Amien slams rights body for apathy on Maluku woes

JAKARTA (JP): With violence in Maluku continuing unabated, People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais lashed out at the National Commission on Human Rights on Thursday for turning a blind eye to the bloodshed.

Amien accused the rights body of spending too much time serving international interests with its investigation into atrocities in East Timor and the Indonesian Military (TNI).

"I want to ask my fellows in the rights body whether they are discriminative or not. They have given harsh responses to the killing of a small number of East Timorese, but they are doing nothing about the human tragedy in Ambon and Maluku," he said after receiving a group of Maluku's Muslim students at his office.

Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed in the latest outbreak of sectarian riots across Maluku which began at Christmas.

Amien suggested that both the MPR and the House of Representatives query the motives behind the rights body's persistence in investigating East Timor.

He insisted that the rights body had the authority and the obligation to investigate the human tragedy in Aceh and Maluku.

"It is very easy to carry out a thorough investigation (in Maluku) if the rights body is committed to promoting national interests.

"On behalf of the people, I want to convey their message that the rights body should be more outspoken in advocating the Maluku people's human rights," he said.

Amien also criticized President Abdurrahman Wahid for relegating the resolution of the conflict to the Maluku people themselves.

"If this happens, I believe the conflict will eventually calm down but only after Maluku vanishes. What's a legitimate government for if such a tragedy is left up to the people?" he said, adding that the government's policy was unwise and unjustifiable.

He said he met with the President, who is better known as Gus Dur, on Wednesday night to question him over his government's actions to stop the bloodshed.

"Gus Dur said he and his assistants would complete the government's action plan to stop the sectarian violence in a couple of days," he said.

Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno, chairman of the House's special committee on Ambon, concurred and said the government could not remain detached when dealing with the violence in Maluku.

"The conflict may spread to other provinces, and more people will be killed if the government remains quiet," he said.

Meanwhile, dozens of Maluku people staged a demonstration at the House compound to deny that the conflict in their homeland was stirred by religious issues. Mahmud Rengifurwarin, chairman of the Indonesian Muslim Students Association (HMI) chapter in Maluku and Irian Jaya, said that the problem lay with social disparity and the increasing number of jobless people in the province.

"All religions teach peace and harmony and they condemn any form of rivalry. No religion wants war and violence to occur," he said.

He said that he Ambonese had suffered during the prolonged economic crisis because of the deep gap between the rich and the poor triggered by bad economic policy during the 32-year New Order era.

Pressure on the government to seek the immediate cessation of Maluku bloodshed increased on Thursday. Some 100 people claiming to represent the Greater Jakarta branch of the Islamic Forum of United Maluku for Peace rallied in front of Merdeka Palace, where Abdurrahman stays, to demand that the President take stiff measures in coping with clashes on the islands.

The group failed to meet with the President, who was at his office, and gave a copy of its statement to palace staff.

At Sunda Kelapa Mosque in Central Jakarta, thousands of people from various Muslim and sociopolitical organizations gathered to issue a joint statement urging the government to "initiate a breakthrough and strategic policies to put an end to the conflict in Maluku".

"Never spark the collective anger of Muslims by targeting Islam people in acts of arson, murder and manslaughter in Maluku," the statement read.

The groups also warned the nation of national disintegration if the violence was unabated.

Signatories of the statement included Amien Rais, chairman of the National Committee of Indonesian Youth (KNPI) Adhiyaksi and deputy chairman of the Justice Party Syamsul Balda.

The mass joined a rally across the city following the gathering.

Additional demonstrations organized by the Indonesian Muslim Student Union Movement (KAMMI) took place in Semarang and Medan on Thursday. (39/rms/har/edt)