CRISIS CENTRE DIOCESE OF AMBOINA
Jalan Pattimura 32 – Ambon 97124 – Indonesia
Tel 0062 (0)911 342195 Fax 0062 (0)911 355337
E-mail: crisiscentre01@hotmail.com
Ambon, May 12, 2002
THE SITUATION IN AMBON / MOLUCCAS – Report No. 282
1. DISCIPLINING THE RMS / FKM AND THE LASKAR JIHAD – The Minister for
Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in Jakarta on May 10,
that according to both the Central Civil Emergency Administrator (in Jakarta) and the
Provincial Civil Emergency Administrator (in Ambon) the recent acts of violence in the
Moluccas have their roots in the activities of the RMS / FKM and the Laskar Jihad.
Concerning the RMS /FKM, Yudhoyono said, that. though inside and outside
Indonesia there are many voices that say that the RMS / FKM in the Moluccas are
not guilty of acts of violence, are not an armed force and are not a real danger to the
national unity, nevertheless they have carried out activities that endanger national
unity, so the law should be applied to them according to the Constitution.
Commenting on the presence of the Laskar Jihad in the Moluccas, he said that time
and again they have proved to involve themselves actively in the conflict in the
Moluccas. So the government has decided that they must leave the Moluccas.
As soon as the RMS/FKM will have been disbanded and the Laskar Jihads will have
left the Moluccas, the Civil Emergency Administrator of the Moluccas together with
his staff must be able to guarantee protection for every community in the Moluccas.
"Thus", he said, "there will be no reason whatsoever for any group from outside the
Moluccas, like the Laskar Jihad, to come to the Moluccas in order to protect the local
Muslim community there". Thus was reported by "Media Indonesia" national
newspaper of May 10.
Amien Rais, chairman of the national House of Representatives (DPR-RI), when
speaking in Yogyakarta, was of the same opinion. Vice President Hamzah Haz,
speaking in Batam (industrial centre island near Singapore) said that at least the
Laskar Jihads in Ambon should surrender all of their weapons.
2. LEGISLATORS VISIT AMBON – A team of five legislators of the national House of
Representatives, led by deputy House Speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno, arrived at
Ambon on May 10 for a brief visit. This visit was mainly intended to gather firsthand
information from the authorities in Ambon on their efforts to forge peace and restore
order in the city of Ambon and in the Moluccas as a whole.
3. VICTIM OF VIOLENCE – In the evening of May 9, at Air Salobar (western end of
the city of Ambon) the body of Yohan Hattu, resident of the Skip area, was found
washed ashore. He had stab-wounds on his body and must have been dead for about
three days already.
4. NOCTURNAL UNREST – There is hardly a night without sparse sounds of bombs
and sometimes gunfire. During the night of May 9 three mortars were launched,
obviously aimed at the Maranatha Church. This large church is for the Protestant
Church of the Moluccas (GPM) what the cathedral is for the Catholics. It lies at the
beginning of the Pattimura Street, opposite the destroyed Governmental Office
building. The first mortar landed not far from the Governmental building but did not
explode. The second one landed near the Protestant Baileo Community building to
the right of the church, but did not explode! either. The third one landed in front of the
Synode Office building to the left of the church and exploded, however without causing
serious damage. The SCTV commercial TV supposed the Governmental Office
building to be the target.
Correspondent Paulien Joel-Parera reports that during the night of May 9, a
"ninja"-like person intruded into the village where she lives, Kusu-Kusu Sereh, a village
not far from Ambon. In the Christian Batu Gajah neighbourhood of Ambon a similar
intruder was caught.
NB. One of our subscribers, who happens to forward these reports to several
thousand others, informs us that he always receives our reports mixed up with
extraneous computer codes, which makes an unpleasant reading if he thus would
send it on. We would like to ask readers of our reports that have a similar experience,
to tell us about it, and – more important yet – those that know about any treatment
of this nuisance, to advise us on what to do about it (we use hotmail.com, not MSN).
Thank you.
C.J.Böhm msc,
Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina
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