Luhur Hertanto, Jakarta – The government has finally completed compiling the Draft Law on a Government for Aceh and is ready to submit it to the House of Representatives (DPR). President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will today – Wednesday January 25 – study the final draft to prepare a Presidential Instruction (Ampres).

Emmy Kuswandari, Jakarta -- After a period of reducing the number of military personnel tasked with guarding vital installations such as ExxonMobil and Freeport, the TNI (Indonesian military) will again be increasing troops numbers assisting these companies.

Tedi Hikmah, Jakarta – A non-government organisation concerned with upholding human rights, Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial), believes the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has taken a selective approach and has not supported efforts to uphold human rights.

Tedi Hikmah, Jakarta – The non-government organisation Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) has again raised questions about the investigation of gross human rights violations that have taken place in Aceh.

Radzie, Banda Aceh – The earthquake and tsunami at the end of 2004 and the signing of the peace agreement between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in August 2005 has resulted in a drastic decline in the number of human rights violations in Aceh.

Banda Aceh – The commander of the Iskandar Muda Territorial Command, Major General Supiadin AS, says that there are no grounds to extend the presence of the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) in Aceh that is planned to end in March 2006.

Jakarta – It is expected that the provisions on resolving human rights violations in Aceh will again attract sharp debate in dissuasions on the Draft Law on the Organisation of a Government for Aceh.

Emmy F, Kupang – Feeling as if the government is treating him as a stepchild, former pro-Jakarta militia have reassembling their forces by forming the Ex-East Timor Forum for Struggle.

Radzie, Banda Aceh – The Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Hamid Awaluddin, says that the government has already released all members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) who were jailed in various correctional institutions in Java and Sumatra.

Ilyas, Langsa – Because the normative and other rights employees have not been accommodated by the leadership board of the Langsa City branch of the All Indonesia Workers Union (SPSI), scores of Langsa SPSI members held a demonstration and issued a motion of no confidence in the SPSI leadership.

Imran MA, Eastern Aceh – On Monday November 21, Muhammad Nurdin (43), a resident of the Buket Paka village who has been a member of the Rantau Peureulak sub-district Red White Militia (Laskar Merah Putih, LMP) in Eastern Aceh, surrendered a hand grenade to a former member of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) for the Peureulak region.

Alisa P, Banda Aceh – The composition of the draft law on the organisation of a government for Aceh as mandated by the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) should not be a revision of the special autonomy law (Otsus) or Law Number 18/2001.

Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – The number of cases of human rights violations in Aceh following the signing of the Helsinki agreement between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has declined.

Fitraya Ramadhanny, Jakarta – The presence of militia in Aceh post the peace negotiations in Helsinki still lays the grounds for the potential eruption of new forms of violence. It is because of this that the government is being urged to disband the militia, which still exist.

Adi Warsidi, Jakarta – As many as 116 Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members being detained in Sumatra and Java have yet to be granted amnesty. This is despite the fact that on August 31 the government stated it would grant amnesty to all GAM members as part of the implementation of the peace agreement.

Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – Around 1,000 people from a number of Acehnese social organisations participated in a seminar to discuss a draft law on the organisation of a government in Aceh. The event was held at the Dayan Dawood Building on the Syah Kuala University (Unsyiah) campus in Banda Aceh on October 11.

Banda Aceh – The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) opposes the current discourse on the reactivation of the territorial commands (Koter) by the TNI (Indonesian military) as a response to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s instruction to the TNI to assist in combating terrorism.

Riswan, Banda Aceh – The Acehnese people are calling on the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) to disarm the militia in Aceh during the period of demilitarisation. If they are not disarmed and their organisations disbanded it could threaten the peace process in Aceh.

Miswar, Banda Aceh – The chairperson of the Acehnese Popular Democratic Resistance Front (FPDRA), Thamrin Ananda, is calling on all parties not behave in a counter-productive manner and threaten the ideals of the peace process in Aceh.

Fedhly Averouss Bey, Jakarta – The government should not only focus on the disarmament of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) but must also act firmly against civilian groups carrying arms in Aceh, which must be disarmed and disbanded.