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, June 15, 2002
THE SITUATION IN AMBON / MOLUCCAS – Report No. 295
1. DEADLINE HANDOVER OF WEAPONRY – In a written instruction, the
Responsible for the Civil Emergency, Governor M.S.Latuconsina, has put the ultimate
deadline for voluntarily surrendering of illegally possessed weapons, ammunition and
any other explosives on June 30, 2002.
2. STERN STATEMENTS BY VICE-PRESIDENT – During his recent visit to Ambon,
Vice-President Hamzah Haz – when overseeing the weapons handover by Muslim
militants – stated that any sounds of explosives or gunfire that from now on will be
heard, are to be considered to originate from the RMS. The military chief commander
then must immediately arrest these evildoers. No wonder this remark evoked
astonishment among the christians (that are usually – but unduly – identified with
RMS).
During his dialogue with local Christian and Muslim leaders in the aula of the military
Masariku 733 complex, Hamzah Haz warned Governor M.S.Latuconsina that he will
be dumped as the Civil Emergency Administrator, if the RMS flag would be hoisted
again anywhere in the Moluccas. Another astonishing remark of this Vice-President…
3. MUSLIM DEMANDS – Ambon Muslim chief Mohamad Yusuf Eli stated that now
that the Muslims have handed over their weapons, the Christians must do likewise.
They also should stop accepting financial and weapons assistance from their brethern
living in the Netherlands.
On occasion of the weapons handover by Muslim militants on June 11, Muslim leader
Ustad Attamimi called to mind that former military chief commander Mustopo had
declared that four caches of RMS/FKM owned weaponry had been located. He
demanded the new military chief commander Djoko Santoso to carry out large-scale
sweeping on those four hidden weapon storages within a week. "If not", he said, "we
cannot guarantee that no action will be taken against the christian community". Djoko
Santoso, however, declared that the four locations had already been explored, but no
weapons had been found.
4. COMMEMORATING RMS TRAIN HIJACKING– Last June 11 it was 25 years ago
that Dutch and British military ended the hijacking of a passengers train by RMS
militants in the eastern Province of Drente, the Netherlands. Some 500 were present
at its recent commemoration in Holland, which was attended among others by the
President of the Republic of the South Moluccas (RMS) in exile, Frans Tutuhatunewa.
This commemoration went unnoticed in the Moluccas itself. Besides, during the 3½
years conflict in the Moluccas, the RMS or any of its leaders in the Moluccas (if there
are any) have never showed themselves, though a list of one hundred RMS actors can
be found when visiting http://www.laskarjihad.or.id/id .
Dr. Thamrin Amal Tomagola, a native of the Moluccas and a lecturer at the University
of Indonesia in Jakarta, does not see the RMS posing a great problem to the security
of the Moluccas. Rather he sees it as a tactic to justify any military action in the
Moluccas by the central government.
5. INDEPENDENT INQUIRY TEAM FORMED – According to The Jakarta Post daily
of June 14, the Indonesian government has established an independent team to
ensure an impartial investigation into the three years of conflict. See Report 253 no.2
and Report 272 no.4 (however, rather incompatible with Report 285 no.3…). The team
is made up of 14 people of various backgrounds, including government officials,
human rights activists, religious figures and politicians. Deputy to the Coordinating
Minister for Security and Political Affairs, I Wayan Karya, was named the teamleader,
with Bambang W.Suharto of the National Commission on Human Rights the deputy.
Nine cases to be solved are specifically mentioned: (1) The January 19,1999 incident
(start of the conflict); (2) the RMS issue; (3) the Christian RMS issue; (4) the Laskar
Kristus issue; (5) the FKM (Front Kedaulatan Maluku); (6) the Laksar Jihad issue; (7)
reports of forced conversion of religion; (8) reports of human rights violations; (9) other
crimes related to the Moluccas conflict.
C.J.Böhm msc,
Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina
|
