On 15 August 2015, the people of Aceh will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 2005 Helsinki Peace Agreement which was signed by the Indonesian government and the armed pro-independence movement, the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, GAM) to end the 29 year conflict in Indonesia’s most westerly province. The Aceh conflict had a devastating impact on the civilian population, in particular between 1989 and 2004 when military operations were conducted by the Indonesian authorities to suppress claims for separatism. Between 10,000 and 30,000 people were killed during the conflict, many of them civilians.
