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Masariku Report 131
FORCED CONVERSION AS AN OUTCOME OF VIOLENCE IN MALUKU
- By: Rev. Jacky Manuputty -
The Protestant Church in The Moluccas
Email : jmanuputty@yahoo.com
With the spreading of the cases of forced conversion of Christian villages in islands like Kesui, Teor, and Geser district in Central Maluku, people suddenly realised that during th eviolence in Maluku there has been violations of the very basic human rights. This realisation was not followed by an effort to find a resolution to the problem. Organisations which are supposed to be responsible for defending human rights were quiet, considering the political effect the sort of cases have. These cases can also be politicised to lit up people’s emotions and can result in the continuation of violence.
What happens with Teor and Kesui cases and the failed attempts to solve the problem shows that the governmnet has lost a concept and format to control a pressure from a group of majority towards the minority group. This case was declared solved by evacuating the Christian villagers out of their homes. There was no attempt to solve the case in legal court although this is cleary a violation of human right. The governor of Maluku declared the case is solved. pelanggaran HAM yang sangat hakiki ini. The governor was denying his previous statement that there has been no evidence that the forced conversion did happen.
The national Commission of Human Rights who sent their team to investigate the real situation after the third atempt of evacuation could not even speak out. While on a different occasion they would admit that there has been a great violation of human rights. Other humanitarian organisations do not dare to get involved in advocating the truth about this case. Meanwhile there has been more than 1700 people who were evacuated who are in a very bad and critical condition of being traumatised, without any constructive assistance including any basic aid for them in refugee camps. They are in fact becoming victims of two things; first the direct violence that they experienced and second violence of the inactiveness of the legal system.
Many churches in Maluku have tried to gain legal support to this case. Many ministers from different denominations of Protestant and Catholic have in many ways demonstrated their concern including setting up a processional service on the roads, with zero result from any legal institutions. The case was systematically dismissed by the people. The victims can now only wait in an uncertain hope of any legal support to the despicable case of violence happened to them.
NOT ONLY KESUI AND TEOR
The case of forced conversion was at one stage a hot issue discussed in Maluku. However, this case was later found not only in Kesui and Teor. Before these places many Christians in Maluku and North Maluku have experienced the same violence. Some Christian villages in East Seram for example have experienced this case since January 2000.
On 3rd January 2001 approximately 9 villages in Werinama district on the coast of east Seram were under attacks and were destroyed by the attackers. These attackers were supported by the Indonesian military (the TNI) and the Indonesian police (POLRI) who were on duty in the area. These attacks, destruction and taking over of the areas have caused the people to evacuate themselves on the mountains of Seram. Ironically they were chased even into the jungles of Seram, on the highlands. This chase normally ended up with the changing of religion, by force.
Berthy Leinussa was one example, one victim from Liliama village in Werinama district. He was able to escape to the capital of Central Maluku to tell a story of the process of the destruction and the forced conversion he had to face.
The same story also came out of Reverend Bas Katmael who is a minister of the Protestant Church of Maluku in Lapela Kadelil – East Seram which was under attack and destructed on the same day. The minister who is now in the district of Tual in South East Maluku openly told a story of when he was tortured and intimidated to deny his faith and take up Islam.
What Reverend Katmael said was supported by Berty Leinussa who saw with his own eyes the torture and intimidation on the Reverend when they met at the location where the Christians were kidnapped in a Muslim village of Polin. Berty saw the Reverend was put in a classroom of a school and was tortured by some members of the military of batalyon infantry 611 together with Polin villagers. They also gave orders not to feed the Reverend.
80 of 300 Christians pf Liliama village who were found in the jungle were forced to convert to Islam. The same also happened to approximately 270 people from Lapela Kadelili village who are currently in Muslim village of Tunsai.
Natan, a man from Lapela Kadelil who escaped to a Christian refugee camp in Wahai, is now in a traumatic condition from the torture that he and the other Christians had to endure. The man who is unable to speak much about the tragedy always goes to the surrounding areas of Wahai district with a hope to see his wife and children who are still in Lapela Kadelil. So far there is no sign of them.
In Perek village of East Seram the Christians are experiencing the same torture and intimidation. Samjak Keliau is 67 years old from Perek village is in trauma in a refugee camp in Waipia on Seram island. He told the story of what happened to him, his family and other members of his village. He spoke sadly about his hope to see his wife and children who are retained in Muslim villages around Perek village. He is sure they must have been forced to convert to Islam.
The similar form of intimidation and reinforcement have been imposed to many Christian villages in the coast of Tehoru and Werinama districts in East Seram to those who were left behind or caught by the thugs when trying to escape.
