HTML pages designed by Alifuru67 Copyright © 1999/2001 - 1364283024 & 1367286044 Since August 8 1999		February 2001   Religious freedom scrutinized by U.S. commission (28/02/2001) #874 MJC Online February 22, 2001 - Religious persecution in the southeast Asian countries of Vietnam and Indonesia was given special consideration by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom during hearings on Feb. 13. Testifying at these hearings were several leaders from the Christian, Buddhist and Muslim communities. Both Indonesia and Vietnam have had tumultuous problems with religious persecution in the last two years. Horrifying reports filed by team assessing persecution in Indonesia (28/02/2001) #873 Baptist Press Feb 26, 2001 - A Christian human rights leader from the United States and a five-member delegation he was leading were detained for a day and a half by security forces in Indonesia's strife-ravaged Malukan island chain before being released Feb. 24. World ready to help refugees in N. Maluku (28/02/2001) #872 Indonesian Observer Saturday, February 24 - 2001 - At least 17 European countries have pledged to assist North Maluku in dealing with its refugee crisis following two years of communal and sectarian clashes in the strife-torn province. "They confirmed their readiness to help the riot victims during a meeting between 15 European ambassadors and the local government here recently," North Maluku Governor Muhyi Effendie told Antara Wednesday in Ternate. Students, officials discuss latest situation in Maluku (28/02/2001) #871 Jakarta Post February 24, 2001 - Students of state Pattimura University and the civil emergency authorities on Friday held a dialog to discuss the latest situation in the province. University rector Mus Huliselan, Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Firman Gani, the Pattimura Military Command's territorial affairs chief Col. Santosa and the intelligence assistant to the Maluku Prosecutor's Office J. Pattirajawane met with some 300 students who demanded real peace and an end to the sporadic conflicts in the islands. Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina - Report no. 142 (28/02/2001) #869 However, the other representative, Mr. Jusuf Ely, chairman of the Jaziratul Muluk Muslim organisation in Ambon, insisted that the conflict is not a religious war. He said litterally: The conflict is involving Muslim and Christian Protestant only, but not with Christian Catholic. The provocateurs use the religion issues and local value issues to blow up the conflict....This is where we being catholics strongly protest. Hearings on Religious Persecution in Indonesia before the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (25/02/2001) #864 Testimonies prepared for United States Commission on International Religious Freedom by Hefner of Boston University, Ely of Jaziratul Muluk Foundation, Titaley of Satya Wacana Christian University, Liddle of  Ohio State University, Lev of University of Washington, Jones of Human Right Watch and Gardner, former U.S. Ambassador to Papua New Guinea. Panel hears Christian prof, Muslim leader (25/02/2001) #863 Baptist Press Feb 21, 2001 - Sharply different perspectives on religious persecution in Indonesia have been laid before the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.....After witnesses testified Feb. 13 in Washington about conditions in the country, experts recommended possible actions the United States could take to end religious persecution there. Diplomats study reconstruction of riot-torn Malukus (25/02/2001) #862 South China Morning Post Thursday, February 22, 2001 - Middle Eastern and European diplomats are visiting the Maluku Islands to assess the security situation and seek ways to fund reconstruction of communities riven by more than two years of inter-religious fighting. EU concerned about Maluku conflicts (23/02/2001) #857 Tempo 21 Feb 2001 - European Union (EU) delegates express their concern over the conflicts in Maluku which have lasted for more than two years. "We’re very concerned about the situation in Ambon that has forced the society to live in refugee camps," head of EU delegation Harald Sanberg said in a meeting with Maluku Governor Saleh Lattuconsina, and all regents and mayors in Maluku last night, February 20, at the Governor’s residence in Mangga Dua, Ambon. Three killed in fresh riot in Maluku (23/02/2001) #856 Jakarta Post February 21, 2001 - Three people were killed and another was injured during an attack on Wednesday morning on Allang Asaude village in Piru district, Seram Island, Central Maluku. Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina - Report no. 141 (23/02/2001) #854 VISIT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION On February 20, a delegation of the European Union arrived at Ambon. Among the delegates were the Ambassadors of Swedia, the Netherlands, England and Kuwait, also delegates from Australia, Japan, USA and the European Union. Present were also the Indonesian Minister of Permukiman & Prasarana Wilayah (Housing & Regional Facilities), Ir. Erna Witoelar. Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina - Report no. 140 (23/02/2001) #851 VISIT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION On February 20, a delegation of the European Union arrived at Ambon. Among the delegates were the Ambassadors of Swedia, the Netherlands, England and Kuwait, also delegates from Australia, Japan, USA and the European Union. Present were also the Indonesian Minister of Permukiman & Prasarana Wilayah (Housing & Regional Facilities), Ir. Erna Witoelar. U.S. Policy Options on Indonesia Testimony Before the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom by Sidney Jones (21/02/2001) #850 How Indonesia handles the Moluccan conflict in this context should be of deep interest to the U.S. More than the rebellions in Aceh or Papua, it has the capacity to utterly destroy the social fabric of the country. It is not the only example of a complex conflict that has become increasingly polarized along Christian-Muslim lines, but it is defining the terms of conflicts elsewhere. As each side in Maluku develops a selective historical memory and sees itself more and more as the exclusive victim and the other side as the exclusive perpetrator, other outbreaks of violence in Indonesia feed those perceptions. Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina - Report no. 139 (21/02/2001) #849 MOSLEMS RESCUE CHRISTIANS On Saturday February 17, at about 9.30 AM, speedboat Rogi with 15 christian passengers aboard left Galala in the bay of Ambon bound for Gudang Arang, Ambon town. A suddenly arising gale caused the boat to capsize somewhere between Wayame at the northen shore of the bay and Batumerah at the southern shore of the bay. Three speedboats with muslims from Wayame immediately came to the rescue and took the unlucky passengers and the crew to the christian anchorage of Gudang Arang. Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina - Report no. 138 (19/02/2001) #846 the Combined Security Forces (Batalyon Infanteri Gabungan Yongab) forced its way into the house of an islam civilian named Hasan, in the Ambon neighbourhood of Tanah Lapang Kecil, commonly shortened to Talake . Besides 114 molotov cocktails, several hundreds of ammunition were found. Also one standard rifle, four home-made rifles and 5 home-made pistols were confiscated. Eight young men, aged between 13 and 35, were arrested. The ammunition was found in a case on which as the sender was written Yayasan Dana Sosial (YDSF) (Social Funds Foundation) Al Falak Surabaya . Fresh violence in Ambon (19/02/2001) #845 Jakarta Post February 12, 2001 - After weeks of calm, violence erupted here as gunmen shot dead a local resident in Suli village, Salahutu district in Ambon on Saturday at around 12 p.m. local time, an official said on Sunday. Chairman Abrams on Indonesia's Religious Conflict (15/02/2001) #842 Jakarta's failure to stop escalating sectarian violence in the Moluccan Islands came under scrutiny at a February 13 hearing of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina - Report no. 137 (13/02/2001) #839 PROTEST AGAINST REBUILDING OF UNIVERSITY Rustam Kastor, Yogyakarta based author of the Laskar Jihad handbook titled Konspirasi Kristen dan RMS Menghancurkan Umat Islam di Ambon-Maluku (Christian and RMS Conspiration to annihilate the Muslim Community of Ambon-Moluccas), writing in the Tabloid Suisma (edition 29 January 3 February 2001), protests against the rebuilding of the Government Pattimura University Campus. The Campus was burned down by moslem masses on 1 5 July 2000. On various occasions the Governor has asserted that the campus will be rebuilt. However, Rustam Kastor and other moslems with him is of the opinion that this university is too much christian dominated. He said that in that case ten thousands of moslems would come and destroy this christian campus again. Terror Islands (12/02/2001) #834 NEWSWEEK - International (Feb. 12 issue) - In recent months Muslims have been fighting back-ruthlessly. Tommy Rusin, 30, recalls the day in late November when Muslims came to his Christian village on Kesui. "They asked us to convert to Islam," he recalls. "If we didn't, they said the Laskar Jihad would come. We'd be killed." When one villager, a teacher named David Balubum, refused, he was separated from the rest. Shortly afterward Muslims carried David's severed head around the village as a message to the Christians. Two other Kesui residents were also decapitated, and their heads placed on a table near a mosque. The referee takes sides (12/02/2001) #833 Maluku's problems may never end without a neutral force in control. But a recent incident shows just how deeply elements in Indonesia's security forces have become involved in the conflict....Muslim snipers in Ambon were suspected of firing shots at the security forces from a city hotel. But when the security forces stormed the hotel they found some of their own among the shooters. Several were supposed to have left Maluku months ago, after claims they had taken sides in the conflict. Maluku councilor named suspect (12/02/2001) #832 "Darul Qutni Tuhepali, a member of the provincial council from the United Development Party (PPP), has been declared a suspect in a case of illegal possession of weaponry," Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Firman Gani said here on Friday. Human rights watchdog issues call for peacekeeping mission in Maluku islands (12/02/2001) #831 Komnas HAM's report said at least 3,080 people have died in the violence, 4,024 injured and 281,365 refugees forced to flee their homes.  It said the fighting, which has been raging since January 1999, proved that the state failed to protect the people. Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina - Report no. 136 (12/02/2001) #830 The Concerned Women Organisation was conceived as an expression of some Moluccan women s concern in relation to the seemingly unending conflict which was and has been going on in the Moluccas since Januari 1999. The idea of such organisation was launched by Sister Francesco Moens FDNSC. The first meeting was held in the Rinamakana aula, Batumeja, Ambon, on Augusts 7, 1999. On that occasion Vice Governor Mrs. Paula Renyaan-Bataona suggested to call it Gerakan Perempuan Peduli = Concerned Women Organisation . This meeting included delegates from Moslem, Protestant and Catholic side. Terror attacks in the name of religion (05/02/2001) #826 Sydney Morning Herald (27/01)-Circumcision has been forced on hundreds of Christians, including children and pregnant women, in a campaign by extremists to spread Islam through the war-ravaged Maluku islands. Victims have told the Herald of multiple cuttings with the same knives and razors that caused many to suffer infections. Christina's story (05/02/2001) #825 Sydney Morning Herald (27/01)--...In December, Christina Sagat and other Christians from her village on the island of Kesui, part of the Indonesian Maluku group, were forced to convert to Islam. The conversion included forced circumcision, a mutilation inflicted on hundreds in the isolated island group by extremists of a jihad (holy war) movement. Revenge fuels cycle of religious violence (05/02/2001) #824 By Lindsay Murdoch - Indonesia Correspondent. The Age (27/02)-Snipers take positions atop charred and bullet-pocked buildings as darkness falls. Fighters in every neighborhood prepare for another night of bombings and possible attack. As a 10pm curfew begins, gunfire erupts in this city of 270,000 people, where Muslims and Christians once lived largely in peace........ ...Thamrin Tomagola, a sociologist at the University of Indonesia, describes the conflict as "the most terrible civil war in the world". More people have been killed per head of population than in Bosnia, he says. Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina - Report no. 135 (05/02/2001) #823 MARINERS VS. BRIMOB POLICE The attack of Mariner soldiers on the Water-and-Air Brimob Police (Satpolairud) Quarters at Lateri on February 1 (see Report 134 no. 1) caused the building and also three police autocars being badly damaged. The mariners also laid hands on some dozens of firearms and some thousands of bullets. Up to February 3, this weaponry was still being saved at the Navy Base of Halong and had not been returned. War in the Malukus is anything but holy (05/02/2001) #822 Letters to the Sydney Morning Herald 30/01/2001-These extremists have a radical political agenda for the whole of Indonesia and are using Maluku to further their ends. The destruction inflicted by "jihad warriors" has been systematic and extensive. There are many villages in which the Christian population has been entirely eradicated. Periodic Christian retaliation has occurred but this is more than just local Muslim-Christian rivalry....The international community is still largely unaware of the plight of the Malukans and the silent response from the Australian Government has been deafening. Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina - Report no. 134 (04/02/2001) #820 CONFLICT BETWEEN MARINER SOLDIERS AND POLICE Last Thursday, February 1, at 10.00 a.m., three Brimob (Mobile Brigade) policemen wanted to enter the Navy compound of Halong, island of Ambon, riding two motorbikes. At the entrance picket they said to the controlling Marinir sentinel they were civilians. When recognized as Brimob policemen, however, a conflict arose, which later on the same day escalated, notwithstanding an immediate meeting by the corresponding commanders. After ten Brimobs badly mishandled four Mariners at Passo, the Mariners retaliated by shooting at the Water Police Quarters at Lateri and at a Police Patrol Boat at the shore. When policeman Erisman Saragih tried to get off the ship, he was killed by a bullet, whereas thirteen others were wounded. It is not known whether the Mariners had any casualties. Thus is reported by Siwalima newspaper today. Wiranto probed over lawsuit on Maluku riots (04/02/2001) #819 Police yesterday question former armed forces commander retired General Wiranto over allegations that he was among a group of senior military figures responsible for the long-running religious riots in Maluku and North Maluku. Gunfight among security personnel erupts in Ambon (04/02/2001) #818 "It's true that there was a gunfight between police and Marine troops today. But, the situation is already under control now," John Tomasoa, spokesman for the civil emergency administration, told The Jakarta Post by phone. Second round of troop withdrawal begins in Maluku (04/02/2001) #817 "This battalion has served its duty in Maluku for seven months and we hope that their experience in Maluku will be used to enrich their skills and professionalism as soldiers," Syarifuddin said. Christians allege forced circumcisions (04/02/2001) #816 "Both women and men were circumcised with razor blades in conversion ceremonies," said Cornelius Bohm, the secretary of a Christian crisis centre in the provincial capital, Ambon. Some people reported that after the operation their genitals were washed in urine in a primitive attempt at sterilisation, Mr Bohm said. Muslim fighters say they will stay in troubled Indonesian province (04/02/2001) #815 "We will not withdraw until the Muslim community there feels truly safe," said Jafar Umar Thalin, the commander of the Laskar Jihad or Holy War Troop.  Suffering of war: a woman's story (02/02/2001) #812 The Age (27/01)-Christina Sagat's physical wounds have healed but this 32-year old woman is left with the deep pain of unresolved sorrow and humiliation. There is also the pain of betrayal-how could her neighbors, with whom she had lived in harmony, turn on her, and lead her to a cruel ordeal?  English News from 31st December 2000 - 31st January 2001 (Maluku67)  English News from 11st - 31st December 2000 (Maluku67)  English News from 1-11st December 2000 (Ambon67) Copyright © 1999-2001  - Ambon Berdarah On-Line * http://www.go.to/ambon HTML pages designed by Alifuru67 * http://www.oocities.org/maluku67 Send your comments to alifuru67@egroups.com