Ambon explodes

Ambon explodes

Ambon has proven to be a hot spot that can turn into killing field at anytime, with the likelihood of fierce horizontal and vertical conflicts. The horizontal conflicts are those among the citizens, the vertical, those between the citizens and the Military or police.

The city that had been quiet and peaceful for months after prolonged deadly rioting, exploded again on Sunday. The conflict began when a parade involving a group of the supporters of the Republic of South Maluku (RMS), an organization striving to be independent from the unitary state of Indonesia, clashed with pro-Indonesia Muslims.

The street parade commemorated the 54th anniversary of the RMS. A brawl erupted and turned into a fierce street battle. In such a situations is not easy to distinguish between the horizontal and vertical battles going on.

At least 23 people were reportedly killed and more than 10 buildings were destroyed during the conflicts.

Why did the tranquility turn to violence? There may be many answers to that question. However, one thing is certain -- even a tranquil and peaceful Ambon is not an Ambon that is satisfied with the government's handling of previous conflicts, or an Ambon free from ongoing socio-economic problems.

The Ambonese are just fed up with killing each other but, frankly, they are no nearer to proper solutions to their plight.

The Malino I and II peace deals only managed to appeal to the two Ambonese factions to bury the hatchet. Meanwhile, the core problems -- justice and the basic rights of citizens -- have yet to be dealt with properly. The government's serious commitment to solving the Ambon problem is badly needed.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta