Indonesia's Acehnese suffer high rates of mental trauma

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2007

JAKARTA (AFP) — Civilians in Indonesia's Aceh, which was wracked by a long-running civil conflict, suffer high rates of mental trauma that could trigger more violence, a report said Friday.

The report by the International Organisation for Migration and Harvard University, found that 35 percent of residents surveyed ranked high on symptoms for depression, 10 percent for post-traumatic stress disorder and 39 percent for anxiety.

The report sampled nearly 2,000 residents across 14 of Aceh's 19 districts where a 29-year conflict raged before a peace deal was struck two years ago.

More than a quarter were beaten and 38 percent had had a family member or friend killed during the unrest between the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and government forces, the...