Jubilee Campaign USA, April 30, 2002
14 Christians Killed in Ambon City,
Indonesia
April 30, 2002
Dear Friends,
During the early morning hours of Sunday April 28, while proclaiming Allah's
Greatness and shouting "kill them all", black-masked Muslim attackers
gunned down or hacked to death 14 Christians in the Protestant-
Christian village of Soya. The Jihad warriors went from house to house
stabbing, shooting, and setting off bombs-not sparing women and children
including a nine-month-old baby.
At approximately 3:45 am, Soya's electricity was turned off and the
rampage launched. In addition to the dead, numerous villagers were
wounded, 30 homes gutted in flames, and the old, beautiful Gedung
Gereja Soya Setelah Debakar or Soya Protestant Church was torched to
ruins. After the attackers withdrew at about 5:00 am, security forces
needed 2½ hours more to arrive at the site despite the close proximity of
Soya to Ambon. Later that morning, local TV showed the residents of
Soya conducting worship on the open space beside their destroyed
church, despite the falling rain.
The atmosphere in Ambon remained extremely tense the rest of the day,
with two additional efforts to provoke the Christian side to break the
peace. At about 9:00 am three mortars were launched at the Christian
Wainitu / Talake area of which only one exploded without causing
significant damage. At 1:30 pm yet another a bomb was thrown at the
Silo church in the center of Ambon city, causing wooden appliances to
catch fire.
The timing of this attack is no accident. The Laskar Jihad has repeatedly
denounced the Malino II Peace process, which agreement was signed on
February 12, 2002, by both Muslim and Christian representatives. Despite
this, on April 24 the Laskar Jihad leader, Jaafar Umar Thalib, received a
red-carpet welcome upon his arrival into Ambon city. He went straight to
the local mosque where he addresses tens of thousands of Laskar Jihad
and other Muslim extremists. He delivered an inflammatory sermon
declaring, "From today, we will no longer talk about reconciliation...Our
focus now must be preparing for war - ready your guns, spears and
daggers." Spurred on by Thalib's words, the Silo church in Ambon was
burnt down for the second time in two years on April 25, and the Soya
village massacre a mere three days later.
The pretext for Jaafar Umar Thalib's arrival were threats by the little
known Malukan separatist movement (RMS) to fly a flag on its anniversary
of April 25. Ironically, days before the government had arrested the RMS
leader, Alex Manaputty, detaining him as a precaution in advance of April
25 to prevent the flags from flying. Virtually no Christians in Ambon or the
Malukus actually support the RMS concept.
Pray for the families of the villagers killed in this attack, that they will
know God's comfort.
Pray also for those who were injured or who have lost their homes that
they will soon recover and be able to rebuild their homes and lives.
Pray that the Christian community will restrain themselves from retaliating,
especially the Christian youth.
Pray that all groups will respect the peace agreement in Maluku and that
the authorities will take firm action against all groups, especially the
Laskar Jihad, who continue to be involved in violent activities in the
region.
Sincerely,
Ann Buwalda
Jubilee Campaign USA
email: jubilee@jubileecampaign.org
voice: 703-503-0791
web: http://www.jubileecampaign.org
|
