Editing Aceh (section)

=== Free Aceh Movement ===
{{Main|Free Aceh Movement|Insurgency in Aceh}}
[[File:Free Aceh Movement women soldiers.jpg|thumb|Women soldiers of the [[Free Aceh Movement]] with GAM commander Abdullah Syafei'i, 1999]]

During the 1970s, under an agreement with the Indonesian central government, American oil and gas companies began exploitation of Aceh natural resources. Alleged unequal distribution of profits between central government and the native people of Aceh induced Dr. [[Hasan Muhammad di Tiro]], former ambassador of Darul Islam,<ref name="ibrahimy" /> to call for an independent Aceh. He proclaimed independence in 1976.

The movement had a small number of followers initially, and di Tiro himself had to live in exile in Sweden. Meanwhile, the province followed [[Suharto]]'s policy of economic development and industrialization. During the late 1980s several security incidents prompted the Indonesian central government to take repressive measures and to send troops to Aceh. Human rights abuse was rampant for the next decade, resulting in many grievances on the part of the Acehnese toward the Indonesian central government. In 1990, the Indonesian government initiated [[1990–98 Indonesian military operations in Aceh|military operations against GAM]] by deploying more than 12,000 Indonesian troops in the region.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}

During the late 1990s, chaos in Java and an ineffective central government gave an advantage to the Free Aceh Movement and resulted in the second phase of the rebellion, this time with large support from the Acehnese people. This support was demonstrated during the 1999 plebiscite in Banda Aceh which was attended by nearly half a million people (of four million population of the province). The Indonesian central government responded in 2001 by broadening Aceh's autonomy, giving its government the right to apply Sharia law more broadly and the right to receive direct foreign investment. This was again accompanied by repressive measures, however, and in 2003 [[2003-2004 Indonesian offensive in Aceh|an offensive began]] and a [[state of emergency]] was proclaimed in the province. The war was still ongoing when the tsunami disaster of 2004 struck the province.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}

In 2001, villagers from the [[North Aceh Regency]] [[ExxonMobil violations in Indonesia|sued ExxonMobil for human rights abuses]] at the hands of Indonesian military units hired by the company for security for its natural gas operations. [[ExxonMobil]] denied fault for the allegations. After a series of attacks against its operations, the company shut down its Arun natural gas operations in the province.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/21/business/lawsuit-says-exxon-aided-rights-abuses-898244.html?pagewanted=all |work=The New York Times |title=Lawsuit Says Exxon Aided Rights Abuses |first=Neela |last=Banerjee |date=21 June 2001 |access-date=23 April 2010 |archive-date=2 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200602044105/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/21/business/lawsuit-says-exxon-aided-rights-abuses-898244.html?pagewanted=all%2F |url-status=live }}</ref>