Calls grow for int'l help in Maluku<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Calls for a foreign peacekeeping mission in the
\nMaluku Islands grew here on Thursday following a National
\nCommission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) statement that the
\ngovernment should consider \"international cooperation\" to end the
\nviolence there.<\/p>\n
Komnas HAM Secretary General Asmara Nababan said that the
\ndispatch of an international peacekeeping mission to the conflict
\nareas be considered.<\/p>\n
\"The UN peacekeeping mission should be composed of civilian
\npolice personnel, and not the military,\" Asmara said when asked
\nby The Jakarta Post to further elaborate on what the Commission
\nmeant by \"international cooperation\".<\/p>\n
Komnas HAM in a four-point statement on Wednesday noted the
\n\"state failure\" in resolving the conflict despite it having
\nlasted for over 18 months and costing thousands of lives.<\/p>\n
It called for a resolution to the Maluku issue to be the
\n\"primary national priority\", including taking \"concrete and
\nhumane steps\" to overcome the issue of refugees as a result of
\nthe conflict.<\/p>\n
\"Because the government has been unable to end the conflict,
\nthere is concern that the international community will force
\nintervention which will only widen conflict. Because of that it
\nis time the government consider international cooperation,\"
\nKomnas HAM said.<\/p>\n
The statement said any \"cooperation\" should preferably come
\nfrom Indonesia's partners in the Association of Southeast Asian
\nNations (ASEAN) as they were likely to be more acceptable to the
\nlocal people.<\/p>\n
ASEAN comprises of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
\nMalaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
\nVietnam.<\/p>\n
However the statement itself, signed by Commission chairman
\nDjoko Soegianto and Asmara Nababan, stopped short of openly
\nsuggesting a foreign peacekeeping mission.<\/p>\n
Munir, founder of human rights watchdog Commission for Missing
\nPersons and Victims of Violence, on Thursday was quick to support
\nthe idea of a foreign peacekeeping mission saying that
\ninternational intervention was necessary to control the security
\napparatus which has allegedly sided with the warring parties.<\/p>\n
\"The conflict in Maluku could have been controlled if the
\nsecurity personnel there were in the clear,\" Munir said.<\/p>\n
\"We have to admit that we don't have the capability...we can't
\ndeal not only with the security problems but also with the
\nhumanitarian crisis,\" he said adding that the government does not
\nhave enough experience in dealing with the social aspects of the
\nconflict.<\/p>\n
Munir also supported the idea of having foreign police,
\ninstead of military, as peacekeepers in Maluku.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that the situation in Maluku was different to
\nthat in East Timor. Army elements, he said, would remain in the
\narea and thus there would be the potential of direct \"contact\"
\nbetween Indonesian and foreign troops.<\/p>\n
The Maluku Islands have been devastated by bloody sectarian
\nfighting which has killed over 3,000 and over a hundred thousand
\npeople have been displaced.<\/p>\n
Jakarta, however, has ruled out the use of foreign
\npeacekeepers but has said it would welcome humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n
Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab told the Post later in
\nthe day that asking foreign troops to come in \"will only ruin the
\ngovernment's credibility and hurt the nation's pride\".<\/p>\n
Alwi, who will meet with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in
\nNew York on Aug. 19 to discuss the issue of East Timorese
\nrefugees in West Timor, maintained that the government was still
\ncapable of handling the situation in Maluku.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Military (TNI) Spokesman Air Vice Marshall Graito
\nUsodo echoed Alwi's sentiment, saying the military should be
\ngiven more time as it was \"less than two months\" since the
\ngovernment imposed a state of civil emergency on Maluku.<\/p>\n
Asmara said, however, that the time is running out and that
\n\"it is very difficult for the government to disregard the
\ninternational pressure\" as fresh clashes were taking place.<\/p>\n
\"I think the international pressure would ease up on the
\ngovernment if the state of civil emergency can dramatically
\nreduce the violence, but it's clear that that's not the case\".<\/p>\n
He added that it was also \"very difficult\" for the
\ninternational community to believe the government's promises.<\/p>\n
The United Nations on Wednesday opened a resource center in
\nthe provincial capital of Ambon to support local and
\ninternational efforts to address humanitarian needs in the
\nregion.<\/p>\n
Leaders of the Christian community in Ambon have repeatedly
\nexpressed distrust of TNI troops deployed there and have called
\nfor foreign peacekeepers.<\/p>\n
They have accused soldiers of siding with Muslims, and cite
\nseveral documented cases of uniformed and armed soldiers taking
\npart in attacks on Christian settlements in Ambon in recent
\nweeks.<\/p>\n
Muslims have in turn accused police of bias toward Christians.
\n(byg\/dja)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/calls-grow-for-intl-help-in-maluku-1447893297",
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