Maluku Report 82 - Provided By Masariku Network

MALUKU RIOT : THE LATEST SITUATION
Point of Ideas on Conflict-ending in Maluku

Background

After a period of silence because of pressures coming from international communities, President Abdurrahman Wahid launched his latest attempt to stop the conflict in Maluku. His attempt was perceived as a manouvre to prepare himself better before going to New York to address the UN Assembly this month. Aware of the inadequacy of attorney general's anouncement yesterday on 19 suspects of human right violations in East Timor of the referendum last year that did not include the former Joint Chief of Staf Gen. Wiranto and some other high officers in the army, he tried to equiped himself better with the Maluku case. During the month of August, Ambon was relativelely quite although people lived in a tensed condition affraid of riots that could erupt any time. This is so because of the fact that the jihad wariors are still in Ambon and even believed to be increased in numbers.

Yesterday (Friday, 1 Sept) the island of saparua was tensed because people there were afraid of jihad attack on the island. Today (Saturday, 2 Sept.), President Wahid invited groups of Muslims and Christian from Ambon to talk to him separately and hopefully by tormorrow, he could convene the groups to discuss with him a possibility of reconciliation. The Christian group prepared themsleves with a statement and refused any ideas of reconciliation, including a meeting tommorow as planned. They demanded from the president, a government's seriousness in dealing with the jihad warriors legally in 48 hours. At least a statement from the President that the warriors are violations against the law and therefore, should have been brought to the court in the first place.

Without any real action taken by the president against these warriors, any attempts to reconciliation could not be initiated. Therefore, they rejected the plan for tomorrow's meeting. The president approved it and the agendas for tomorrow had been cancelled. Beside several army generals mentioned, they also required the trial of Governor Latuconsina, since he failed to create peace and stability in Ambon and Maluku in general, especially during the implementation of civil emergency law when three Christian villages were burnt to the ground.

They expressed the feelings of Christians in Maluku, that their citizenship had been rejected because they were not treated as citizens of the Republic of Indonesia, when the government failed to provide protection to Christians from attacks of the jihad warriors with the assistance of certain factions within the army. This is the reason why they have to look for help from the international communities. They hold a press conference on Monday, Sept. 4th, 2000 to tell the people and the world that they did not reach, by any means, an agreement with the President.

THE PROTESTANT CHURCH of MALUKU
and
AMBOINA DIOCESE of THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Jl. Pattimura No. 26, AMBON. Tel. : (0911) 343 832. Fax. : (0911) 355 337

Point of Ideas on Conflict-ending in Maluku

The Maluku riots, which erupted on January 19, 1999, right on the Idul Fitri day (the Islamic holy day), especially in the Ambon Island (and the islands around it), had entered its 20th month. It started as a personal argument between a market hit man named Nursalim with a driver named Jopie Louheri, at Batu Merah terminal. This fight has been brought to trial at Ambon State Court. By this court, it was proven that it's a pure crime case and this court found Nursalim guilty. But that's not the same idea among Muslim Ambonese. This incident was not considered an ordinary crime case, but rather as a Christian Ambonese systematic plan to spoil/ruin the sacracy of Idul Fitri day. And because of that, an issue has been developed to provoke religious sentiment between both religions.

This was proven when the houses of Christians in Mardika and Silale were burnt by masses of Muslims. After sometime, a fake issue developed quickly among the Christians that Bethabara church in Batu Merah, Bethel church in Mardika, and Sumber Kasih church in Silale had been burnt also by the Muslims. This fake issue caused a spontaneous reaction from the Christians of Ambon City, who came to both location, and soon became a mass riot in Ambon City.

Meanwhile, at the Muslims community, a fake issue was also developed that the Christians had burned a mosque in Batu Merah and Al-Fatah mosque (the biggest mosque in Ambon). This rose their anger and became an excuse for Muslims everywhere, especially in villages in Leihitu peninsula, to assault, assassinated, looted, and burnt Christian houses in the south of Leihitu peninsula. The rioters passed two barracks of the army (733 Infantry Battalion) without any hassle at all. These rioters were then stopped in front of Police Mobile Brigade dorm in Air Besar, Passo (a Christian village), by telling them that Al-Fatah mosque was not burnt like issued earlier.

