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during which the Indonesian armed forces carried out extensive 
counterinsurgency operations against the GAM. 

In this period, thousands of civilians were killed, disappeared or tortured. 

More than 12,000 Acehnese have been killed by Indonesian troops since the GAM 
demanded independence in 1976. 

According to Carmel Budiardjo, the founder and director of TAPOL, the Indonesia 
Human Rights Campaign in London: "Human rights violations- state terror - and 
the failure to punish the perpetrators, have done more to make the Acehnese 
secessionists than their many other grievances." 

One of the first priorities for the invading soldiers was to secure the Exxon 
Mobil natural gas plant near the major city of Lhokseumawe, which exports to 
Japan and South Korea. 

The plant is one of the largest resource projects in Indonesia and generates 
more than $1 billion a year in government revenues that go directly to Jakarta. 

The ongoing rebel attacks on oil and gas operations and staff led Exxon Mobil 
to temporarily shut down its operations in March 2001. 

When the plant reopened in July 2001, Indonesia sent more than 3,000 troops in 
what the country's top security minister called "the biggest security 
deployment in Indonesia ever to defend a vital installation." 

However, the people surrounding the plant complain that the Indonesian troops 
who have been hired by Exxon Mobil to provide security have systematically 
violated the human rights of Acehnese villagers. 

In 2001, the U.S. based International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF) filed a lawsuit 
against Exxon Mobil on behalf of 11 villagers. It charges that the villagers 
were the victims of murder, torture and kidnapping by Indonesian soldiers paid 
to protect the plant. 

Exxon Mobil denies any involvement with the alleged abuses. 

Although the insurgency in Aceh may be the most serious challenge to 
Indonesia's territorial integrity, it is not the only secessionist movement -- 
the example of East Timor's separation from Indonesia has encouraged ongoing 
separatist movements in economically strategic provinces such as Riau. 

Riau produces half of Indonesia's oil and West Papua -- formerly known as Irian 
Jaya -- where the U.S. based Freeport McMoRan mining company operates the 
world's largest and richest gold mine and provides about 15 percent of 
Indonesia's foreign exchange earnings. 

While the United States does not believe the Aceh conflict can be solved by 
military force, the Bush administration is not willing to use its influence 
over the Indonesian military to demand a troop withdrawal and a negotiated 
settlement to the conflict. 

This would not be the first time that the United States has looked the other 
way when U.S.- trained and equipped Indonesian troops engaged in genocidal 
aggression in the name of national security. 
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