Bombings after 1998 have not been resolved
Bombings after 1998 have not been resolved
JAKARTA (JP): The political history of bombings in Indonesia
took a sharp turn after the 1998 May riots, in which all of the
cases involving bomb explosions have never been solved, the
Indonesian Forum for Peace (FID) secretary Munir said on
Thursday.
"While investigating the Dec. 24, 2000 Christmas Eve bombings
we studied the political history of bombings in the country,"
Munir told reporters on the sidelines of a discussion regarding
the Aceh and Ambon conflicts.
"It turned out that bombings have taken place since 1971, but
the cases have always been solved by the state, and the culprits
were arrested," Munir said, adding that most of the explosives
used during that period were traditional devices.
But after the May riots in 1998, none of the bombings were
ever resolved, Munir said.
He said that after May 1998, the pattern changed. The
explosives being used were far more sophisticated, targets more
significant, and none of the culprits ever caught.
The Dec. 24 Christmas Eve bombings in nine cities across the
country killed 18 people and injured more than 100 others.
It is recorded that in the period after May 1998 there were
six bombings, in 1999 nine bombings, and 20 more explosions
occurred last year, he said.
"None of these cases were resolved. The authorities only
captured the field operators, but never the mastermind. I wonder
why the state is getting weaker in handling such acts of
terrorism? Maybe there are political changes that must be
observed," he said.
Munir said that FID never associated the names of nine
generals with the Christmas Eve bombings.
"Up until today we haven't found any connection with the
bombings. We have received all information but it has to be
clarified and carefully probed first. Most of those allegedly
involved, however, are civilians."
He further stated that a dispute arising from President
Abdurrahman Wahid's statement in Newsweek, which mentioned the
names of two retired army generals, Hartono and Prabowo Subianto,
"will only side to the favor of those military generals and
others who are allegedly involved in the bombings".
"Public opinion about the dispute has already formed,
believing that Gus Dur's statement was a blunder," Munir, who is
also foundation chairman of the commission on Missing Persons and
Victims of Violence (Kontras) said.
The latest findings by FID on the Christmas bombings revealed
that the explosives used in the incident are "very specific,
unique and non-traditional, and come from limited sources", he
said.
"Not all of the nine cities have a potential communal or
religious sentiment, so this is not about such primordial
conflicts.
"The arrested suspects, such as in Bandung and Medan, were not
connected but they conducted organized, similar operations at the
same time. So, basically, we have to find out who is organizing
these field operators," Munir said.
Most of the captured suspects in relation to the Christmas
bombings are only civilian field operators, he added.
Meanwhile in Bandung, 51-year-old Djua, the wife of Haji
Aceng, a key suspect in the Christmas Eve bombing in Bandung,
eventually met her husband for one hour, which ended at 6 p.m. on
Thursday.
The closed-door meeting took place at the office of West
Java's deputy chief detective corps Adj. Sr. Comr. Tatang
Somantri.
Djua refused to talk to reporters and quickly left the
building in a red Honda Civic sedan.
Journalists, however, were banned from seeing another
suspects, named Iqbal, 40.
"Both Aceng and Iqbal are physically okay but they are still
in shock and too embarrassed to meet people," Tatang said.
(edt/25)