The Jakarta Post, June 27, 2002
Maluku probe team told to listen to the people
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A non-governmental group working to find a comprehensive solution to religious
conflicts in Ambon urged the government-sanctioned investigative team to listen to
people's aspirations if it wanted to succeed.
"We all have the same aim, that is to end the Maluku conflict. The team should open
itself to inputs from other groups that have been involved in finding ways to resolve the
problems," coordinator of grassroots peace movement Baku Bae Maluku Ichsan Malik
said here on Wednesday.
Ichsan said the national team should be put under the people's control to ensure the
reliability of its results as it will affect Jakarta's next policy on Maluku, which has
mostly employed military approaches since the conflict started in 1999.
Baku Bae submitted to the government in August 2000 its analysis of the root cause
of the conflict, which highlighted the exploitation of religious issues by both civilian
politicians and military personnel.
"As of now, the government has not given any response to the analysis. Instead, it set
up an investigative team charged with dubious tasks," he added.
According to Ichsan, the situation in Ambon had worsened because of the tendency
of Maluku people to rebel against Jakarta.
"And worse still, there is distortion of information on the facts of the conflict," he said.
The government announced earlier this month the establishment of an investigative
team to probe human rights violations in the conflicts that had claimed more than
5,000 innocent lives.
The team, most of whose 14 members are civil servants, is particularly tasked with
unraveling the first incident that sparked the conflict, several issues on separatism
movements, and the existence of organized Muslim and Christian fighters, as well as
other cases of violation and crimes against humanity.
Amiruddin al Rahab from the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) said
the rationale for appointing a Balinese Hindu as the team leader was misleading
because it indicated the problem would again be blamed on religion.
"Locals put faith in the team to help them end the tiring conflicts. But, please, don't
expect too much. I assume this team is nothing more than advisers to the
coordinating minister's office specializing in Maluku issues, as it has not been given
access to information from any institution and will only report to the coordinating
minister office," he noted.
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