The incident, the first in the history of Maluku, was later published nationally in mass media that Muslims had been assassinated everywhere in Ambon and around. From this news, developed an issue that the Christians in Maluku, with the help of RMS (Republik Maluku Serani. Serani = Christian), systematically have planned the assassinations of Muslims in Maluku, and spoiled the sacracy of Idul Fitri day, which was latter called "the bloody Idul Fitri" (The RMS abbreviation token from the 1950s separatist movement: the South Maluku Republic, translator). This caused a solidarity among Muslims in Maluku and nation-wide, and hatred against Ambonese Christians. Consequently, assaults, assassinations, and burning of houses and churches took place throughout Maluku islands. This has also provoked anger among the Christians in Maluku, who spontaneously to launch self-defense and retaliation attacks on Muslim communities around Christian living quarters. Thus mutual attacks between the Muslims and the Christians everywhere in the Maluku were inevitable. Meanwhile a feeling of hatred towards the Moluccan Christians in many cities in Indonesia became more and more evident.

The feeling was accumulated in a Islamic emotional rally called 'Tabliq Akbar' in Senayan sports venue in Jakarta early this year, which was organized by a notorious group called 'Laskar Jihad' (Jihad Legion). The rally speakers were national political leaders and two Muslim figures from Ambon (Ali Fauzy and General ret. Rustam Kastor) and the Kapitan Tidore (Kapitan = war commander). This rally then endorsed the sending of Laskar Jihad to the Maluku. Thousands registered and trained in warfare in a location near Bogor followed by a big show of force in Jakarta where they demonstrated all their weaponry as a preparation to be sent to the Maluku. Not long after that, in a continuous waves, thousands of the Laskar Jihad were sent to the Maluku through some East Java harbours, without any attempt to stop them by the security forces, despite the President's order against Laskar Ji-had going to the Maluku. Arriving in the Maluku, they were not sent back by the local security forces.

After that, containers full of sophisticated weapons and ammunition arrived in Ambon. Again no efforts were made by security forces to check on them and thus were safely smuggled into muslim living quarters of Waihaong in Ambon. Then attacks on christian living quarters in Ambon and its surrounding areas began where army and police standard weapons, grenades and mortars (produced by military factory Pindad) were used with military strategy and tactics.

Because of this increased riots, the Central Government enforced the Civil State of Emergency in the Maluku, changed the Military and Police Commanders in Chief. This policy did not help stop the riots, instead it even increased them more and more. Within this great chaos, the Military commander in chief (Brigadier General I Made Yasa) even pulled away troups from areas of conflict, despite oral and written requests from the governor on behalf of both conflicting factions to keep the security forces in the areas of conflict. As a result, attacks on christian communities escalated in Poka, Rumah Tiga, Waai, Urimesing, Air Mata Cina, Diponegoro Atas, and Mangga Dua, including the campus of the State University of Pattimura in Poka. The security forces made no attempt to prevent let alone to stop it, on the contrary many of them, especially from the army, supported the barbarian action.

In many conflicts, it is very obvious that many army personnel were involved, thus made the situation uncontrollable. Within this very fragile fearful security condition, the commander in chief appeared on local TV station to announce that the strength and weaponry of the rioters overpowered that of the army security forces. This statement increased the fear among the people and at the same time the people lost confidence on the security forces, and thus they left homes and fled to villages in the mountains or to other safe areas outside the city of Ambon.

