North Sumatra Governor Bobby Nasution (left) and Aceh Governor Muzakir Manaf (centre) wiht House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad on June 17, 2025, during a joint press conference at the State Palace in Central Jakarta to announce that the islands of Mangkir Gadang, Mangkir Ketek, Lipan and Panjang indisputably belong to Aceh. - Antara
JAKARTA: “If you run, you are shot. If you don’t, you are beaten,” a 20-year-old Acehnese man said about life in the region, as reported by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in 2003, two years after president Megawati Sukarnoputri declared martial law to maintain order in the province following years of failed peace negotiations.
For over five decades, states of emergency that involved domestic military deployment were unfortunately the norm rather than the exception for the people of Aceh.
