The Jakarta Post, June 18, 2002
Maluku team limited to recommendations
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Maluku investigation team's mission is unlikely to fulfill people's sense of justice
as their authority has been limited to providing recommendations to put an end to the
conflict.
In its first public statement on Monday, the team's chairman I Wayan Karya said they
would only provide "scientific recommendations".
"We are members of a probe team and the result of the investigation will be 'scientific'
recommendations to be submitted to the government in order to put an end to the
Maluku conflict," Wayan said.
He further said that the team does not have any deadline to complete their tasks, and
will set up its work plan on June 24.
"We plan to go to Maluku within the next two or three weeks and start our observation
of conditions in the province," said Wayan, a retired police officer.
Wayan's deputy Bambang W. Soeharto, as if to confirm public skepticism, said on
Monday that his team was not authorized to determine the root cause of the violence
that has already claimed over 6,000 lives since it started in 1999.
"The team will focus on reconciliation and peace efforts," Bambang said after a
meeting with Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono and Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare Jusuf Kalla.
He emphasized that the team would not open the "people's wounds as it does not
have the heart to see the prolonged suffering of the Ambonese people".
When pressed to clarify whether his statement meant that the team would not seek
the real perpetrators of the violence there, Bambang said that his mission "does not
have the authority to do so".
The government announced on Thursday the establishment of a 14-member
independent team to probe violence in Maluku as stipulated in Article 6 of the Malino
Peace Agreement signed by the two warring parties in February 2002.
Analysts have blamed poor law enforcement against perpetrators of violence there as
one of the reasons why the religious conflict has worsened since the two parties
signed a peace deal in Malino, South Sulawesi in February.
The people had expected that the team would unravel the truth behind the bloodshed
that has destroyed long-standing peace and religious tolerance in Maluku.
Human rights activists earlier expressed concern that the Maluku team would meet a
similar fate as nine other investigation teams formed by government since 1998 to
look into human rights violation cases, which reported no significant findings.
During Monday's meeting with Susilo and Jusuf Kalla, team members received
"directives" on how they should start their duties.
"But, the directives will not influence our independence as we will also look into the
involvement of security officers in the prolonged conflict," Wayan said.
All contents copyright © of The Jakarta Post.
|
