Women, Peace and Security News: Acheh

WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY NEWS Archive: ACHEH (INDONESIA)
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2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2000

2006

Citizenship bill accused of bias against women
July 4, 2006 – (The Jakarta Post) The rehashed bill on citizenship has been criticized by a coalition of non-governmental organizations for allowing discrimination against women and endangering their rights. The Network for Pro-women National Legislation Program said the latest draft of the soon-to-be-passed bill was rife with conditions that would leave women vulnerable to losing their citizenship.

Pushing Women Rights Ahead
June 15, 2006 - (Jakarta Post) In response to the lack of involvement of women in the peace and integration process in Aceh, several women's rights activists have formed the Aceh Women's League to accommodate the political aspirations of women in the area. Apart from activists, the league includes members of Inong Balee, the former Free Aceh Movement (GAM)'s women's wing, and female victims of the long-running conflict.

2005

POST TSUNAMI ACEH: IT TAKES A WOMAN TO REBUILD A VILLAGE
July 21, 2005 - (Christian Science Monitor) After the Dec. 26 tsunami wave receded, Deyah Mapplam became a village of men. Of 4,500 people, just 270 survived, and only one-third were women. And it is that gender imbalance, as much as the loss of homes and livelihoods, that remains a concern here.

DAYAK, MADURESE WOMEN HOLD MEETING FOR PEACE
June 13, 2005 (Jakarta Post) Members of a communication forum for Dayak and Madurese women, or Dara Arum as the forum is named, gathered here in Yogyakarta on Saturday for a six-day meeting to discuss peace-keeping efforts between the two conflicting communities.

INDONESIA CALLS ON NAM TO TACKLE WOMEN TRAFFICKING
May 9, 2005 - (Bernama) Indonesia, one of the "source" countries for trafficking in women, hopes the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) member countries will support national plans and multi-sectoral strategies to fight human trafficking.

WOMEN'S POLITICAL ROLE STILL "MARGINAL"
April 30, 2005 (The Jakarta Post) After 10 years of implementing the declaration of the United Nations conference of women in Beijing, most Asian countries including Indonesia have yet to meet the mandates, particularly in increasing the numbers of women in positions of power.

WOMEN GET DOWN TO BUSINESS IN ACEH
April 12, 2005 - (Christian Science Monitor) In Ibu Yuniarti's class, 20 middle-aged women prepare themselves for the rough-and-tumble world of the free market. Dividing themselves into small groups, they plow through a Harvard Business School-style case study on a proposed motel project in an Indonesian village. They study every detail - the finances, the marketing, the pluses and minuses - and write their recommendations in neat columns on sheets of butcher paper and present them to the class.

WOMEN FACE SEX ABUSE IN TSUNAMI CAMPS
March 26, 2005 (Reuters) - Women in Indonesia's devastated Aceh province who lost their homes in the December 26 earthquake and tsunami face sexual attacks in relief camps, Oxfam says, warning of long-term social dislocation.

ACHEH URGENT APPEAL: ARBITRARY ARREST AND TORTURE OF FOUR WOMEN
March 1, 2005 (Acheh Human Rights Online) URGENT APPEAL Ref: UA 05 / 05. NAMES: Ibunda Safwani, 49; Salbiati Sarong, 25; Hasmawati, 22; Hasanah, 53. VIOLATIONS: Arbitrary arrest and torture

DISEASE STILL A THREAT IN ACHEH
January 14, 2005 - (Reuters) Aid agencies have prevented disease spreading through Indonesia's tsunami-stricken Aceh, but the threat remained strong, the United Nations says, as doctors report children dying from pneumonia.

2004

ACEH REBELS VOW TO KEEP FIGHTING
August 23, 2004 - (AP) Indonesia's 15-month military offensive against separatists in Aceh province has failed to crush the insurgency and left Indonesian forces in a quagmire from which they cannot escape, a senior rebel commander said Monday.

INDONESIA'S MILITARY KILLS THREE ACEH “REBELS”, RELEASES HOSTAGES
July 30, 2004 - (AFP) Indonesia’s military said on Friday it had shot dead three suspected separatist rebels and freed four hostages in the conflict-hit province of Aceh.

85 MORE ACEH WOMEN GET COUNSELING
July 17, 2004 - (The Jakarta Post) The Aceh Women's Empowerment Bureau provided psychological counseling to 85 women on Friday, bringing the number of women who have received such counseling to 720.

REPORTS FROM ACHEH
July 14, 2004 - (The Achehnese Community of Australia) These Belated Reports were received from different sources in Acheh. The different sources of these pieces of information had to be kept unidentified for the sake of their safety and freedom of movement in the field to collect further information on what is going on the Acheh.

OVER 14,000 WOMEN VICTIMIZED BY ARMED CONFLICT IN ACEH
July 10, 2004 - (ANTARA) More than 14,000 women were victimized by armed conflict since 2001 in the Indonesian province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD), NAD Deputy Governor Azwar Abubakar said here Saturday.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE UP: ACTIVISTS
June 14, 2004 – (The Jakarta Post) The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) said on Saturday that the victimization of women was on the rise in recent years.

