawe – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has declared its commitment to fight for cases of past human rights cases.

Banda Aceh – While waiting to officially declare the party, the Acehnese People's Party (PRA) – the first local political party in Aceh – is currently in process of establishing a party

Banda Aceh – Aguswandi BR and Thamrin Ananda have been elected by acclaim as the general chairperson and secretary general of the Acehnese People's Party for the next five year period.

Banda Aceh – Around 75 participants attending a conference of the Preparatory Committee for the Acehnese People's Party (KP-PRA) are being treated at the Zainoel Abidin Public Hospital

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – While a presidential decree on local political parties is still being worked out, Aceh's first-ever local party is being born this week.

The left-wing Acehnese Peoples Party (PRA) will be holding its founding congress in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh at the end of February.