A lobby group in Darwin, Australia, claims Indonesian authorities are persecuting and intimidating civil democratic groups in the province of Aceh.

The group Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor held a protest in Darwin's Raintree Park today to highlight the issue.

A spokeswoman for the group Robyn Waite claims two leaders of the Acehnese civil rights movement were abducted by the Indonesian military and interrogated after calling for a ceasefire between the government and the Free Aceh Movement.

"What's happening in Aceh is independent voices are being silenced and this is something we are very angry about," Ms Waite says.

"People who do have the strength to speak out for what they believe are being arrested, are being tortured, are being intimidated – it's just like East Timor," she says.

"We want to get the word out there about these attrocities," she says.