The Jakarta Post, May 15, 2002
Maluku bloody conflict drags on as officials fail to cooperate
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The situation in the Maluku capital of Ambon has remained tense as the central
government and authorities in the restive province have been lacking coordination to
execute a five-point directive meant to end the prolonged conflict that has claimed
more than 6,000 lives and displaced 750,000 people.
Two policemen and two members of the Army special forces (Kopassus) were injured
in a clash due to the absence of coordination between the police and the military in
Ambon.
The clash occurred when the two policemen ordered the capture of Berty Loupatty
who was allegedly involved in a recent brawl and bombing in Saparua, but the arrest
was obstructed by the two Kopassus members and a brawl ensued. The latter were
there for an intelligence mission to make preparations for the dissolution of the
Republic of South Maluku (RMS) and the Maluku Sovereignty Forum (FKM).
Police Sr. Comr. Bambang Suedi met with the Pattimura Military Command Brig.
Gen. Mustopo to make an apology.
In recent weeks, a series of violent incidents have occurred without any attempts by
security authorities to halt or prevent them, weakening the authorities' reputation
further.
Bambang and Mustopo declined to comment on when the directives would be carried
out, while Governor Saleh Latuconsina remained speechless on when RMS and FKM
would be dissolved or when the Java-based Laskar Jihad militia would be expelled
from the province.
According to the 1959 law on the state of civil emergency, Latuconsina has the full
authority in his hands to take the necessary actions, including execution of the
directives, to stop the conflict but, so far, nothing has been done.
All officials and ministers who are in charge of political and security affairs remained
silent on the execution of the directives.
National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said after attending a political and security
affairs meeting on Tuesday that he did not know when the Maluku authorities would
dissolve RMS and expel Laskar Jihad.
"We have declared FKM and RMS forbidden organizations and Laskar Jihad
militiamen must be expelled out of Maluku, but ...," he said as his voice trailed off, as
if to indicate his lack of confidence in Maluku authorities to do those things.
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
was not at the meeting and TNI Commander Admiral Widodo A.S. made no mention
of Maluku or the problems there.
The directives, issued last Thursday, stipulate that all supporters of the conflicting
factions must be disarmed and all law violations during the three year conflict must be
duly processed within the legal system. After three years of chaos and 6,000 killings,
there has not been one perpetrator inside a courtroom, let alone any serious
investigations into the crimes.
Many observers have called on the government to replace the Maluku officials,
including Latuconsina and Mustopo, due to their inability or unwillingness to do
anything about the violence, but Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno hinted that
they would allow Latuconsina to stay in office until the conflict was resolved.
Vice President Hamzah Haz gave his own word of caution to the Maluku authorities
and urged them to guarantee the safety of the Muslim residents of Maluku if it was
necessary to expel Laskar Jihad. He claimed that some Laskar Jihad members had
been recruited in recent years from the population of indigenous Muslims, and it was
impossible to expel them.
Meanwhile, The National Moral Movement supported by various religious
communities, urged the government on Monday to hold an investigation to find out
what factors had ignited the conflict there, as they seemed to think that the presence
of Muslim warriors of Laskar Jihad and the flag-raising separatists from the Maluku
Sovereignty Forum (FKM) were merely groups that exacerbated an existing problem.
The Movement leaders believed that both the native Muslim and the Christian groups
were longing for peace and would abide by the peace agreement, yet the militia group
from outside the area had triggered new conflicts which had resulted in more murders.
They are also skeptical about the effectiveness of the peace deal because it is only
aimed at resolving the sectarian conflict, but did not address the conflict between
people and the state, in the case of the separatist movements there.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, who co-sponsored
the Malino II peace deal, insisted that the police should give a security guarantee to
all people, including Maluku Muslims, in order to ease the minds of the Laskar Jihad
militiamen so they can be sent home to Java in an orderly manner.
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