lontong...
GAM stands for 'Gerakan Aceh Merdeka', or Free Aceh Movement.
They are a group of rebels who are against the Indonesian
government's repression in Aceh province in northern Sumatra.
An article on the Inter Press Service News Agency, written
by Andreas Harsono, details the history which motivates
the actions of this movement, including:
"...[the] Simpang Kraft massacre in Aceh in May 1999. At
the time, Indonesian soldiers were seen shooting down
hundreds of Acehnese protesters, killing at least 46
civilians and wounded 156. Not a single soldier was ever
brought to justice for the violence."
[...]
"The separatist movement in oil-rich Aceh was born in 1976,
out of a deep sense of historical and economic injustice
committed on the Acehnese by Indonesia's Jakarta-centric
governments."
"Indonesian dictator Suharto ordered military operations
in Aceh in 1979 and this lasted nearly 20 years. It ended
only when Suharto was forced to step down from his
three-decade rule in 1998."
"It is not clear how many Acehnese were killed, but some
human rights organisations estimate that around 10,000
people were killed during this period."
More insights on the page:
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=23894
The story of the Simpang Kraft massacre is covered on
the KyotoReview website:
"Chik Rini, a journalist based in Banda Aceh, originally
reported this story in May 2002, drawing on five months?
research in Banda Aceh, Medan, Jakarta, and Lhokseumawe,
including a one-month stay near Krueng Geukeuh. It
appeared in PANTAU, a website promoting journalistic
excellence and freedom of the press in Indonesia. PANTAU
was published by the Institut Studi Arus Informasi (ISAI)
from May 1999 to January 2003. The original article can
be found under the title 'Sebuah Kegilaan di Simpang Kraft'
at http://www.pantau.or.id/txt/25/07.html. This version
was translated and abridged by Lyndal Meehan."
"...Lhokseumawe is by no means a prosperous city. The
vast majority of Acehnese live in poverty ? many on
the fringes of the giant industrial plants. The central
government allows only a fraction of the revenue generated
by Aceh?s natural resources to return to the province.
It was here that the Free Aceh Movement, better known as
GAM (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka), found its feet in 1976 and
began to struggle against the myriad injustices
perpetrated by the Indonesian government. But the
military did not let Aceh slip from its grasp. From 1989
through 1998, the entire province was a designated
militarized zone, and Lhokseumawe, East Aceh, and Pidie
were the hottest spots. Conservative estimates put the
number of civilians killed over that period at over 1,300,
the number of missing persons at almost 2,000, and the
number of torture victims at over 3,400."
Much more on the page:
http://kyotoreview.cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp/issue/issue3/article_288.html
the Acheh Times has an ongoing documentation of incidents
of acts of violence perpetrated by the military and police
forces, even during a supposed 'Moratorium on Violence':
http://www.achehtimes.com/incidents/list010201.htm
An index of the list is here:
http://www.achehtimes.com/incidents/index.htm
The homepage for the site is here:
http://www.achehtimes.com/
You may also want to explore the photo gallery:
http://www.achehtimes.com/photos/
...and the media gallery:
http://www.achehtimes.com/videos/
Another useful site, Reporters Sans Frontieres, or
Reporters Without Borders, documents the year 2004
with respect to the Indonesia's repression of the
press in covering the conflict in the Aceh province:
"The Indonesian army did everything possible to keep
the news media away from Aceh province where it resumed
the war against the separatists. Two reporters were
killed in the rebel zone and dozens of others were
physically attacked or threatened. Conditions for the
press were good elsewhere in the country despite
economic difficulties and an increase in unjustified
defamation suits."
*Much* more on the page:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10172
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Additional information may be found from an exploration of
the links resulting from the Google searches outlined below.
Searches done, via Google News:
gam "independence from indonesia"
http://news.google.com/news?q=gam+%22independence+from+indonesia%22
"Free Aceh Movement"
http://news.google.com/news?q=%22Free+Aceh+Movement%22
"Free Aceh Movement" purpose
http://news.google.com/news?q=%22Free+Aceh+Movement%22+purpose
GAM
http://news.google.com/news?q=GAM
GAM wants
http://news.google.com/news?q=GAM+wants
"GAM is"
http://news.google.com/news?q=%22GAM+is%22
Searches done, via Google:
Simpang Kraft massacre
://www.google.com/search?q=Simpang+Kraft+massacre |
