Calls for independence for Aceh are growing by the day, raising fears of a dismemberment of the republic. Part I of a two-part special report looks at forces propelling the demands for self-rule in the province
The horror stays locked in Ms Norlailah's mind. Her eyes are dark-ringed holes in a pinched and exhausted face, bearing years of pain and hate against Indonesia.
Jakarta – Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) Spokesman Major General Sudrajat has confirmed former vice president Try Sutrisno's controversial statement that Aceh province was never classified as a Military Operation Zone (DOM).
John Aglionby, Takengon – The last thing Suprianto heard before he passed out was his wife shrieking as she burned to death, locked inside their home by five masked gunmen. "It was horrible, her screams will live with me for ever," said the coffee farmer from Takengon. Mr Suprianto could do nothing to help; the attackers had sprayed bullets into his feet.
Amy Chew, Banda Aceh – The group which mobilised last month's huge pro-independence rally in the restive province of Aceh warned it would hold a referendum on ending Indonesian rule if Jakarta refuses one of its own.
Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Activists in Aceh have called off anti-Jakarta protests planned for Saturday because they fear Indonesia's armed forces will use flag-raising rallies as an excuse for a brutal crackdown.
Astrid Amalia, Jakarta – A top army official in Indonesia's troubled Aceh said on Wednesday that separatists were in control of the province amid intense pressure from the military for martial law.
"The situation in Aceh now is not safe as the rebels have already taken control of Aceh," Colonel Syafnil Armen told Reuters by telephone.
Jakarta – Military and civilian leaders, several allegedly behind large-scale human rights abuses in Aceh over the past decade, have defended their policies before parliamentary deputies, saying that tough measures were needed to maintain law and order.
Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Gen. Wiranto and top military officials were questioned over allegations of human rights abuses in the restive province of Aceh during an investigation by a special House of Representatives committee on Thursday.
Jakarta – One hundred and fifty students from the University of Indonesia rallied at the House of Representatives on Wednesday to demand that President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri resign if they fail to resolve the dispute in Aceh within three months.
Banda Aceh – Two [student] members of SIRA (Aceh Referendum Information Centre) were seriously wounded early on Thursday morning (24th November) [as received] after being caught in a hail of bullets and having a hand grenade thrown at them by men in military style fatigues riding a trail bike in the vicinity of Geuceu Meunara village, Banda Aceh.
Jakarta – The Indonesian military threatened Thursday to take action against rebels in the restive province of Aceh if they lower the national flag on the December 4 separatist anniversary there, a report said.
Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – The Indonesian President, Mr Addurrahman Wahid, has ruled out a referendum on independence for Aceh, raising fears of more violence in the resource-rich province at the tip of the island of Sumatra.
Jakarta – About 2,500 Acehnese Thursday forced their way into the parliament complex here to demand a referendum on self-determination in their province.
Jakarta – A catalogue of killings, torture and rape in the Indonesian province of Aceh was outlined to parliament Wednesday as an independent inquiry said it had found 5,000 cases of rights abuses.
Vaudine England (Jakarta) and Associated Press (Banda Aceh) – As President Abdurrahman Wahid left yesterday on another foreign trip – this time to Kuwait – Acehnese activists and investigators in Jakarta were increasingly impatient at his "inaction".
Jakarta – A barrage of criticism was raised on Thursday in response to the Indonesian Military and National Police's proposal to impose limited martial law in Aceh, warning such a move could lead to further human rights violations.
Jeremy Wagstaff, Lhokseumawe – Hundreds of Indonesian migrants to Aceh have fled the province in recent days because of a terror campaign apparently conducted by the armed Free Aceh Movement.
Jakarta – Scores of Indonesian students picketed the defense ministry Thursday to demand the prosecution of top officials they accuse of human rights abuses in the restive province of Aceh.
Thomas Fuller – Calls for a referendum on independence are growing louder in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh, where a demonstration last week drew hundreds of thousands of people.
Amy Chew of Reuters in Jakarta – The odds on Indonesia holding on to Aceh are no better than even, and a political solution must be found to stop separatist pressure breaking the country apart, the Regional Autonomy Minister said.
Ryaas Rasyid said separatists had been mounting an effective campaign for a referendum on independence.
Jakarta – Demands for an East Timor-style referendum on self-determination are on the rise in the staunchly Muslim Indonesian province of Aceh after decades of violence involving soldiers, civilians and armed separatist rebels. Here are some facts about the province:
Population: 5,114,850.
Banda Aceh – Up to a million people rallied here Monday to demand a referendum for self-determination in Indonesia's volatile province of Aceh and show they had popular backing.
Agencies in Jakarta – Home Affairs Minister Suryadi Sudirja indicated yesterday the troubled province of Aceh was unlikely to get a referendum soon to decide its political status.
Special autonomy within the "unitary state of Indonesia" was a better solution to Aceh's problems than "separation from the family", Mr Suryadi said.
Jakarta – Indonesia's leading newspapers on Friday urged Jakarta to find a peaceful settlement to separatist unrest in Aceh, a day after President Abdurrahman Wahid said he was open to a ballot on independence in the rebellious province.
Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Thursday the people of the volatile province of Aceh had the right to an East Timor style referendum, but that his government would not be pushed into a vote.
Associated Press, Sigli – More than 50,000 people rallied in Aceh on Thursday in a massive demonstration of pro-independence fervour, two days after troops opened fire on rock-throwing protesters in Indonesia's troubled province.
Associated Press in Jakarta – A day after President Abdurrahman Wahid said it was not yet time to discuss an independence referendum, thousands of people protested violently in strife-torn Aceh province on Tuesday to demand an immediate vote.
Jakarta – Indonesian troops shot dead more than 50 unarmed civilians in Aceh province in July, according to a local government probe rejecting allegations the victims were separatist rebels, reports said Sunday.
Jakarta – Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the separatist-plagued Indonesian province of Aceh to demand an East Timor-style referendum on independence, a report said Friday.
Lhokseumawe – Several thousand people in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh on Saturday staged a protest demanding President Abdurrahman Wahid allow a referendum on its future status, police said.
The protest took place in East Aceh district, one of the areas where support for the separatist Free Aceh rebels is strongest. Police said the protest was generally peaceful.
Pravit Rojanaphruk – Suharto may be gone but respect for human rights and freedom of speech is still a long way off in the country he ruled with an iron fist for 32 years. A shameful chapter in history near its end as East Timor inches toward independence.
Jakarta – Thirty MPs from Indonesia's Aceh province Wednesday urged the nation's highest legislative body to give the troubled region a broad-based autonomy along the lines proposed for East Timor.
Jakarta – Gunmen shot dead two policemen in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh on Tuesday while another was killed the previous day, reports said.
Lewa Pardomuan, Jakarta – Violence between Indonesian troops and separatists is hurting the local economy and scaring off investors in the northern Sumatran province of Aceh.
Lhokseumawe – Some 800 students in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh rallied Monday to demand an East Timor-style referendum on self-determination.
Jakarta – A human rights lobbyist on Wednesday called on the United Nations to conduct the same sort of inquiry it is making into alleged atrocities in East Timor in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province.
Jakarta – Leaflets are circulating in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh calling on all Acehnese civil servants to go on strike from October 1, a report said Saturday.
The leaflets, allegedly issued by the separatist Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh) movement, called on the civil servants to halt work from the first minute of October 1, the Aceh-based Serambi daily said.
John Aglionby, Jakarta – Thousands of people in Aceh province in western Indonesia demonstrated yesterday to demand a referendum on independence from Jakarta amid reports of unabated military brutality both there and on the eastern spice island of Ambon.
Vaudine England, Jakarta – On the same day that an independent commission to investigate military abuses was visiting Aceh for the first time, seven leading political parties announced proposals for "special autonomy" for the rich, violence-wracked province.
Jakarta – Police fired warning shots to stop a convoy of 2,000 people heading for a rally in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, press reports said Friday.
Banda Aceh – Inspired by East Timor's independence referendum, students occupied a government building Monday, demanding a similar vote in the violence-torn Indonesian province of Aceh.
President B.J. Habibie, however, repeated that he would not allow a referendum in Aceh where hundreds have been killed this year in fighting between the military and separatists.
Jakarta – Protests greeted a visit Saturday to the restive Aceh province by a delegation of Indonesian ministers and senior officials bringing aid for refugees fleeing violence between troops and Moslem rebels.
In the latest attack, four gunmen shot dead a soldier in Pidie district on Friday.
Jakarta – Police yesterday beefed up security at the US$2.5 billion Arun LNG refinery following reports of arson over the weekend, and have blamed rebels for a new round of killings in the restive Aceh province.
Ati Nurbaiti, Lhokseumawe – National Police chief Gen. Roesmanhadi was in Lhokseumawe, the capital of North Aceh regency, last month. He was told there had just been contact between security personnel and armed groups, and that two police officers had been shot.
Vaudine England, Jakarta – While international attention is focused on the forthcoming ballot in East Timor, the Indonesian armed forces chief has threatened to impose emergency rule in Aceh.
Jakarta – Continued violence between separatists and the military has claimed 11 lives in the past two days in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh, sources and reports said Saturday.
Aceh – Troops shot a man to death as he ripped down an Indonesian flag in Aceh province Sunday, police and residents said Monday.
North Aceh police chief Syafei Aksal said soldiers killed the civilian in Lhoksukon district, near the city of Lhokseumawe, about 1,750 kilometers northwest of Jakarta.
John Aglionby, Jakarta – The company of Indonesian soldiers was clearly very frightened. Two of their colleagues and one civilian were dead, three other soldiers and half-a-dozen civilians were badly injured; the ground was littered with spent cartridges.
Tim Dodd – Indonesian marines, in their trademark purple berets, walked slowly through the village in double file, automatic weapons at the ready, while people hid in their houses. Today they did not search buildings or take anybody away.
The Free Aceh guerillas are vowing to fight to the death as Indonesian troops step up their crackdown in the province. Lindsay Murdoch talks to those in the firing line.