Looking at all these failures by the government in handling the riots and riots which have caused thousands of the innocent to lose their lives, hundreds of thousands to lose their homes and properties, we come to the conclusion that in order to end this conflict, we are of the opinion that:

The riots in the Maluku are not merely religious conflicts (horizontal conflicts between religions), but also vertical conflicts, ideological conflicts using religious symbols and banners.
The conflict in the Maluku is a political conspiracy among certain groups in Jakarta and elsewhere in Indonesia, i.e. the military (Army), the fundamentalists and jihad, national and local political figures (including new order cronies), with the ultimate goal of creating instability to gain bargaining power and to overthrow the present government.
The government has failed to carry its duties to enforce law and order in the Maluku, thus riots continues to violate human rights, the rights to live, to feel secure, to possess private properties, to live in an area, and to possess lands. Thus human life in all aspects has been ruined.
It seems that those who are behind this dirty "power play" possess the ability and influence beyond that of the President himself so that the legal government could not function effectively to protect and guarantee its people's human rights in the Maluku.

Therefore, in order to end the conflicts and to begin the proses of social reconciliation, the following measures should be taken:

I. It is felt necessary to involve the UN in the forms of:

a. Humanitarian Aid.
b. International Observer.
c. Peace Keeping Mission.
d. Independent Investigating Team.

II. To legally process the involvement of the military personnel nationally as well as locally, which includes:

a. Legal process toward certain personnel and the military/police groups, especially the army, which indicated involve in each riots that happened in Maluku, and who are purposively or inpurposively didn't fulfill their duties.

b. Legal process to the former Commander of the 174 Pattimura Military Resort (Colonel Hikayat), the former Regional Commander of the Pattimura Military Region (Major General Max Tamaela), the recent Regional Commander of the Pattimura Military Region (Brigadier General I Made Yasa), and their staffs, who are purposively or inpurposively didn't fulfil their security functions.

c. Legal process to the joint chief of staff (General Wiranto), and the two former National Chief of Police (before the recent one). Together with their relating staffs during the period of duties, supposed to be responsible for the keeping of security and order of the society during the riots in Maluku.

d. Rearrangement of the security management, both about the under-police-commanding army groups (BKO groups) and about the operational security management. In order to maintain the civil-order, the security and order commanding control should be transferred from the Pattimura Military Region to the Maluku Regional Police, which actually is the backbone of the Civil Emergency law in Maluku.

III. In order to execute the civil-order in Maluku, it's time to send back home all the BKO groups and changed them with the Police force, or if needed assisted by the Marine Corps and/or the Air Force Special Groups.

IV. In order to start a process of dialogue among all the Malukus, then the Jihad Militia and other non-Maluku persons with no clear intention in Maluku should be ousted from the entire Maluku archipelago. To do so, at least in 2 x 24 hours, President of the Republic of Indonesia should declares that "the Jihad Militia is the violator of Human Rights in Maluku (include in North Maluku province). They are criminals and should be brought to the court to be processed according to the law."

V. Law and order must be enforced toward all civilians who broke the law, or involve in riot, especially, which occurred after the enactment of the Civil-Emergency law.

VI. Urgent actions are needed in to restore security and order at the areas that are still unsafe or had been destroyed, and toward the streets in the area controlled by the civilian armed groups for the sake of the normalization of social and economic life in of the people.

VII. Traditional (adat) approach is needed, which should be started with physical rehabilitation, together with structural and normative revitalization of the traditional (adat) villages, which were destroyed during the riots.

VIII. Clarification, purification, and maturation faith and pluralistic religious lives, as the requirements of the internal and external self-control and self-defense process.

IX. All of these are a pre-condition for the common efforts of the people of Maluku to rebuild their social-cultural-economical-political ability and strength, toward a New Maluku, which is just, prosperous, and democratic, as a living-space for all Thousand Island Children from all backgrounds.

These are our points of ideas based on the reality that happened in Maluku, that we present with sincere and full-heartily to Mr. President, and the responsible authorities. Thank you.

Jakarta, September 2, 2000

On Behalf of the Citizens of the Republic of Indonesia who are Christians in the Maluku archipelago.

COMMUNION OF CHURCHES THE AMBOINA DIOCESE MALUKU REGION

CHAIRPERSON BISHOP
Mgr. P.C. Mandagi, M.Sc

THE MALUKU PROTESTANT CHURCH SYNOD

CHAIRPERSON
Rev. S.P. Titaley, S.Th

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