In Christian villages of Sawol 40 people, Adabai 50 people, Balakeu 35 people and some other villages (including Christians in villages of Budi Jaya, Budi Mulia and Kota Baru) the condition of Christians is still unknown. Christians from these villages are not found in Christian refugee camps. The last few villages mentioned were administratively under the Muslim village of Atiahu.
Apart from Christians in Tehoru and Werinama districts, in East Seram, Christians in Bula district of East Seram also experience the same treatment. Some eye witness who came out of these district told of many violent conditions and the attacks prior to that. Reverend Rita Takaria from the congregation of Salas village told of the treatment she received along with her congregation until they were forced out of their village. She then tried to organise evacuation of her congregation. This has taken months because there are villagers in Salas who have been forced to convert to Islam before the evacuation.
Reverend Rita Takaria has formally contacted the governor of Maluku, but there is still no response from the authority of Civil Emergency. She was shocked when she received a phone call from the police who were on duty in Bula district and from the Muslims there that her congregation has voluntarily converted to Islam. She was certain that her congregation must have been forced to convert because they have been sending messages to her asked to be evacuated. She is even more depressed now because her Muslim colleagues would no longer give information to her about the condition of people from her congregation who are still trapped there.
The same desperation was expressed by Edy Tongke from Dawang village of Bula district who was forced out of his village and having to leave his wife and three children behind. Together with Reverend Rita Takaria, Edy tried different ways to request help from local government and government in Ambon and Masohi to release his family and other Dawang villagers who have joined with villagers from Salas village and are still trapped on Solan-Bonvia near the city of Bula and surrounding areas. This is not an easy task considering 625 people of these three villages are forced to spread in different Muslim villages and this has been going on for some time now. Edy even hopes that this problem will not be exposed widely if there is no immediate rescue plans. He is very concern about their safety. If the media exposes this issue, there will be more pressure and violence done to the Christians, and this can be easily politicised.
Still on Seram island, the violence and attacks in January 2001 on Christian villages in the city of Wahai and other areas on Wahai district in North Seram, was clearly followed by a process of forced Islamisation of a number of families trapped there. The report of a military intelligent agent (KODIM) 1502 in Central Maluku about the conflict in Wahai district clearly describes that the forced Islamisation also occurred. The report dated 26th February 2001 shows the practice of forced Islamisation in Islamic court (Pesantren) of Kori Uma was imposed on a number of Christian families from Java who transmigrated into Seram. Mass circumcision was also performed by Mr. Jaini from Pesantren Kori Uma. Christian people were forced to convert and be circumcised. This report was sent directly to the head of intelligent department of KODIM 1502, however there is no follow up by the military regarding this case.
In Buru island, the there are many different cases of forced conversion in different areas. Mrs. Maria Ertyani who is 60 years old from Waitina village told her story when she was taken to bathe in a river then to the mosque together with other Christians to be sworn. Then each person was told to donate 15,000 rupiahs to take their photos and to buy head covers for the women. Mrs. Maria Ertyani was lucky to escape when her grandchild came to pick her up.
It was reported that there are a number of transmigrants who are Christian Javanese who were forced into Islam in Waitina village. Some of them are: Koulan, Toro, Joses, Dugon, Pripto, Udin, Sokran, and Harno. Stevanus Watlitir (40 years old) from Waitina received an information from Mr. Wahidi who is the leader of Muslim youth in Waitina that there are 75 Protestant families who have been converted to Islam in order to keep alive.
The attack on Christians in their villages in North Buru in December 1999 also resulted in many cases of forced conversion. This includes village of Wailou in North Buru.
Yoseph Sutrino (30 years old) described how he and the other Christians from the village run up to the jungles and the highlands because they were forced to Islam. Some who were trapped gave up and were converted along with othe members of their families. Some of them are: Mr. Jari, Mr. Warisi., Mr. Nyoto, and their families.
Beside Seram and Buru islands, the cases of forced conversion also occurred in Christian villages in Bacan islands in north Maluku. The village of Lata-Lata that was attacked on 5th January 2000 was a tragic example of the forced conversion in Bacan islands. 1200 villagers in total in Lata-Lata village were forced to become Muslims or die. The majority of Muslim villages surrounding Lata-Lata was one of the factors of that contributes to this forced conversion. In Lata-Lata was where Reverend Yusuf Pattiasina was brutally murdered by by the Muslim thugs who attacked and destroyed the village then detained the Christian villagers. The daughter of reverend Pattiasina is traumatised by the murder of her father and now declines to talk to strangers.
