Paras Indonesia, November, 15 2006 @ 02:01 pm
Poso's New Chapter, Old Scenario (Part 1)
By: Lian Gogali
Put together a few police generals, a couple of government ministers and a vice
president, then something interesting is bound to happen. Since October 2006,
four-star police generals, former operation commander Paulus Purwoko, Mobile
Brigade's SY Wenas, and Deputy Operations FX. Sunarno, also Deputy of Reserve
and Criminal Unit Gorries Mere, arrived and stayed in Poso, Central Sulawesi to
oversee the conflict-prone area. Joining the policemen in the end of October were Vice
President Jusuf Kalla, Indonesian Police Chief Sutanto and a few cabinet ministers
who came and stayed in the neighboring capital city Palu.
The visit at the end brought a change of perspective of the Poso conflict. It was way
overdue. First of all, the meetings of these important and influential personalities,
unlike the usual glorification of the Malino 2000 agreement, ended with the statement
by Vice President Kalla saying that the violence in Poso was not a case of religious
clashes. Instead, the causes have been terrors by irresponsible individuals. Such
statement was outdated compared the same realization by the Poso community
since the year 2001. Since then, community groups and NGO activists in Poso, Palu
and Tentena had fought to counter the government's political stand that the violence in
Poso was being caused by religious wars. The second output from the meetings was
the release of a list of 29 terror suspects. According to the police, the names are of
those from the "Tanah Runtuh" and "KOMPAK Kayamanya" groups involved in 13
terror cases, including 10 bombings and a series of murders and robberies since
2001.
The change of stand was ironic because it was Jusuf Kalla who during the Malino
meeting in 2001 insisted that it was a religious conflict which has been harming the
Poso community. The vice president's switch was a political response to the coolness
of the Poso community in facing terrors. Since 2001, most have not been provoked by
the series of violence attacking various symbols of religions. Kalla finally gave in. His
statement was also made after he had a number of short meetings with religious
leaders from two community groups in two different locations. Swiftly, the police
responded with its list of 29 terror suspects.
The change of tactic represents a new chapter in the lives of the Poso people. No
more talks on the conflict of religions, but here, the old scenario nonetheless applies.
Kalla still sees the actors coming from the Poso community, from the two religious
groups.
The old scenario also applies as the government's tendency continues to blame
ordinary community members as the terrorizers. There is still no attempt to
investigate military involvement on the series of attacks. Ignored once again the
evidence gathered in the kidnapping and murders of eight Toyado villagers (December
3, 2001) and the shootings of Ivon and Yuli (November 8, 2005), also the illegal
distribution of weapons and ammunitions to civilians.
Furthermore, the deployment of security forces, misleadingly legitimating for the
safety of the people, is more so valid for the security of the operating companies in
the areas. There are now more than 5000 armed personnel all over Poso.
Meanwhile, the release of the 29 terror suspects, complete with their photos, forces a
split of dilemmas among the community members. In one hand, they are forced to
accept the police version of terror suspects and therefore they must give up the
whereabouts of these individuals. On the other hand, most of the community
members realize that a number of those suspects are simply scapegoats (read:
another Tibo and friends). Some of the suspects are known as the first people who
walked to the villages trying to calm people down to avoid further clashes in the early
stages of the conflict. They were trying to mediate between different religious groups
in Poso and the surrounding areas (a feat accomplished by the United Coastal Poso
Forum - Forum Poso Pesisir Bersatu - when preventing another wage of war after a
rumor of an attack by a Christian gang).
Despite the government's "kind intention" to uphold the law, the reality is that the
state's highest body never believes its own people, the Poso and surrounding
communities. The people had been saying the same tunes as Jusuf Kalla last month
for years. The government never offers the Poso people - the victims, a chance to
manage lives on their own after the conflict. On the other hand, the legal handling of
the conflict is being handled one case at a time, heavily selective with vested
interests. The government continues to brush off military involvement in those series of
violence despite the stack of evidence. For those reasons, the government should
take serious the idea of a joint investigative task force (TGPF) initiated by NGOs and
community organizations. Such a group would involve members of the communities,
activists as well as professionals, and therefore, a good chance the facts of the Poso
conflict since 1998 to this day could be uncovered. If not so, the conflict management
would again fail to side with the Poso people.
Peace in Poso is still a distant future. It has yet to belong to the victims of the
conflict.
Copyright (c) 2005 - PT Laksamana Global International. All rights reserved
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