Jubilee Campaign

Jubilee Campaign, October 31, 2005

Christian Girls Attacked, Three Beheaded by Muslim Extremists

Note: Scroll over pictures to see captions.

We at Jubilee Campaign were shocked to learn this weekend of another atrocity committed against members of the Christian community in Indonesia. On Saturday morning, four teenage girls were attacked on their way to school in Poso on the island of Sulawesi. Three of them were beheaded, while the fourth escaped with serious slashes to her face. She is now hospitalized under heavy guard.

Sources differ on the identities and ages of the victims--some claim they were 14- and 15-year-old junior high school students; other news outlets report different names and say the girls were high school students aged sixteen to nineteen. The sources agree, however, that the four were attacked by masked men wielding machetes while on their way to a school run by the Central Sulawesi Christian Church in Poso. The headless bodies were found around 7:30 Saturday morning; by 9:00am, one of the girls' heads had been found near a church some eight miles from the bodies, while the other two were found near a police station in another area.

Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono held an emergency meeting with members of his cabinet upon hearing about the murders, and issued a statement condemning "this barbarous killing," regardless of the identity or motives of the perpetrators.

Saturday's killings were only the latest in a series of violent incidents in the troubled region of Central Sulawesi. Sectarian violence between Muslims and Christians killed more than 2,000 people over a three-year period in the late 1990s. Even after a ceasefire was declared in 2002, Christians in the area have been subject to attacks, the burning of churches and villages and the assassination of community leaders. In May 2005, a bombing in the market of the village of Tentena killed more than 22. Muslim extremist groups have claimed responsibility for most of the attacks, and few doubt that some such group was behind the murder of the three girls.

Please join us in praying for the families of the three murdered girls, for the beleaguered Christian community of Central Sulawesi and all of Indonesian society. Pray that the government and criminal justice system would uphold the law, that the murderers would be brought to justice and that peace would become the norm instead of the exception.

Click on the following links to see reports on the beheadings in the Indonesian press and a commentary from a Christian observer, Ibrahim B.

Story in Jakarta Post

Story from Reuters wire service

Commentary by Ibrahim B., IndonesiaWatch

Three school girls beheaded near Poso
by Ruslan Sangadji and Muninggar Sri Saraswati
The Jakarta Post, Poso/Jakarta

Tension and grief remained heavy in the air in Central Sulawesi's town of Poso as three female students from a Christian high school were beheaded Saturday morning by six unidentified assailants.

The incident occurred as Muslims prepare to celebrate Idul Fitri in a town that is still struggling to recover fully from two years of Christian-Muslim battles.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono immediately held an emergency security meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla, top security officials and ministers to assess the situation in Poso.

"In the holy month of Ramadhan, we are again shocked by a sadistic crime in Poso that has now claimed the lives of three school students," he told reporters. "I condemn this barbarous killing, whoever the perpetrators are and whatever their motives."

He ordered the security forces to find the killers and maintain order in the region.

National police spokesman Aryanto Budiharjo said up to six men in black clothes and masks attacked the students in Bukit Bambu village as they were on their way to class at the Central Sulawesi Christian Church (GKST) high school in Poso.

"The perpetrators wore black attire and veils and they used machetes," he told reporters.

The police said that the information was obtained from a survivor in the incident, who managed to escape the attack but suffered wounds to her face.

The victims were identified as Yarni Sambue (15) Interesia Morangke (16) and Alfita Paulina (19). The survivor has been identified as Noviana Malewa, who is currently in intensive care at a nearby hospital.

The bodies of the girls were left at the site of the attack near a cocoa plantation. The heads were found at separate locations two hours later by residents, said Adj. Comr. Rais Adam, the Central Sulawesi Police spokesman.

One of the heads was found near a church.

As word of the heinous murders got around, Poso became deserted.

National Police Chief Gen. Sutanto flew to Poso on Saturday to hold a dialog with the local administration and religious leaders in a bid to help maintain order in the area. Some 400 policemen were also deployed to reinforce security in the religiously divided city.

Susilo has also ordered Poso officials to calm people down to prevent a repeat of the wanton violence that ended in 2002.