ACEH'S DRESS CODE POLICE UNDER FIRE
June 4, 2004 – (The Jakarta Post) The sharia police officers here are being criticized over their "sweeps" on women -- who have allegedly donned attire deemed inappropriate under Islamic law --which has been in force in Aceh since 2001.

ACTIVISTS CALL FOR RELEASE OF WOMEN HELD IN ACEH
May 26, 2004 – (Joyo Indonesia News) An advocacy group pleaded Wednesday for the release of dozens of women it said were arrested by government forces and falsely accused of treason in the war-torn province of Aceh.

TNI ADMITS TO WRONGDOINGS IN ACEH
May 6, 2004 – (Jakarta Post) The Indonesian Military (TNI) acknowledged on Wednesday that troops in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam were guilty of hundreds of violations, including rape and selling ammunition to rebels in the province.

CONDEMNS INDONESIAN ARMED FORCE (TNI) EFFORTS TO MOBILIZE MILITIA, RAPE AND PROVOCATION IN ACHEH, PAPUA AND MALUKU
April 24, 2004 – (West Papua News) Press release from Acheh-Sumatra National Liberation Front Central Military Command.

POLITICAL PARTIES STILL IGNORE WOMEN'S RIGHTS: ACTIVISTS
March 9, 2004 – (The Jakarta Post) International Women's Day was commemorated across the country with a public call not to vote for any political party which does not promote women's rights during the next general election.

WOMEN PROTEST MARRIAGE LAW IN SULAWESI
March 8, 2004 – (INDOLEFT) Jafar G. Bua, Palu – International Women’s Day was also commemorated in Palu. Interestingly, women in Palu protested against the marriage law and the issue of polygamy.

WOMEN IN YOGYAKARTA REJECT THE GENERAL ELECTIONS
March 8, 2004 – (INDOLEFT) Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – In commemorating International Women’s day which fell on Monday March 8, women from a number of different groups in Yogyakarta accused the political parties participating in the elections of not fighting for the rights of women. They also rejected discrimination and violence against women in Aceh and West Papua.

ACEH MILITARY GOES AFTER ACTIVISTS
February 26, 2004 – (The Jakarta Post) The Aceh martial law administrator has vowed to go after non-governmental organization (NGO) activists in the province, saying many of them were accomplices of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

CASUALTIES OF THE WAR IN ACEH
February 9, 2004 – (World Press Review) Dressed in a black-and-white head scarf and a pink, embroidered shirt, Nuraini immediately strikes one as a gentle soul. Her soft speech and mild mannerisms confirm the impression.

MILITARY FREE WOMEN HELD HOSTAGE BY GAM
January 29, 2004 – ((Antara) Government troops successfully freed two soldiers' wives who had been held hostage by the separatist Free Aceh movement (GAM) in Aceh since June, the Army said on Thursday.

FIRST GROUP OF FORMER ACEH REBELS LEAVES RE-EDUCATION PROGRAM
January 18, 2004 – (AFP) They came here as separatist rebels or sympathizers, but more than 400 Acehnese will leave here Sunday with new job skills and a new commitment to Indonesia, officials hope.

INDONESIA TROOPS KILL 3 SUSPECTED REBELS
December 14, 2003 – (AP) Indonesian troops gun downed at least three suspected rebels, including the first female insurgent killed in the current offensive, and captured eight others during clashes in the war-torn province of Aceh, a military spokesman said Sunday.

ACEH YOUTH TRAUMATIZED BY HORRORS OF SEPARATIST WAR
December 1, 2003 – (AP) Accused of being a spy for the Acehnese rebels by the Indonesian security forces who allegedly beat him for days, 16-year-old Milo Andrian now sits motionless in a mental hospital and gazes blankly into space.

THE SHOOTING OF TWO WOMEN AND THEIR INFANT CHILDREN IN EAST ACHEH
November 25, 2003 – (Achehnese Community of Australia – ACA) We have received information from two persons in Medan, North Sumatra, relative to the victims, on a shooting of the two women, who are sisters, and their children, in Idi Rayeuk District, East Acheh regency. According to these informants, who passed this report to us through a human rights volunteer, these women had just emerged from the village of Seuneubok Kandang, Idi Rayeuk District after visiting their relatives on the Ied Holiday occasion when the TNI troops opened fire on them.

TROOPS KILL 10 ACEH REBELS
November 20, 2003 – (AFP) Indonesia's military on Thursday reported 10 more rebel deaths in Aceh, a day after the government put the province under military rule for another six months in hopes of crushing a separatist revolt.

INDONESIA'S WAR WITH SEPARATISTS COSTS 1,600 LIVES, ACHIEVEMENTS UNCLEAR
November 18, 2003 - (AFP) Indonesia's latest war with Aceh separatist rebels enters its seventh month on Wednesday, with almost 1,600 people killed including hundreds of civilians and no end in sight to the bloodshed.

