Banda Aceh – Civilians who lost family and friends during a three-decade separatist war in Indonesia's Aceh province deserve justice, rebels said Sunday, days after an agreement was signed to end the fighting that claimed nearly 15,000 lives.

The peace accord paves the way for the creation of a human rights tribunal, but the government says warring factions agreed during negotiations in Finland that the tribunal would not be used retroactively. Only violations that occur after Aug. 15 will be heard.

Rebel spokesman Sofyan Dawood said neither the government nor separatist leaders have the right to make that decision for the victims – most of whom were civilians. "That should depend on the Acehnese people whose rights were violated," Dawood said. "We cannot claim to represent them."

Human rights groups have accused Indonesian soldiers and police – and to a lesser extent Free Aceh Movement rebels – of killings, torture, kidnappings, rape and disappearances during their 29-year conflict.

Many of the alleged atrocities occurred when Aceh was under tight military control and escaped the international spotlight. Before the Dec. 26 tsunami, the province was closed to foreign journalists and aid workers.

Information Minister Sofyan Djalil explained to reporters Sunday that the human rights tribunal is being created for "future needs, not for the past." "The principle we're operating on now is to forgive, but not forget," he said.

The peace deal should ease the flow of aid to victims of the tsunami, which killed more than 131,000 people in Aceh and left half a million homeless.

Though several earlier accords have collapsed, it is seen as the best chance in years to bring a permanent end to the fighting.

Both sides made major concessions this time. The rebels agreed to disarm and gave up their long-held demand for independence, and the government offered the rebels amnesty and the right to political representation.

Indonesia will also withdraw more than half of its 50,000 troops from the oil- and gas-rich province on Sumatra island's northern tip.

Dawood, the rebel spokesman, said he did not object if political leaders in Finland decided that Indonesian troops and rebels fighters should not be held accountable for crimes carried in the course of their conflict.

"This could be considered the consequence of a struggle," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "But they have no right to decide about human rights violations against civilians, the common people."

A rebel commander, Tengku Muksalmina, took an even tougher line, calling for an international tribunal for Aceh – like the ones held in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. "To be fair, both GAM and Indonesian troops should be held accountable." GAM is the Indonesian abbreviation for the Free Aceh Movement.