Raindrops ended the scorching heat for three consecutive days in this area. However, the coolness added to the confusion when the car we were riding climbed up the suspension bridge to the village of Sarah Raya, in the Pasie Raya sub-district, Aceh Jaya.

The rattling of the board being run over by the car made my ears ache. It feels like this 200 meter long bridge is fragile, so at any time it can crush the passersby passing by on it. With trepidation we followed it.

Tiba di ujung titian, suasana kembali cair ketika seisi mobil saling mentertawai satu sama lain. Betapa kecutnya kami tadi. 

Until passing through a row of residential residents, the view was finally fixed on a house next to the meunasah.

The host, Ansari arrived later, entertained. The man who now serves as a geuchik in Gampong Sarah Raya is one of almost all residents affected by the conflict since the 2000s. The Pasie Raya area, said some of the people we met, is a former 'red' area.

For this reason, the research team from the Commission for Disappeared Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) Aceh deliberately visited Ansari, Wednesday afternoon (15/1/2020). Apart from doing research, there are also stories from him. A disaster that the locals named as the 'Krueng Suri Tragedy'.

Initially, the bloody history had been inscribed in the memorabilia. Together with KontraS, the residents of Gampong Ceuraceu established the Krueng Suri Monument in the village office yard, at the end of August 2017. The location is approximately one kilometer before arriving at the Sarah Raya suspension bridge.

bad day

Ansari's memory for a moment regressed to a dozen years ago. By the power of God through luck in tense times, he was repeatedly spared from death.

But not for others.

On a Tuesday evening in August 2004, a number of residents who had fled to the forest area chose to go down to look for food. Some of them returned after being picked up by family members from there. At that time, going home alone was not an easy matter. There is a threat that haunts the citizens all the time.

Ansari told a long story, the violence often carried out by military forces in their operations forced residents to evacuate from the village. They live in the forest with minimal supplies. But occasionally residents are forced to return even if just to get food. They were caught in a situation that went awry.

"If we stay in the village, we become an outlet, interrogated, beaten, but if we go up to the mountain, the residents will be considered part of GAM," said Ansari. Lately, the last option is considered the most likely. Residents chose to evacuate, taking their families and materials with them to support their livelihoods in the jungle.

"At that time the military troops flocked to the village, they combed every house to look for GAM," said Ansari.

In order to take care of each other, they descended in groups. When Ansari descended with his entourage, one group chose another route, until they separated.

"We argued with each other as to which route was safe, but they chose that way," said Ansari, pointing his right forefinger back, to the northeast corner of Ceuraceu village.

On the other hand, the atmosphere in the village has been quiet since the residents left. Not many are smart, or rather lucky to be able to go home quietly, without the authorities knowing.

"If they were caught, they would immediately be hit, the worst, they would be shot dead, everyone suspected GAM," recalled one of the village elders, Budiman, whom we met separately.

Regarding the scene, continued the former geuchik, the actual location is further north of Ceuraceu. Budiman described that the hall the group stopped at after passing Krueng Suri was completely empty. There are no settlements there.

The atmosphere was considered safe to rest. The group consisted of 9 people in total, consisting of 7 men and 2 women. According to the story, not far from the hall, military forces are conducting an operation. While the group was still resting, some of them even wanted to perform the Asr prayer.

Suddenly, the sound of a gun barked from a distance. The explosion came from a weapon belonging to the army.

Without the slightest warning, the residents of the hall were shot at indiscriminately. The atmosphere suddenly changed when Mair landed with a series of shots that broke the silence. No one was able to save themselves.

In that place, Ansari said, all members of the entourage were killed. The rancid smell of blood rose. Ansari recalled, "there was even one body (when it was found) lying on the ground, there was still a lump of rice in its mouth, they were taking a break when they were shot by the police."

No one saw the tragedy up close. In the forest, residents just take cover while praying every time the sound of gunfire soars into the air.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the shooting victims were left lying around for days. No one dared to take it, especially when the army was still passing around the location.

Until one morning, the situation subsided a bit, the residents who gradually came down from the forest finally transported the stiff bodies to the meunasah to be properly buried.

But in the middle of the story, something else is revealed. When transported, the bodies of two women were found separated from the group. The location is not too far away. But the condition is pathetic.

"Residents say that both of them were allegedly tortured, raped and then killed," said Ansari, quietly.

The wife who was listening in the living room could not hold back tears. His grief seemed to unravel everything, whether it was the sorrow of the loss of relatives and relatives, material loss, or perhaps there was another side of the tragedy that was embedded in the memory, but was reluctant to be brought up again.

Slowly Ansari then emphasized, "no one wants that conflict to happen again, the situation is very painful for us."

The Krueng Suri Monument is only a memory. A series of tragedies continued to follow at that time. The village elders reminded us that there were still many cases of loss of life during the conflict in Pasie Raya, while the stories began to fade in their children's memories.

"That's why this monument was made. We need to build other monuments too, because if it's just word of mouth, over time it can disappear," he concluded, closing the story.

On our way home, we again passed the village office. The Krueng Suri monument still looks solid even though its luster is starting to fade. But the engraved sentences on the monument are still clearly legible,

“…This monument was erected to commemorate the death of nine residents of Ceuraceu, Sarah Raya settlement in the Krueng Suri area, Pasie Raya District, Aceh Jaya, which occurred on Tuesday at 17.00 WIB in August 2004.

After being forced to flee and live in the forest for several months for fear of the impact of the conflict, some residents were willing to return to their villages when their families picked them up. On the way back to the village they want to rest and pray Asr in a hut. However, they were martyred before they could perform the Asr prayer due to being shot by TNI troops suspected of coming from the Raider 100 unit based in Gampong Alue Jang, Pasie Raya District, Aceh Jaya.

Krueng Suri Martyrs:

1. Syamsuddin bin Tgk Saleh
2. Mawarni binti Tgk. Syamsuddin
3. Izwar bin Tgk. Syamsuddin
4. Ismail bin Tgk Baet
5. Sapuri bin Ismail
6. Sapuri bin Ismail
7. Jamil bin Musa
8. Rizal bin Abdullah Origin Pidie
9. Muliadi bin Abdullah Origin Aceh Utara

This monument was built in Ceuraceu Village, Pasie Raya District, Aceh Jaya Regency.” []