Some of the villagers who escaped the violence and who were able to get away from being forced to convert a year later told about the mass circumcision that was done in front of the security forces from battalion 511 Brawijaya. After they were circumcised married couples were remarried again under Islam way. Afterwards these people were told to learn the Islamic laws and practices continually taught by Muslim teachers from different districts.
According to the testimony of three Lata-Lata villagers who escaped to Ambon, the Christians who were converted are now forced to build a mosque as their new place of worship. However, the Christians of Lata-Lata secretly conduct their Christian meetings and worship in the jungles behind their destroyed village. The villagers of Lata-Lata who originally came from the land of Halmahera island wish they could be evacuated from Lata-Lata and returned to Halmahera.
Waringin village is another village which experience the same destruction as Lata-Lata. This little village with only 45 people was destructed then the people were forced to convert to Islam.
At the moment we are still trying to document other villages in Bacan islands apart from Lata-Lata as well as island of Halmahera island which most likely to experience the same situation of forced conversion to Islam. Some of these villages are Jibubu, Gane and others.
ATTITUDE OF GOVERNMENT AND HANDLING OF CASE
The handling of cases of forced conversion Kesui and Teor islands shows the slowness and inefficiency of the government. Until cases of Kesui and Teor were brought up internationally and in turn getting the attention and pressure from the international community then the government started the evacuation. This was made possible by hardworking and continuous advocacy of these cases by churches and different social organizations.
The authority of Civil Emergency in Maluku has been contacted many times without any actions taken. Even the victims have been brought to meet up with the governor and his staff, but the cases remained unsolved. Not even with the first hand report from the National Commission of Human Rights about the human rights violations in these areas. It was clear that the effort to solve these cases was influenced by the pressure of majority of the Muslims, causing the government to act extra cautiously.
The conditions of the Christians in these two islands are very poor because they have been relocated in different Muslim villages in Kesui and Teor islands even up to Geser island. This was done in order to teach them more about Islam.
When there was pressure from the international community, the government formed an evacuation team to Kesui and Teor. The process took a long time with arguments within the elements of government. The police force who has prepared the Mobile Brigade and their investigation team was cancelled a few hours prior to their departure. This has caused the lack of standard investigation which was supposed to be done by the police, which is crucial in proving the case of forced Islamisation of Kesui and Teor. The government of Maluku then declared the case closed. In his explanation to the media the governor claimed that there was only a minor case of forced conversion. The rest of the villagers “FELT INCLINED” to convert to Islam, they “WERE NOT FORCED”. The legal process of Teor and Kesui was never done until today. All organizations who were responsible to this case were quiet.
The same attitude that the government had towards Kesui and Teor was no different than their attitude towards similar cases in different areas. Regarding the case of the village of Salas for example, the vice governor as the vice authority of Civil emergency has issued a recommendation to evacuate the villagers of Sala since August 2000. However, there was no action to put that recommendation in practice, causing the Christian villagers to be trapped and in turn were forced to convert to Islam.
Our effort to evacuate them was held up by government beaurocracy which unable us to move. We have contacted the chief of Pattimura KODAM regarding evacuation of Salas who has given his inclination to assist with the evacuation process. However, we had to wait for a new recommendation from the governor as the authority of civil emergency. In the meantime Salas villagers have been evacuated by the Muslims and scattered in different Muslim villages in Bula city and the surrounding areas. The security personnel in Bula was expected to protect them, however via a telephone conversation has insisted that the villagers of Salas have converted as Muslims and are now living in Muslim villages. The attitude of the military and security personnel not only is the indication of the weakness in the management of security but is also transparently shows the involvement of the military and police forces in the cases of forced conversion. The testimony of Berty Leinussa about the brutal treatment of the personnel of Yonif 611 to those who refused to join the Islamic prayer sessions in Polin village has proven the involvement of the security forces in the cases of human rights violations in Maluku.
What happened in Lata-Lata village in North Maluku has proven further the weakness and unwillingness of the government and the military to provide safety to the victims especially in relations to the protection of basic human rights. The process of forced Islamisation in Lata-Lata village under the supervision of military personnel from battalion 511 Brawijaya shows that the military not only make it possible to the existence to such process but also actively involved in it.
Security pattern and impotent responsibility of the government has in turn caused a social destruction to the villagers who were forced to convert to Islam and still trapped in Muslim villages today.
The unwillingness and inability of the local government to handle this case is not far different than the attitude of the Indonesian government in Jakarta. Our last conversation with President Wahid in the palace on March 09 2001 shows how difficult it is even for the president to act on bringing the case of violence in Maluku to an end.