Soon after the news of the decapitations spread, dozens of residents from nearby Tentena gathered to protest outside the district police headquarters.

Central Sulawesi was hit by a bloody sectarian war from 2000 to 2002 that killed around 1,000 people.

The conflict ended in early 2002 following a truce, which was mediated by a government team led by Kalla.

However, sporadic bomb attacks and assassinations continue to occur in several areas of the province. In May, bombs exploded at a market in the neighboring coastal town of Tentena, killing 22 people.

Police said the Tentena bombings were the work of militants with possible links to Jamaah Islamiyah.

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Three Indonesian students beheaded - police
by Tomi Soetjipto and Telly Nathalia
Reuters
Sat Oct 29, 4:41 AM ET

Three teenage Christian women were beheaded on Saturday by two assailants wearing helmets in eastern Indonesia as they walked to school near the Muslim town of Poso, officials said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono condemned the killings, which he described as "sadist and inhuman crimes," and called an emergency security meeting with his vice-president, as well as military officials and police.

Two men on a motorcycle and armed with machetes attacked the 16-year-old students on the eastern island of Sulawese, a police official in Poso told Reuters.

"The men slashed and chopped off their heads. One of the students managed to escape and jumped into the bushes in a ravine and the assailants stopped chasing her," said the official who declined to be identified.

Poso, 1,500 km (900 miles) northeast of Jakarta, is in an area where three years of Muslim-Christian clashes have killed 2,000 people until a peace deal was agreed in late 2001.

Although religious fighting has largely subsided, tension is still running high in the region following bombings in the neighboring Christian town of Tentena which killed 22 people in May.

Security experts have said local Islamic radicals may have been responsible for the bombings in Tentena but police said they had no information on who was responsible for Saturday's attacks.

The official Antara news agency said police were searching the area but so far no one had been detained.

Police said the student who escaped said the attackers wore helmets and carried a two-way radio.

The three headless bodies of the high school students, dressed in brown uniforms, were left at the site of the attack. Three heads were found at separate locations two hours later by residents.

"One was found about 100 metres away from a church," said police.

The wounded student was treated for cuts to her face at a local hospital.

About 85 percent of Indonesia's 220 million people are Muslim. But in some eastern parts, Christian and Muslim populations are about equal.

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Three Teenage Girls Beheaded in Terror Campaign Against Central Sulawesi Christians
by Ibrahim B.
IndonesiaWatch

(POSO -- Saturday, October 29, 2005) -- In an ongoing terror campaign against the Christians of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, three young teenage girls were sadistically beheaded this morning by Muslims determined to exterminate the Christian community in this region.

Since Christmas 1998 the Christians of Central Sulawesi have been subjected to numerous attacks, Christian villages burned down, many churches destroyed, Christian leaders, pastors and community leaders assassinated.

This past year a lady pastor was executed while preaching in the city of Palu, the Chief Prosecutor was gunned down on the way home from church, a village chief was kidnapped and murdered, farmers were killed by snipers, a bus was bombed, the Tentena market was bombed killing 24 and now three young girls have been beheaded.

This is not the first time Christian children have been specifically targeted for assassination by the Muslim community. In August 2003, six children were shot at from a passing motorcycle in front of the Poso Presbyterian Church (GKI). Two were hit but fortunately both survived. In Duma, Halmahera, on June 19, 2000, 45 children were among 211 massacred in the Evangelical Church (GMIH). Some were just babies not even 2 years old. Cicilia was 18 months; Fina was 23 months. One young girl, Elva, was killed on her fifth birthday. How long do we have to live with this murderous brutality in a country the world says is a picture of moderate Islam? If this is moderate, what is radical?

Today, several young girls had just completed a Girl Guides Camp (Pramuka) and were on their way to school at 7.00 am. They never arrived. They were walking through a cacao plantation on the way to school when a group of men with murderous intentions attacked them. Three were caught and beheaded. They were all girls in Junior High School. Theresia Murangke (14), Ida Lambuaga (15) and Alfina Yarni Sambue (15).

