SUMMARY
One-sided violence by GAM (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, Free Aceh Movement) took place within the context of the group’s armed struggle for independence or increased autonomy for the Aceh region in the northern part of the Indonesian island Sumatra (see Indonesia: Aceh).
GAM developed its military strategy already in early 1977, soon after the group had formed, basically consisting of guerrilla tactics and the avoidance of open confrontation with the Indonesian army. The operations carried out by the organisation were supposed to focus on the following targets: (1) local government structures, (2) the state education system, (3) the energy infrastructure, (4) so-called “Javanese” migrants, and (5) the Indonesian security forces. The use of one-sided violence was thus permitted and even encouraged within four of GAM's five primary targets as the movement attacked low-level state employees as well as traditional village chiefs, teachers and other educational employees, companies in the energy sector, and everyone which was not considered an Acehnese native, including migrants that had settled in the area several decades earlier. Indeed, threats of violence by GAM contributed to the exodus of more than one hundred thousand refugees from Aceh to the province of North Sumatra between 1999 and 2001.
Almost all of the incidents of one-sided violence by GAM took the form of executions of individuals or small groups. As the Indonesian government prevented journalists and NGOs from working in the region during the conflict, it is difficult to assess the scale of GAM's one-sided violence. There were also a few occasions when GAM claimed responsibility for bombs, as well as torching buildings, including schools. These incidents rarely led to any casualties.
GAM first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 1990, when the one-sided violence resulted in over 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached in late June of that year as violence had escalated through May and June in Aceh province, resulting in at least 30 deaths.
