Workers' Liberty

Zely Ariane is the secretary-general of the People’s Democratic Party (PRD), the only openly socialist party in Indonesia. The party played a central role in the movement to overthrow Suharto in 1998. It is the only party supporting the right of the Acehnese people to self-determination. Ariane spoke to Australian socialist paper Green Left Weekly about her recent visit to Aceh.

Since late 1999, there has been a strong movement in favour of holding a referendum to determine Aceh’s future status, as the peaceful way of solving the conflict.

On the initiative of former president Abdurrahman Wahid, negotiations were held between the Indonesian Government and GAM, leading to a “Humanitarian Pause” in June 2000, loosely supervised by the Henri Dunant Centre in Geneva. The armed forces were never happy about this accord and the Pause barely affected the level of killings, which steadily mounted. The talks have now been suspended indefinitely.

By Bryan Sketchley

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has proclaimed that the Australian government fully supports the Indonesian military launching a war on the people of Aceh.

After a week of incursions into the province, reports started reaching Australia that unarmed villagers were being detained, tortured and shot, whole villages have been emptied and the general population is living in fear.

• Crackdown in Argentina

• Workers' Party expels left leaders
• Indonesian military continue war in Aceh

Crackdown in Argentina



On 20 December 2003, the second anniversary of the popular uprising in 2001 that brought down the government of Fernando de la Rúa, 50,000 people demonstrated in the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires.

It is now more than one hundred days since the Indonesian army launched its attack on the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), but there is no sign of an end to the incursion. Indonesian labour leader Dita Sari evaluated the the situation in a talk held in Jakarta on 14 August organised by the People's Lawyers Union.

By Harry Glass

The Indonesian military is making heavy work of its assault on Aceh, according to reports in the Australian socialist paper, Green Left Weekly.

After claiming significant progress in its operation to crush the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the Indonesian military lost seven soldiers in an ambush in northern Aceh. It was the highest number of casualties the military has suffered since martial law was declared on 19 May.

By Harry Glass

The assault by the Indonesian army in Aceh has led to extensive civilian casualties and human rights violations.


Reports in the Australian socialist paper Green Left Weekly (GLW) say that more than 23,000 people have fled their homes. The main hospital in the provincial capital Banda Aceh reports receiving dead bodies that show signs of beatings and torture. Amnesty International announced that grave human rights abuses, including the extra-judicial killing of children and other civilians, are widespread.

The Indonesian regime and the military have drastically stepped up the repression in Aceh.

The chair of the Acehnese Popular Democratic Resistance Front (FPDRA) has been abducted, probably by the military. The military have also scooped up 200 people in a raid.