ABSTRACT

The Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) were involved in an armed conflict for nearly three decades. This chapter explores and analyses ceasefire agreements in relation to peace processes in this conflict setting. The chapter is structured as follows: First, I present the background to the conflict, including a brief review of important historical information and a discussion of the main actors and the commencement of armed conflict. The purpose of this section is to provide an understanding of the central contradictions and dynamics that caused and drove the armed conflict in Aceh. Second, the main part of the chapter is an analysis of ceasefire agreements and peace processes in Aceh. These are presented as historical narratives and structured into three subsections, each one addressing one of three peace processes that took place in 2000, 2002 and 2005. Guided by the analytical framework, I begin each subsection with an exploration of both the situation prior to the peace process and the conflict dynamics at play. Thereafter I discuss the initiation of the ceasefire, its form and content and the implementation and unfolding of the process. Each of the subsections ends with a concluding discussion. In the last section of the chapter, I compare the three peace processes in order to draw conclusions and develop insights that will be used in the cross-case comparative analysis. I explore similarities and differences as well as changes over time, and I elaborate on the six factors of influence identified in the theoretical literature in order to characterize and analyse ceasefire agreements in relation to peace processes in Aceh.