In what is called "the village of the widows", one rarely finds either man or boy. They have either been killed during numerous raids or they are hiding in fear of another attack. "Killings, rapings have become so close to the daily routine that it sometimes makes me ashamed to be a human being", are the feelings of one Acehnese woman. Businessmen join guerrillas and students in protests for a free Aceh, a plea to end the horrors experienced here. The fate of the military offenders rests in the hands the Minister for Human Rights, who admits to having supported a "free Aceh" movement. So the trials should offer hope to Achenese. Yet they remain suspicious of the government’s motives after Wahid refused an independence referendum. Will the trials bring peace or is there still the chance of revisiting the violence of East Timor?

Produced by ABC Australia