Timeline of Events Leading to Current Situations in Aceh
August 17, 1945 -- Indonesia declares independence from the Netherlands.
December 17, 1949 -- Aceh province is established and Teungku Daud Beureueh is elected governor.
December 27, 1949 -- The Dutch East Indies ceases to exist and becomes the Federal Republic of Indonesia, led by Sukarno.
August 8, 1950 -- The Council of Ministers divide Indonesia into ten provinces, incorporating Aceh into the province of North Sumatra. The decree on the establishment of Aceh province is disregarded.
January 23, 1951 -- Prime Minister M. Natsir announces the dissolution of the Aceh province and absorption into North Sumatra.
September 20, 1953 -- Daud Beureueh declares Aceh independent from Indonesia. Numerous Acehnese back the rebellion.
1959 -- After prolonged conflict with rebels, the central government gives Aceh "special territory" status, conferring on it a high degree of autonomy in religious, educational and cultural matters.
1965 -- Suharto succeeds Sukarno as head-of-state.
December 4, 1976 -- Teungku Hasan M. di Tiro establishes the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) for an independent Islamic state. The Indonesian government responds with mass arrests of GAM members.
1977 -- Disaffection with economic conditions and political oppression under Suharto's regime leads a local election victory over the ruling Golkar party.
1982 -- Second Golkar defeat in local elections.
1989 -- The GAM, under its new name "Aceh-Sumatra National Liberation Front" (ASNLF), emerges from underground activity, attacking police and military installations.
1990 -- Aceh is designated a "special combat zone" (DOM) by the Indonesian army, which then directs counter insurgency operations against the ASNLF. An eight-year period of fighting follows leading to the death and/or disappearance of at least 760 people.
August 1998 -- Increasing protests from locals and human rights activists, as well as the fall of president Suharto see Aceh's military rule lifted.
May 2000 -- President Abdurrahman Wahid reduces the presence of non-Acehnese forces in the province.
May 12, 2000 -- The government under President Wahid signs a three-month humanitarian ceasefire agreement with GAM representatives in Geneva, in order to end the violence in the territory.
May 18, 2000 -- A human rights tribunal convicts 24 Indonesian soldiers and one civilian of murdering 57 villagers during a separatist uprising in 1999.
June 2, 2000 -- A three-month ceasefire is implemented in Aceh.
December 2000 -- President Wahid visits Banda Aceh, the capital of the province, for two hours. Rebel leaders refuses to meet Wahid. About 12 people die in the lead-up to visit bringing the year's tally to about 800, double the number killed in 1999.
January 19, 2001 -- The seven-month ceasefire is extended for another month, following all-party talks in Switzerland.
March 2001 -- Dozens of angry soldiers raze 15 shops, two houses and a village council office after searching for insurgents. Amnesty International says pro-Jakarta forces are using intimidation tactics to chase human rights activists out of the province so they can attack separatist rebels.
May 12, 2001 -- A Memorandum of Understanding is signed by Indonesian and Free Aceh Movement leaders implementing a continued ceasefire, with a view to kick-starting the peace process
August 2001 -- Indonesia's new leader, Megawati Sukarnoputri, apologizes to the provinces of Aceh for decades of human rights abuses and promises to restore order in the region.
August 2001 -- Security forces announce the discovery of a mass grave containing 48 bodies near Lhong village in the west of the province.
September 2001 -- President Megawati visits Aceh, but the talks end fruitlessly.
January 2002 -- The military commander of GAM is shot dead during a raid on his jungle base.
July 2002 -- Indonesian Military Commander Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu says the military and police in Aceh will take tough action against members of GAM, branding the separatists as "terrorists."
July 2002 -- Chief Security Minister Bambang Yudhoyono says the government will investigate suggestions that the region's Geneva-based peace talks negotiator, the Henry Dunant Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, is taking the side of separatists.
August 19, 2002 -- The government issues a 3-month peace deadline to GAM, which is later extended for a further month.
November 2002 -- Security forces encircle the Paya Cot Trieng village, north Aceh, with 500 to 1,000 troops in an attempt to force them to sign a peace agreement. The troops fire mortars and rockets from helicopters at the area.
May 2003 -- Martial law declared, limiting press access by foreigners, as well as freedom of press in Aceh.
December 26, 2004 -- An earthquake triggers a large tsunami in just off the coast of the northern end of Sumatra. The death toll may reach 200,000.
December 28, 2004 -- GAM declares a ceasefire in the wake of the tsunami, allowing aid to areas of conflict.
January, 2005 -- Less than two weeks
after the declared ceasefire, reports of violence, including the death of 7
men on January 9th, diminishing hope of lasting peace.
information from: http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/08/17/aceh.timeline/