INDONESIAN TROOPS KILL 16 ACEH SEPARATISTS, INCLUDING TWO WOMEN
November 15, 2003 – (Deutsche Presse-Agentur) Indonesian troops killed 16 separatist rebels, including two women, in war-torn Aceh province where a six-month-old military offensive has already claimed more than 1,000 dead, military sources said on Saturday.

WOMAN RECOUNTS HORROR EVENTS IN ACEH
October 27, 2003 – (The Jakarta Post) It was April 24 when most of the villagers of Seuneubok Pango subdistrict in Banda Alam district, East Aceh, fled their homes after fighting broke out between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebelsthere.

REFUGEE FROM ACEH: FARIDAH'S STORY
October 23, 2003 – (Asia Times) When her husband died in January, Faridah (not her real name) fled with her two-and-a-half-year-old son from the province of Aceh in Indonesia's northwest. The heart attack that killed her husband was, according to Faridah, brought on by the stress of being hounded by the Indonesian military.

GAM NEGOTIATORS, ACTIVIST GET LONG SENTENCES
October 22, 2003 – (The Jakarta Post) The Banda Aceh District Court sentenced on Tuesday three negotiators of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), including chief negotiator Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba, and women activist Cut Nurasyikin, to prison terms of between 11 years and 15 years.

ACEH INDEPENDENCE ACTIVIST GETS 11 YEARS PRISON
October 21, 2003 - (DPA) A court here on Tuesday sentenced a female Aceh independence activist to 11 years imprisonment on charges of treason.

PMI READY TO HELP HOSTAGES
October 16, 2003 – (Jakarta Post) The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) urged on Wednesday all parties involved in the prolonged conflict in Aceh to settle issues involving civilian hostages, saying it was prepared to pick them up wherever and whenever the hostages were freed.

REMOVE ABUSIVE SOLDIERS FROM ACEH
October 15, 2003 – (HRW Press Release) The Indonesian government should remove from its military campaign in Aceh officers responsible for gross human rights violations in Indonesia and East Timor, Human Rights Watch said today in a briefing paper.

MILITARY ACCUSED OF KILLING HUNDREDS OF ACEH CIVILIANS
October 15, 2003 – (South China Morning Post) The Indonesian military has tortured and killed hundreds of civilians, and targeted human rights activists in Aceh, according to a group campaigning for a referendum in the restive province.

ACEHNESE WOMAN ACTIVIST DENIES TREASON CHARGES
October 10, 2003 –(Jakarta Post) An Aceh woman activist denied on Thursday the treason charge leveled against her, saying she had campaigned for a referendum as part of efforts to settle the prolonged conflict in the province.

2 MONTHS SOUGHT FOR TROOPS CHARGED IN TORTURE
October 4, 2003 – (Jakarta Post) A military prosecutor requested that the Banda Aceh martial court on Friday hand down light sentences of between one month and two months in prison to 11 Army soldiers accused of torturing villagers. He also demanded that the court acquit the troops' commander from all charges.

WIVES OF GAM LEADERS DISAPPEAR
September 24, 2003 – (The Jakarta Post) The wives of several Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leaders have disappeared in the past week, with the rebels pointing their fingers at the Indonesian military.

ACEHNESE REFUGEES FORCED INTO SEX SLAVERY
September 23, 2003 – (The Jakarta Post) At least 1,000 female Acehnese refugees, who fled to neighboring North Sumatra because of war in their homeland, have been forced to become sex workers but the police are doing nothing about it, activists say.

100 WOMEN RAPED SINCE MARTIAL LAW DECLARED
September 10, 2003 – (Green Left Weekly Issue 553) As many as 100 women have been raped since martial law was declared in Indonesia's northern-most province of Aceh on May 19. A report, evaluating the first 100 days of Jakarta's so-called "integrated operation” to restore “security and order” and crush the Free Aceh Movement, was presented to the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) on August 28 by the Friends of Aceh (FOA).

319 CIVILIANS KILLED IN INDONESIA'S TROUBLED ACEH
September 5, 2003 – (Deutsche Presse-Agentur) As many as 319 civilians have been killed in Indonesia's troubled province of Aceh, with 108 others listed as missing since an all-out military offensive was launched on May 19 aimed at crushing the 27-year-long rebellion, police officials said Friday.

ACEHNESE STUDENT ACTIVIST GOES ON TRIAL
August 12, 2003 - (AP) A student leader who has campaigned for an independence referendum in Indonesia's Aceh province went on trial Tuesday, accused of undermining the government.

SOLDIERS JAILED FOR ACEH RAPES
July 19, 2003 – (BBC) A military court in Indonesia has jailed three soldiers for raping four women in June during operations against separatist rebels in Aceh.

Women, the other voice of troubled Aceh, speak up
March 13, 2000 - (The Jakarta Post) More than a year after the formal end of the military operation in Aceh, an average of about five people were killed daily in the province. The following is an excerpt of an interview with Naimah Hasan, chief organizer of the February Acehnese women's congress in Banda Aceh, held from Feb. 20 to Feb. 22.

The opinions expressed in the articles carried by this site are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, PeaceWomen Project.