Gus Dur to lead religious leaders in Ambon visit<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Abdurrahman Wahid of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)
\nIslamic organization and several other religious leaders will
\nvisit the ravaged Maluku capital of Ambon to try to rebuild
\ninter-religious harmony in the region.<\/p>\n
"I will visit Ambon at the invitation from the people
\nthere... along with leaders from Muhammadiyah, the Communion of
\nChurches in Indonesia (PGI), Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI)
\nand preacher Zainuddin M.Z.," Abdurrahman said after meeting with
\nMilitary Police chief Maj. Gen. M. Djasri at the Nahdlatul Ulama
\n(NU) office in Central Jakarta on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The group will discuss measures to restore religious harmony
\nin the area, and the impact the two months of unrest there has
\nhad on the nation, he said.<\/p>\n
When asked whether Amien Rais -- chairman of the National
\nMandate Party (PAN) and former leader of Muhammadiyah -- would
\njoin the group, Abdurrahman quickly replied, "Amien? No. He
\ndoesn't have anything to do with this. He's not invited."<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, reiterated that the
\ncommunal clashes in Ambon and other Maluku areas, which have so
\nfar killed around 200 people, were instigated by four parties.<\/p>\n
"They are the hoodlums, right-wing Muslims, right-wing
\nChristians and members of the separatist movement of the Republic
\nof South Maluku."<\/p>\n
He said that during the one-hour closed session with Djasri,
\nthe two-star general attempted to clarify several issues
\nconcerning the Ambon unrest, including the possible causes, the
\ninvolvement of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad)
\nmembers, and an alleged provocateur initially referred to by
\nAbdurrahman as "Maj. Gen. 'K'".<\/p>\n
"I said that Maj. Gen 'K' is not Maj. Gen. Kivlan Zen (a
\nmember of the Army chief's expert staff).<\/p>\n
"I'm concerned because it seems that ABRI leaders are focusing
\ntheir probe (on Ambon) at Kivlan... I'm afraid this will
\njeopardize his career," Abdurrahman said.<\/p>\n
Kivlan complained to Abdurrahman recently that his refusal to
\nreveal Maj. Gen. 'K's identity had caused problems for his
\nfamily, because the media had insinuated that it was him.<\/p>\n
"The Armed Forces (leaders) are up against the wall, trying
\nhard to gather sufficient evidence. ABRI is very serious... and
\nI'm urging its leaders to work harder," Abdurrahman said.<\/p>\n
When asked why he did not reveal the full identity of the
\nalleged ABRI provocateur, he replied: "Of course I won't... But
\nI tell you, he is real. He exists."<\/p>\n
Commenting on the session, Djasri told the media the Armed
\nForces were checking all information relevant to the Ambon riots.<\/p>\n
"This is a usual visit, not a questioning," he said.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman denied the suggestion that the session was made on
\nthe request of ABRI Commander Gen. Wiranto.<\/p>\n
"What for? Almost every day, he (Wiranto) and Army chief (Gen.
\nSubagyo H.S) speak to me on the phone," he said.<\/p>\n
Also on Wednesday, President B.J. Habibie told his Cabinet
\nministers the ongoing violence in Maluku had nothing to do with a
\nseparation attempt launched by the Republic of South Maluku
\n(RMS).<\/p>\n
Following his meetings with Maluku leaders and other sources,
\nHabibie said people in the province were embarrassed by the
\nallegation that RMS had also provoked riots there.<\/p>\n
"They could not accept this accusation at all," the President
\nsaid as quoted by Minister of Information Lt. Gen. Muhammad Yunus
\nafter a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Controversy<\/p>\n
Minister of Transmigration Lt. Gen. Hendropriyono sparked
\ncontroversy when he said in Ambon last week that RMS had provoked
\nthe unrest in Maluku in their bid to set up an independent state.<\/p>\n
Most RMS leaders are living in the Netherlands, and Yunus said
\nthey were too old to be actively involved in the Maluku unrest.<\/p>\n
"There may be some RMS attempts to instigate violence but it
\ndoes not work at all," said Yunus.<\/p>\n
Thousands of people have been displaced following clashes
\nbetween Muslims and Christians in the provinces. Some officials
\nestimate 60,000 Muslims -- many originally from Southeast
\nSulawesi and South Sulawesi -- have fled the unrest which has
\nleft about 200 people dead.<\/p>\n
Muslim leaders have described the gory killings and unrest as
\nethnic cleansing of Muslims. The Indonesian Communion of Churches
\n(PGI) has denied the allegations, terming the situation as an
\norgy of senseless killing committed by both sides.<\/p>\n
The communion also called on Wednesday on Habibie and the
\ngovernment to take serious and wise steps in ending the violence.<\/p>\n
In a statement quoted by Antara, chairman Sularso Sopater and
\nSecretary-General J.M. Pattiasina said: "We are calling on all
\nparties to be wary of the emergence of religious sentiment and
\npolitical fanaticism... that seek to make use of the unrest in
\nAmbon to further their inhumane interests."<\/p>\n
The communion also described the suffering of the Ambon
\nresidents, including those fleeing the area, as an insult to the
\nprinciple of humanity long respected by Indonesia in its
\ndemocracy.<\/p>\n
Rights Watch<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, an international human rights watchdog criticized
\nthe Armed Forces (ABRI) on Wednesday for fatal shootings of
\nrioters in Ambon.<\/p>\n
The New York-based Human Rights Watch also called on the
\ngovernment to investigate accusations of bias in the behavior of
\nsecurity forces, hurled by both Muslims and Christians.<\/p>\n
"From Feb. 14 onward, most of the deaths took place when
\nsecurity forces began implementing orders to fire on rioters,"
\nsaid Sidney Jones, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, in the
\nreport, a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The report continued: "There is no question that an extremely
\ngrave security threat existed and the security forces were
\ninitially accused by both sides of standing by and doing nothing.<\/p>\n
"When they finally did intervene, they shot bullets rather
\nthan attempting to use any methods of nonlethal crowd control."<\/p>\n
The report said the government should ensure that security
\nforces respect the basic principle on the use of firearms by law
\nenforcement officers and that "troops assigned to Ambon are fully
\nequipped with nonlethal methods of crowd control".<\/p>\n
"Of particular importance to Ambon is principle that law
\nenforcers, in carrying out their duty, shall, as far as possible,
\napply nonviolent means before resorting to the use of force and
\nfirearms."<\/p>\n
The report said that the local press, many senior officials in
\nthe government, opposition and many Jakarta-based diplomats
\nbelieve the violence was provoked as part of a nationwide
\nstrategy of rogue military officers linked to former president
\nSoeharto to disrupt the forthcoming June elections.<\/p>\n
Local leaders in Ambon tend to consider the violence as
\nlocally instigated for narrow communal goals, the report said.<\/p>\n
"In either case, the government of Soeharto's successor,
\nHabibie, seems to have been half-hearted about investigating
\nallegations of provocation at either the national or local
\nlevel."<\/p>\n
It also said that imposing a state of civil emergency in Ambon
\nand surrounding islands should be avoided at all costs.<\/p>\n
"With the very clear exacerbation of the situation caused by
\nthe presence of security forces with orders to fire on rioters,
\nadditional measures that allow the military to bypass normal
\ncivil rights safeguards are likely to make things worse."<\/p>\n
It also called on the government to acknowledge the terrible
\nlosses that Muslims and Christians have suffered. (byg\/swe\/edt\/prb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/gus-dur-to-lead-religious-leaders-in-ambon-visit-1447893297",
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