The attack took place among the cacao trees just 1 mile from the village of Sayo at the intersection with the road to Buyumboyo. Police spokesman, Rais Adam, confirmed the discovery of the headless bodies at 7.30 am this morning. At 9.00 am, one of their heads was found in front of the Pentecostal Church (GPdI) in the village of Kasiguncu, 8 miles, from where the bodies were found. Then the remaining two heads were found soon afterward near the police station at Kilo 9 (5 miles from Poso).

When they were attacked, one young girl, Noviana Malewa (14), escaped from her would be assassins with severe machete slash wounds to her face and is being treated, under heavy guard, at the Poso General Hospital.

Upon hearing this news at the Halim Perdanakusuma Airforce Airport in Jakarta, the President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, condemned this sadistic attack and immediately called a Cabinet meeting at the airport. As a result the Indonesian Chief of Police, General Sutanto and the Deputy Head of the Indonesian Intelligence Agency, Mr. As'ad, were immediately dispatched to Poso. The President also called upon the security forces to hunt down the perpetrators of this heinous crime and to process them according to the laws
of the land.

But honestly, how many times have we heard this rhetoric and nothing happens! The people of Poso have suffered many brutal attacks but haven't the perpetrators been arrested and punished? No! Where are the leaders of the attacks against the Christians of Christmas 1998, the attacks of Easter 2000, the assassination of the Christian mediator, Mr. Lateka, seeking to bring peace to Poso, the assassination of the Treasurer of the Presbyterian Synod (GKST), Rev. Tadjoja, the assassination of Rev. Susanti while preaching in Palu, the assassination of Chief Justice Silalahi, the bombing of the Omega bus, the bombing of the Antariksa bus, the slaying of many Christians and burning down of over 20 Christian villages, the bombing of the Tentena market that killed 24 Christians etc., etc.

We are forever hearing that the perpetrators will be hunted down, but where are they? Why are they not found? The flags are flying at half mast as the District of Poso mourns the lost in another savage tragedy.

Three Christians were accused of retaliating in 2000 and leading attacks against the perpetrators of this violence. They turned themselves in believing they were only defending the community against brutal attacks. Attacks in which the police and the military did nothing to prevent. The Christians had begged for Government intervention, begged the police and
military and the police to protect them, only to be told that they had not been given orders to act. So some of the Christians decided to protect themselves and their families and to resist.

When the three men, Tibo, Dominggus and Marinus, heard of the charges against them they surrendered themselves. They believed that they would be found not guilty, but everyday during their trial, hundreds of chanting Muslims shouted their venom at the court and the accused and threatened more violence if they were not convicted and executed. The court duly convicted them and sentenced them to death. Is this the justice that we in Indonesia are to accept? How long must we suffer this tyrannical treatment? Must we wait until there is no voice left to cry for help?

When the current Vice President, Jusuf Kalla, was still a Cabinet Minister, in 2002, he came to Tentena in the District of Poso by helicopter with the then National Chief of Police, Da'i Bakhtiar. The community gathered to hear these national leaders. Just that week five Christian villages had been attacked and pillaged. Many houses were burned down and a number of Christians slain. The community was anxious to hear what these national leaders would say to them. Would there finally be a resolution? No!

Shock! Horror! They stood up and told the people they should be thankful for the great job the Government was doing and for the protection they were providing for the people. This was a public relations disaster! Many in the crowd were refugees who just that week had fled the jihad attacks, had their houses burned down and had loved ones killed. They booed the visitors until Rev. Damanik stood up and took the microphone and explained to Mr. Jusuf Kalla and Mr. Da'i Bakhtiar why the people were booing them. Rev. Damanik challenged them to be real. Arrest the perpetrators of these violent attacks, he charged, and then the people would believe that they were serious.

Two days later, while another Christian village, Mayumba, was under attack, Rev. Damanik went with vehicles to pick up the fleeing Christians and bring them to safety but the police were waiting and Rev. Damanik was arrested and spent the next couple of years in prison.

Where is justice? Why must the people of Poso continue to suffer like this? Why must innocent children, young, defenseless girls, like what happened today, be beheaded in the name of Allah?

When will the world wake up to what is happening? We are living in a world so full of lies and deception that people would rather believe a lie, be oblivious to the truth and just hope that it will just go away.

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