Banda Aceh, 15 August 2025 – We, civil society organisations from across Asia, gathered in Aceh to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Aceh Peace Agreement and express our deepest solidarity with the people of Aceh in their continuing quest for justice, lasting peace, and accountability for Aceh.
Twenty years after the peace negotiations, Aceh stands as a symbol of resilience, showing that even the most protracted armed conflict can be resolved through dialogue and political will. We honour the courage of the people of Aceh, survivors, families of victims, and human rights defenders, who keep the memory of the past alive, resist silence and erasure, and persist in their demands for truth, justice, and reparations.
We acknowledge the progress made in preserving peace. However, we remain deeply concerned about the slow and incomplete fulfillment of victims’ rights and the lack of accountability. The wounds of the past continue to call for recognition, redress, and firm guarantees that such violations will never happen again.
A significant milestone for accountability in Aceh was the establishment of the Aceh Truth and Reconciliation Commission as the only truth commission in Indonesia, which has brought official recognition to victims of human rights violations in Aceh. However, its recommendations remain unimplemented, leaving victims to insecurity, economic hardship, denied essential services, social stigma and trauma, and limited access to justice. Meanwhile, the prosecution of serious crimes remains a distant prospect. Justice continues to be denied.
In solidarity, we call on the Government of Indonesia and the Aceh Government to urgently and fully implement the Aceh TRC’s recommendations, ensure comprehensive reparations, and pursue accountability for serious human rights violations. We further call for the full use of Aceh’s local political space to build economic self-reliance, strengthen local democracy, and ensure the sustainable and equitable management of natural resources for the welfare of the Acehnese people.
We also stand in solidarity with struggles for peace and justice across the region, in Bangsamoro, Myanmar (including Rohingya), Nepal, Patani, Palestine, Sri Lanka, West Papua, and beyond, recognising that our struggles are interconnected and our hopes are shared.
We urge the government and all stakeholders at the local, national, and international level to uphold their commitments to truth, justice, and reparations, and to ensure that peace is rooted in the dignity and rights of all, and to advance victim-centred transitional justice. From across the region, we affirm: No peace without justice, no justice without accountability, no reconciliation without truth, no future without remembering.
From Aceh, we send this message to the region: Peace must be built on truth, sustained by justice, and safeguarded by the memory of those who suffered.
Participants of Roundtable Discussion on Nurturing Peace, Preserving Memory, and Strengthening the Future: Lessons in Peacebuilding, Truth, and Accountability from Aceh to the Region, 12-13 August 2025
Transitional Justice Asia Network Experts
- Anchana Heemmima (Duay Djay – South Thailand),
- Azharul Husna (KontraS Aceh – Indonesia),
- Bikash Basnet (Advocacy Forum – Nepal),
- Cezario Cezar da Costa Hornay (AJAR – Timor-Leste),
- Dimas Bagus Arya Saputra (KontraS – Indonesia),
- Han Gyi (ND-Burma – Myanmar),
- Indria Fernida (AJAR),
- Inocencio Xavier (AJAR – Timor Leste),
- Joaquim da Fonseca; (RENETIL – Timor Leste),
- Latifah Buswarimba Alhamid (ALDP – Papua, Indoneia),
- Louise Lampon (IID – Philippines),
- Mulki Makmun (AJAR – Indonesia),
- Pornpern Khongkachonkiet (CrCf – Thailand),
- Rene Antonio Clemente (Philippines),
- Renezio de Carvalho (ACbit – Timor-Leste),
- Shiva Prasad Gaudel (Nepal),
- Sumithra Sellathamby (Srilanka),
- Raihal Fajri (Katahati Institute – Aceh, Indonesia),
- Afridal Darmi (Aceh, Indonesia),
- Evi Narti Zain (Aceh, Indonesia).