Maluku team limited to recommendations<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Maluku investigation team's mission is unlikely to fulfill
\npeople's sense of justice as their authority has been limited to
\nproviding recommendations to put an end to the conflict.<\/p>\n
In its first public statement on Monday, the team's chairman I
\nWayan Karya said they would only provide \"scientific
\nrecommendations\".<\/p>\n
\"We are members of a probe team and the result of the
\ninvestigation will be 'scientific' recommendations to be
\nsubmitted to the government in order to put an end to the Maluku
\nconflict,\" Wayan said.<\/p>\n
He further said that the team does not have any deadline to
\ncomplete their tasks, and will set up its work plan on June 24.<\/p>\n
\"We plan to go to Maluku within the next two or three weeks
\nand start our observation of conditions in the province,\" said
\nWayan, a retired police officer.<\/p>\n
Wayan's deputy Bambang W. Soeharto, as if to confirm public
\nskepticism, said on Monday that his team was not authorized to
\ndetermine the root cause of the violence that has already claimed
\nover 6,000 lives since it started in 1999.<\/p>\n
\"The team will focus on reconciliation and peace efforts,\"
\nBambang said after a meeting with Coordinating Minister for
\nPolitical and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and
\nCoordinating Minister for Social Welfare Jusuf Kalla.<\/p>\n
He emphasized that the team would not open the \"people's
\nwounds as it does not have the heart to see the prolonged
\nsuffering of the Ambonese people\".<\/p>\n
When pressed to clarify whether his statement meant that the
\nteam would not seek the real perpetrators of the violence there,
\nBambang said that his mission \"does not have the authority to do
\nso\".<\/p>\n
The government announced on Thursday the establishment of a
\n14-member independent team to probe violence in Maluku as
\nstipulated in Article 6 of the Malino Peace Agreement signed by
\nthe two warring parties in February 2002.<\/p>\n
Analysts have blamed poor law enforcement against perpetrators
\nof violence there as one of the reasons why the religious
\nconflict has worsened since the two parties signed a peace deal
\nin Malino, South Sulawesi in February.<\/p>\n
The people had expected that the team would unravel the truth
\nbehind the bloodshed that has destroyed long-standing peace and
\nreligious tolerance in Maluku.<\/p>\n
Human rights activists earlier expressed concern that the
\nMaluku team would meet a similar fate as nine other investigation
\nteams formed by government since 1998 to look into human rights
\nviolation cases, which reported no significant findings.<\/p>\n
During Monday's meeting with Susilo and Jusuf Kalla, team
\nmembers received \"directives\" on how they should start their
\nduties.<\/p>\n
\"But, the directives will not influence our independence as we
\nwill also look into the involvement of security officers in the
\nprolonged conflict,\" Wayan said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/maluku-team-limited-to-recommendations-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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