The demand of the group of Christians and Muslims who met with the President, was made impotent by the attitude of the president’s helpers who according to him are disloyal. Yusril Mahendra, former minister of justice and Marzuki Darusman was asked to draft a legal solutions to Maluku’s case after the president’s visit to Ambon. However such draft was never presented to him. Jokingly the president said that Marzuki respects Akbar Tanjung.
The president then asked us not to send any more correspondence to the palace but to Irian street which is a residence of his friend. This at least indicates that even at presidential level there are many cases of manipulation of information on different cases which are supposed to be able to handle by the president. This has eliminated any possibilities and hope that the cases of forced conversion in Maluku will have an effective solution by the government.
INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE FOR A SOLUTION
Realising the limitation of the government to solve many different cases of violence in Indonesia especially specifically cases related to forced conversion; therefore churches in Maluku are continually asking for assistance and protection from international community in regards to the destruction of humanitarianism in Maluku which has been going on in the past two years. Many different case of human right violations in Maluku in the past two years of violence and cases of forced conversion need to be handled effectively to be able to solve it completely.
The form of intervention which is expected the most would be the sending of international monitoring team and investigation team of human rights into Maluku to work with the government. The Baku Bae team is a representation of both Christians and Muslims in Maluku who agreed that a legal upholding should be done. An independent team of investigation is needed to work simultaneously in solving the root of any case of human rights violation in Maluku. However, considering the complications an sensitivity of these cases especially cases of forced conversion, the monitoring team should be a representation of different religions.
Another possible assistance which also would help is a continuous diplomatic pressure in relations to inter-country relationships with Indonesia. This is considered to be effective since the forced Islamisation in Teor and Kesui was handled only after international publications and pressure. In relation to this we are extra cautious not to publicise this case too widely in Indonesia because of the sensitivity of the case and also the possibility that these cases can be politicised. Especially since Indonesia has not had a witness protection system for victims and witnesses.
However, although there is an absence of legal proceedings on these cases, 1700 Christians were able to be evacuated from Kesui and Teor. This shows that the effectiveness of the government only emerged when there are systematic efforts to gain international pressure on the human rights violations which were hidden by the government.
The next assistance would be to the refugees. The dilemma we face is when evacuating the refugees and the situation of the refugees post evacuation. Take Teor and Kesui cases for example, there was a problem with the refugees after the evacuation because the government and international humanitarian bodies were unable to supply humanitarian aids to them. We see it is important to allocate fund and humanitarian aids from overseas to Maluku in a continuous basis especially since Maluku now holds the largest number of refugees in Indonesia.
The effective mobility of aids have been prevented by the movement of refugees from one island to another continually without control. Another factor is because Maluku is spread through thousands of islands, there is a great need for medium size boats or ferries that will assist in mobilising the refugees. This will in turn give a balance mobility in different islands in Maluku and North Maluku which have been hard to reach.
Lastly and more strongly we urge the international community to put pressure to the outsiders who have been igniters of the ongoing conflict in Maluku to leave Maluku and return to their own areas. Laskar Jihad which is a para military troops have contributed to a significant length of the conflict in Maluku. The coming of the Jihad thugs into Maluku on a continual basis has been a potential threat to any effort for reconciliation.
The process of arming the Muslims and providing them with military training as done by the Jihad fighters in many different areas in Maluku shows the inability of the local government to stop them. It was our concern that the mobility and military training of the Jihad troops were given acknowledgement by certain aspects in the military and or any authority with a purpose to keep the conflict going.
In the past few months the Jihad fighters have been openly showing their trainings in front of the posts of the military and police and there is fear that there may be possible escalation of conflict. There is also effort to provoke the conflict which is publicised on the radio station of Laskar Jihad in Ambon.
There is also tension in Ambon with the presence of foreigners who have typical Middle eastern appearance. They have been coming into Ambon with the leader of the jihad fighters, Jafar Umar Thalib. Their presence are always guarded by military or police. This has raised concern of the people of Maluku because although they are clearly provoking the situation there seems to be no legal process done to them.
The statement of the governor of Maluku to ask for assistance from the Indonesian government in order to return the Laskar Jihad shows the inability of the local government to act on this matter. While the president himself admitted that his direct orders regarding the conflict in Maluku are disobeyed. This especially in regards to the legal proceedings of Laskar Jihad. Therefore it is clear that Laskar Jihad is an instrument used to control the conflict in Maluku.
With report outlined above, we see that the international intervention is urgently needed to solve the conflict in Maluku, especially in regards to the return of Laskar Jihad out of the areas of Maluku and North Maluku.
-Masariku Network-
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