A group of students, most of them Muslim women in traditional garb, marched along the streets of Banda Aceh recently, holding baskets of flowers and posters saying: "Peace is precious. Peace for Aceh."

"We are here to say that Acehnese want peace, not war, and that while the ' bapak-bapak ' (misters) are talking about Aceh in Geneva, they should involve us people, too," said Dasi, a student from University Syiah Kualahere in the capital of Aceh province, on the northern tip of Sumatra island.

"We have seen conflicts since when we were children," added a male student, referring to decades of restiveness due to a separatist campaign in Aceh and military presence, and violence, used to quell it. "We are already tired of it."

The march was held just before another round of dialogue between the separatist group Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government in Geneva, Switzerland in early May.

But even after the talks ended on May 10, the misgivings of many Acehnese remain.

The talks, which began in 2000 and were facilitated by the Swiss-based non-government Henri Dunant Centre, have so far failed to prevent clashes on the ground despite a ceasefire agreement.

Political observers from both Banda Aceh and the Indonesian capital Jakarta say that the dialogue must now also involve different groups in Aceh — instead of limiting it to GAM and Jakarta — to produce better results.

Third party

Critics also suggest that a third party from outside Indonesia take part in the Aceh peace process, as a non-partisan mediator to prevent violence.

Restiveness in Aceh has been around for decades. In the 1940s, the province played a key role in Indonesia's battle against the Dutch. In the 1960s and 1970s, campaigns for separatism took root, resulting in virtual military control for a decade from 1989.

Resentment against the central government was also bred by unkept promises about giving Aceh real autonomy and Jakarta's siphoning off of most of the revenues from Aceh's natural riches, including natural gas.

Efforts have been made by the two post-Suharto governments to address Aceh's discontent, but the military's role has become much more dominant in recent months.

So, while the Geneva dialogue could still lead to peace or a political settlement someday, everyday life in Aceh has not changed much. Violence is not very far from many families' lives, and so are clashes between Indonesian forces and rebels and civilians caught in the middle.

So far, the conflict in Aceh has claimed more than 10,000 lives, mostly civilians.

Here in Banda Aceh — locals tell visitors it is the ''less dangerous'' area in the province — groups of fully-armed police patrol go around on motorcycles and armed personnel carriers.

'Sweepings' for GAM members at night still occur, and locals often gaze at strangers suspiciously.

Open violence

Outside Banda Aceh, the violence is out in the open. Reports of daily exchanges of gunfire between Indonesian military and GAM members, with villagers caught in the middle and killed in the crossfire, make up the usual news.

From time to time, people in the city see trucks loaded with fully-armed military going out, and those loaded with villagers, mostly women and children, coming in. They are the internally displaced persons, victims of the conflict whose houses were burnt down during the regular 'sweepings' by the military.

At a temporary refugee shelter in Banda Aceh, 27-year-old Masudin Ahmer from northern Aceh shows a scar from a bullet wound on the right side of his head.

In August 2000, he was caught in the middle of gunfight between the military and GAM in his village. His home, along with those of others, was burnt down afterward.

Today, Masudin is homeless and handicapped, with limited ability of speech and the left side of his body disabled. "Who would not be angry if they experienced the same thing I did?" he said. "I hope that the people who shot me are punished in court, and that everybody here gets compensation for the damages they have done to us."

"Both sides should put down the gun so that there will be no more war," chimed in 40-year-old Safwan, another refugee from Lhokseumawe, a conflict area around the operation site of American gas and oil corporation Exxon Mobil.

"Both sides, please don't involve us in fighting. We don't expect anything from the government. They don't have to give us money or anything," he added. "All we need is peace in Aceh so that we can go home and work from our land."

Safwan lost almost all his front teeth after a soldier, he says, rammed the butt of a machine gun into his mouth while questioning him during a 'sweeping' operation in his village.

Twenty-two year old Rasyidin, Safyan's neighbour, agreed: "We don't want to fight or to take revenge. Please don't abuse us anymore. We want international community to come and help bring peace to us."

Uncertainty remains

But while the refugees wait to go home, uncertainty remains the state of things for now — both for them and for Aceh as a whole.

Although both GAM and the government welcomed the Geneva talks, neither has shown a concrete plan on how to implement the accord, much less put a stop to the violence persisting on the ground.

In the dialogue, GAM agreed to recognise the government-initiated law on 'Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam' or special autonomy and ceasefire. Jakarta had put pressure on GAM to accept the law as a way to solve the unrest in Aceh, relates a political observer here.

According to him, if GAM indeed accepted the law, then the group had softened its stance much more than many had expected, since many had opposed the special autonomy arrangement since the beginning.

"Yet, there is no detail provided on how GAM will take the law," he said. "Another point is people now doubt the ceasefire because it is not new. Both sides agreed on it since June 2000, but nothing has happened," he added.

Both GAM and government officials welcome the latest development, but doubt the other side's sincerity.

An example

GAM's Sofyan Dawod cited the shooting of 37-year-old Zakaria Yahaya or Ayah Sofyan, GAM's spokesperson for Aceh Besar regency, which covers the provincial capital Banda Aceh, as an example of the military's inability to keep its word.

"The shooting of Ayah Sofyan and other civilians, which occurred only one day after the end of the Geneva talks, is one example that the Indonesian military is not complying with the result of the two-day talks," Dawod was quoted as saying.

Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wrayuda defended the continuing military operation in Aceh, saying both diplomatic and military operations should go on meantime. Besides, he said, past experience has shown that GAM had used the period of peace talks to consolidate their forces.

Between May 11 and 13, local reports say, 12 people — four GAM members, four Indonesian military members and four villagers — died during clashes in different places of Aceh.

Three days before he was shot dead, Ayah Sofyan said in a phone interview with IPS that he still hopes for successful peace talks and for the inclusion of the hopes of different groups in Aceh in the peace process.

"Everything depends on the people's will. The people of Aceh should express what they want," he said through an interpreter.