Cold Comfort

The DPR has finally passed a law outlining in detail Aceh's long meaningless status of special autonomy. It will regain the indigenous name of Nangroe Aceh Darussalam. But most Acehnese have taken it coldly.

July 24, 2001

Aceh is even more special now than it used to be. It has for decades been officially dubbed a `special region', supposedly autonomous, but in reality it meant next to nothing. But as its separatist war escalated, the Jakarta political elite finally realized they must do something to convince the proud Acehnese that they really are better off within Indonesia. It is a hard task, after years of human rights abuses by the security forces and tho

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