Joint Statement by the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)

17 July, 2005.

We have concluded the fifth round of negotiations between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement. The negotiations on this round were based on a draft Memorandum of Understanding that the parties had asked the Crisis Management Initiative to prepare. The final agreement on the contents of the Memorandum of Understanding was reached late last night in bilateral discussions between the parties.

The parties have today initialed the Memorandum of Understanding and agreed that the formal signing will take place in Helsinki on 15 August. The Memorandum details the agreement and the principles that will guide the transformation process in Aceh. Parties have agreed that no substantive changes will be introduced to the initialed Memorandum. Parties will arrive in Helsinki on 13 August. We have agreed that the details of the Memorandum will not be made public before the signing.

The Memorandum of Understanding cover! s the following topics: governing of Aceh (including a law on the governing of Aceh, political participation, economy, and rule of law), human rights, amnesty and reintegration into society, security arrangements, establishment of the Aceh Monitoring Mission, and dispute settlement. The Government of Indonesia has invited the European Union and a number of ASEAN countries to carry out the tasks of the Aceh Monitoring Mission.

The Government of Indonesia and Free Aceh Movement confirm their commitment to a peaceful, comprehensive and sustainable solution to the conflict in Aceh with dignity for all. The parties are committed to creating conditions within which the government of the Acehnese people can be manifested through a fair and democratic process within the unitary state and constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. The parties are deeply convinced that only the peaceful settlement of the conflict will enable the rebuilding of Aceh after the tsunami disaster on 26 December 2004 to progress and succeed. The parties to the conflict commit themselves to building mutual confidence and trust.

Helsinki, 17 July, 2005.