Swedish-Achehnese Association Human Rights Council Forum on Minority Issues: "Minorities in the Criminal Justice System" 8th Session 24--25 November 2015, Room XX, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland Minority and the Exercises of Police Powers Thank you Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, My name is Imran Abdurrauf and. I am from Acheh. I represent the Swedish-Achehnese Association, based in Sweden. I would like to raise the issues of the role of Indonesia's police and its excessive use of powers on minorities, particularly in my homeland, Acheh. Achehnese is a proud and culturally distinct people inhabiting the Northern part of the island Sumatra. For almost three decades Acheh had become a killing field for the Indonesian armed forces. In its efforts to contain the Free Acheh Movement (GAM), thousands of Achehnese civilians had been killed, including extra judicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests and 'disappearances'. But in August 2015 GAM and Indonesia signed a peace accord in Helsinki. Thus, one of the longest armed conflicts in South East Asia eventually ended. Just two months ago, Acheh marked the ten-year anniversary of the conflict's end. But despite promises by Indonesian government, this has been a lost decade for tens of thousands affected by the conflict and the authorities have shown little interest in addressing past crimes. Ten years on, Acheh is still not a safe place to live in. And nothing significant has changed in regard to the behavior of police and other security forces. This is due to one single factor: IMPUNITY In this regard, Amnesty International, has repeatedly revealed that despite a decade of supposed reform, Indonesia's police continue to be implicated in beatings, shootings and even killings unarmed civilians without fear of persecution or sanction. Massive human rights violations have occurred in Acheh, particularly in-between 1990-2004, and those responsible have never been prosecuted or punished.