The insurgency in Aceh involved the “Gerakan Aceh Merdeka” (GAM) or the “Free Aceh Movement”. These are a group of Aceh natives who fight for Aceh to be independent from Indonesia. The conflict is rooted in cultural and religious differences, and economic grievances related to the revenues derived from the oil and gas industries in Aceh. Acehnese practice a more conservative form of Islam while the rest of Indonesia is more secular. The war can be delineated into three phases.
The first phase of the conflict sees the formation of the GAM in 1976 by Hassan di Tiro, who was a member of a prominent family. The initial actions of GAM included small-scale attacks on Indonesian oil companies in Aceh and a military rebellion called the Darul Islam Rebellion. However, these uprisings where crushed by the Indonesian state.
The second phase started when di Tiro was successful in securing Libyan aid in 1985. GAM recruits received vital military training in Libya and conducted much more extreme operations such as weapons raiding, attacks against police and military posts, arsons and targeted assassinations of police and military personnel, government informants and other individuals. This prompted the Indonesian government to respond with even greater military force.
In the third phase, the instability of the central government following the fall of Suharto in 1999 gave impetus to the GAM to conduct another rebellion. The increase in hostilities led the Indonesian government, led by President Megawati Sukarnoputri, to declare state of emergency in Aceh and initiated major security crackdowns in 2001 and 2002. Throughout the conflict, an estimated 15 000 people were killed. Along with the body count, numerous human rights abuses were also conducted by the Indonesian military. There were reports of arbitrary arrests, extra-legal detention, summary executions, rape and scorch-earth employed.
The tsunami in 2004 brought an end to the conflict due its devastating effects and the subsequent international attention it garnered. Finally in 2005, Aceh achieved special autonomy status under the Republic of Indonesia.