Vaudine England, Jakarta – Months after an accord was signed between Aceh's separatist rebels and the Indonesian Government, the brutal war in the province has deepened.
Two teenagers were found dead after a police raid on homes in the Pidie district of Aceh at the weekend. Their hands were tied with wire and one of them had been burned, his body found in the house which police had set alight. Four other civilians were arrested in a separate raid and later released, but all showed signs of torture.
A total of 166 people have been killed in violence since September 2, the national Antara news agency said. The victims included 28 members of the Indonesian security forces and 25 rebels, with the remainder civilians. A total of 546 buildings, including houses, offices and shops, had been torched during the same period.
One of the most obvious transgressions of the "Humanitarian Pause" agreement occurred last week when Indonesian troops attacked the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels' headquarters. At least nine people were killed, many are still missing and at least a thousand fearful villagers have fled their homes nearby.
Local newspapers and human rights groups reported that GAM commander Teungku Abdullah Syafi'i escaped, but one of the movement's advisers, Teungku Yahya, 55, was shot dead and 20 people were captured. The head of a local religious school, Teungku Syafi'i Amin, was among those arrested; his body was found later.
Other casualties included Teungku Yahya, who was shot dead when troops found him in possession of a radio transmitter, and Nyak Ali, 20, who was driving a vehicle which police say had no number plate.
Amnesty International and local rights groups say they now fear for the lives of at least 14 men who have been missing since being detained by police on October 24. Two others, in police detention since October 14, are also feared dead.
This week, GAM and the Government are to meet again in Geneva to see how the claimed truce is progressing and what steps can be taken towards opening a political dialogue. But even Indonesia's top negotiator, Hasan Wirayuda, Director-General of Political Affairs in the Department of Foreign Affairs, admitted: "The current Aceh truce is just an appetiser and it hasn't had tremendous results. From the beginning, I didn't expect that many of the expectations in that agreement would be met."
On June 2, the Indonesian Government and GAM agreed to suspend armed operations for three months for humanitarian aid to be distributed in Aceh. The agreement recently was extended to January 15.
Some analysts have suggested that the Geneva deal's commitment to negotiations is an anathema to the armed forces and that both sides are using civilian battle grounds to influence if and how such talks can start.
They note Jakarta does not fully control its own troops and that GAM has become astute at capitalising on the atrocities to increase local support for separatism.
"At first the agreement appeared to have a positive impact on the human rights situation in Aceh," Amnesty International noted. "However, both sides have continued to commit human rights violations since the agreement came into effect.
"Extra judicial executions continue to take place, often during police and military operations to find GAM members. Arbitrary arrests, torture and 'disappearances' are also widely reported."