Indonesia still prone to sectarian conflict<\/p>\n
Dwi Atmanta, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
As the year draws to a close, 2001 might best be remembered
\nfor its dark chapter when the bloody rampages pitting Muslim
\nagainst Christian in Maluku and Poso ran unchecked.<\/p>\n
Thousands have been killed and many others displaced since the
\nsectarian conflict first erupted in the capital of Ambon in 1999
\nand spread across the Maluku islands to the remote Central
\nSulawesi town of Poso.<\/p>\n
In the time since, critics have assailed the government for
\nits inability to return peace to the two territories, where the
\nbalance between Christians and Muslims is almost even.<\/p>\n
The clashes came against the backdrop of a renewal of
\nIndonesian society following the fall of the authoritarian regime
\nof the now-ailing president Soeharto and a presidential election
\nbilled as the most democratic ever.<\/p>\n
Speculation abounds that those facts were not coincidental.
\nPolitical analyst Juwono Sudarsono, a former minister in the
\ncabinets of ex-presidents Abdurrahman Wahid and BJ Habibie, is
\namong those who sees the hand of Soeharto's cronies in the
\nconflicts.<\/p>\n
While Juwono has not named any masterminds, his University of
\nIndonesia colleague, Tamrin Amal Tomagola, has publicly come to
\nthe conclusion that former Indonesian Military chief and defense
\nminister Gen. (ret.) Wiranto is responsible for the ongoing
\nsectarian strife.<\/p>\n
Wiranto has since initiated a defamation lawsuit against the
\nsociologist, a North Maluku native. But the Cibinong District
\nCourt in West Java where the litigation was filed turned down the
\nlawsuit in November, citing lack of evidence.<\/p>\n
Those opinions remain open to debate but, to some extent, they
\nalso show how complicated the Maluku and Poso conflict is, in
\nthat three different administrations succeeding Soeharto have
\nfailed to effectively deal with the situation.<\/p>\n
Fatal clashes also broke out intermittently in the Maluku
\ncapital of Ambon this year -- despite the fact that a civil state
\nof emergency has been imposed in the province and its neighbor,
\nNorth Maluku, since June of last year.<\/p>\n
One of the biggest episodes of violence took place in mid-
\nJune, involving an Army joint battalion force and armed
\ncivilians. At least 20 people, including an Army soldier, were
\nkilled in the clash.<\/p>\n
The Maluku military commander Brig. Gen. I Made Yasa was
\nreplaced by Brig. Gen. Moestopo following widespread criticism of
\nthe military's excessive measures, which included an attack on a
\nhealth clinic belonging to Laskar Jihad, a Muslim group.<\/p>\n
Moestopo opted for a softer approach -- which he called
\n"persuasive measures" -- by keeping in touch with leaders of both
\nreligious groups.<\/p>\n
But the violence did not stop. The latest incident took place
\non Dec. 19, when nine people were killed as passengers aboard a
\nspeedboat were showered with bullets near Teluk Ambon. Just a
\nweek earlier, a bomb exploded aboard KM Kalifornia, killing 11.<\/p>\n
The prolonged conflict in Ambon has prompted a desperate
\nMaluku Governor Saleh Latuconsina to ponder acquiescing the
\nhandling of the province's problems to Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Smarting from the Maluku lesson -- albeit a bit too late --
\nthe central government intervened in the conflict in Poso, which
\nhas claimed 2,000 lives since 1998, by assigning Coordinating
\nMinister for Social Affairs Yusuf Kalla to mediate peace
\ntalks.<\/p>\n
The fifth of their kind, the negotiations were held in Malino,
\na hilly town 40 northeast of the South Sulawesi capital of
\nMakassar. Both the Muslim and Christian camps agreed on a
\npeaceful settlement and the establishment of two commissions
\ndealing with security and social and economic matters.<\/p>\n
The government has also promised to disarm and repatriate
\nthousands of Laskar Jihad militiamen who have recently arrived in
\nPoso, worsening the feud.<\/p>\n
Like in Maluku, the prolonged dispute in Poso was triggered by
\na minor personal squabble back in 1998.<\/p>\n
Human rights activists said the scuffle, which involved two
\nyouths of different religions, was left unsettled and, in time,
\nextended into sectarian conflict in line with the race for the
\nregency post in 1999. The Maluku violence has contributed to the
\nescalation of conflict in Poso.<\/p>\n
The killings continued even after three militia leaders
\n--Fabianus Tibo, Marianus Riwu and Domingus da Silva -- were
\nbrought to justice and sentenced to death in April for a series
\nof murders in the mid-1990s.<\/p>\n
Despite their mutual hostilities, both parties shared the same
\nopinion: that the conflict would have not spiraled out of control
\nhad the government took action at the earliest stage.<\/p>\n
People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais joined the
\nchorus of critics against the government's lackluster moves to
\nput and end to the Poso problem.<\/p>\n
Critics said the government has never changed its long-
\nstanding name tag as a fire brigade sent to a place which is
\nalready long burnt out.<\/p>\n
Reports also revealed that, despite the frequent security
\noperations, which included weapon searches, the troops did not
\ntake enough measures to enforce the law. Both the warring groups
\nclaimed that the security forces behaved in the other's favor.<\/p>\n
Maluku has provided yet another lesson: that a government-
\nmediated, top-down peace agreement did not guarantee that the
\nconflict would not rekindle.<\/p>\n
Now is the right moment for the government of President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri, whose appointment as the country's new
\nleader in July was greeted with enthusiasm, to maintain a lasting
\npeace among the people of this melting pot society by promoting
\ntolerance and rule of law.<\/p>\n
The use of force will allow the legacy of the New Order to
\nrepeat itself. There was a chapter in Indonesia's history when an
\nartificial peace and order were preserved through coercion -- and
\nit did not last.<\/p>\n
Civil emergency vs military emergency<\/p>\n
CIVIL EMERGENCY:
\n 1. The governor takes charge as the supreme authority.
\n 2. The governor has the authority to issue regulations necessary
\nto maintain public order or security.
\n 3. Every civilian employee in the region subject to the
\nemergency is obliged to provide information to the governor under
\ncertain circumstances.
\n 4. The governor has the authority to limit shows, printing,
\npublishing, announcements or any form of information
\ndissemination.<\/p>\n
MILITARY EMERGENCY:
\n 1. The military takes charge as the supreme authority.
\n 2. The military has the right to take control in matters of
\npublic order and security.
\n 3. The military has the right to restrict shows, printing,
\npublishing, announcements, or any form of information
\ndissemination.
\n 4. The military has the right to confiscate letters and packages
\nsent through the post office or couriers, also drafts and
\nreceipts and money sent through the such means, and to censor, to
\nchange the content of or to destroy letters or packages.<\/p>",
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