Aceh has been the scene of military repression and a rebel insurgency for almost three decades. The Free Aceh Movement, or Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM), launched a guerrilla struggle for independence in 1976. Since then, tens of thousands of Indonesian troops deployed in the province have carried out several major offensives against some 5,000 lightly armed rebels, leading to a toll of up to 15,000 dead.

The repression has built sympathy for GAM among Aceh’s population of 5 million, fueling demands for self-determination. A high point of popular mobilization came in November 1999, when hundreds of thousands rallied in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, to demand a referendum on the issue.

The tsunami that hit Asia in December provided the background to this year’s talks. The waves hit Aceh with full force, killing 131,000 people. The impact was magnified by Indonesia’s status as a semicolonial country exploited by imperialist powers. Among the victims were hundreds of rebel prisoners in two jails destroyed by waves.

The talks took place in Finland and were mediated by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari. The agreement states that over the next six months the Free Aceh Movement will gradually surrender their weapons and the armed forces will withdraw troops. The government says it will end up with 14,700 “local” security forces in Aceh, down from a total of 30,000 today.

In exchange for their weapons, GAM fighters are supposed to receive about five acres of land and supplies to help them become farmers or fishermen. The Acehnese will now be able to form local political parties that can compete in provincial elections within 18 months.

The agreement reiterates a 1999 commitment made—but not kept—“to allow Aceh to retain 70 percent of all revenues from oil, gas, and other resources,” the New York Times reported August 15. The leeching of Aceh’s wealth is a source of intense anger among poverty-stricken working people.

Free Aceh Movement representative Malik Mahmud, who signed the agreement, warned that militias organized and armed by the Indonesian military had threatened to continue their attacks. “If GAM defends itself against these militias it will be the excuse the military is looking for to relaunch military operations,” he said.

“Our safety is now in the hands of [the] peace monitors,” said another GAM spokesperson, Sofyan Dawood.

In a guest column published in the August 16 International Herald Tribune, Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono observed that the agreement “was only reached after years of applying military force…. We are holding GAM to its pledge to drop its demand for independence.”

U.S. State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack gave the pact Washington’s blessing. According to the Muslim American Society website, McCormack “played down concern expressed by GAM leaders that the [agreement] would still leave an unnecessarily large contingent of Indonesian troops in the province.”

The Associated Press said the deal would “boost investor confidence, especially among mining and oil companies, who for years have had to pay enormous sums to Indonesian security forces to protect their operations…. A big winner could be U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil Corp.” ExxonMobil has exploited Aceh’s gas fields for more than three decades, with the state oil company as a junior partner.

The agreement hit an immediate snag August 18 when Indonesian opposition parties froze the release of 447 jailed rebel fighters, the first step in an agreed-upon amnesty for 1,500 prisoners. The opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle said the freeze would remain in place until parliament approves the pact.  
 
 
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