Breaking cycle of violence in Indonesia

Annabel McGoldrick, Reporting the World, London, annabelmcg@aol.com, and Aya Muchtar, Contributor, Jakarta, aya@cbn.net.id

One necessary intervention is aimed for political security. Law enforcement is a pre-requisite of stabilization, whether before, during or after major conflict -- and it must be seen to be fair and impartial. The Poso conflict in Central Sulawesi was triggered when a man who had been wounded in a fight ran to the mosque, to rouse fellow Muslims to strike back, instead of the police. Why?

The police and Indonesian Military (TNI) are needed to win people's trust; hence they must reform. Unless the legal and coercive instruments are perceived as legitimate and independent, the state's capacity to implement policies to support reconciliation and prosecute human rights violations will be severely undermined.

For political security the following requirements are needed: o Free elections: The overthrow of a dictator and installation of democratic process is a monumental task. It is in new democracies where we can best gauge the value of free elections.

In 1999 in East Timor, despite the increase in violence by militias against civilians prior to the election, 98 percent of the electorate voted. Increased violence after the results came out was a backhanded testimony to its true significance. Such an incontrovertible public assertion of the public will could not be ignored, even by those so bitterly opposed to the process.

o Control of militias: Armed militias or paramilitaries have to be brought to negotiations. This is not necessarily best done by armed forces; it is the Henri Dunant Center which has succeeded in bringing the Free Aceh Movement to the negotiating table with Indonesia.

o Responsible media and good communications (see related article below).

o Economic security: If people are assured that they will be able to meet their basic needs of food and shelter, they are less likely to make trouble. One way is community banking, helping local traders to organize their finances and put their lives on a more sustainable footing. Foshal, an NGO in Ternate, set up a cooperative in a traditional market, with more than 1,000 customers, mainly street vendors and vegetable stall-holders.

o The next intervention aims for psychological security:

The traumas of victims need attention and, if possible, healing. One way is by "active listening", whereby an independent witness or witnesses gives the traumatized person their full attention for as long as necessary to discharge their fear, grief and anger. If done well, this way prevents anger hardening into bitterness and retaliation.

In Manado, in North Sulawesi, refugee children were helped to process their trauma by singing, writing poems and drawing pictures of their bitter experiences in North Maluku. Organizers of the project run by Peka, a local NGO, said that initially the drawings were of knives and weapons -- which gradually changed to normal childhood scenes of houses and families.

Another group, in Ambon, comprises mothers from Muslims and Christians. This Movement of Caring Women (Gerakan Perempuan Peduli) provide counseling for traumatized victims and guidance to other mothers as to how to dissuade their children from seeking revenge. They also provide the one thing every refugee parent wants above all -- help with their children's education.

Psychological security requires the following:

o Mediation: During periods of violence, GPP met in a neutral space in Ambon and kept in touch by telephone. Sometimes mediation is required for this kind of contact to begin -- by a respected, non-judgmental third party to talk to members of conflicting groups and facilitate a meeting. In Ambon, one such party was the peace center of Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta.

o Bridge-building: Countless groups and individuals in Indonesia's conflict-affected areas work on bridge-building.

The tireless work of religious leaders in Manado is central to why the city, made up of 60 percent Christians and 40 percent Muslims has resisted the bloodshed. The capital of North Sulawesi is sandwiched between North Maluku on one side and Poso on the other. The Interreligious Group Association, BKSUA, led by luminaries like Jotje Wala, a Christian priest, studied certain verses both in the Bible and the Koran to get good understanding of both holy books and to be able to give information to their followers about the peaceful messages in both great religions.

Bantaya, a local NGO in Palu, central Sulawesi, gathered local farmers to set aside land to lend to refugees from Poso, and houses for them to live in. They had some independence, cultivating and selling their own crops.

So it was a form of economic, therefore political, security, but it also proved that someone cared about them enough to look after them. Add to this the efforts of local Christian priests to marshal their followers to help clean and rebuild a local mosque, and you have a community active in bridge-building -- an important investment in preventing the Poso conflict from being imported into Palu in the minds of those affected by it.

o Truth and reconciliation: From South Africa to Chile over 20 truth and reconciliation commissions have allowed people to address their fears and resentments in public, and in a safe and controlled environment.

The obvious case for truth and reconciliation is the slaughter of 1965-1966 in which as many as a million people may have died, in the name of opposition to communism. Evidence which has come to light in the U.S. strengthens the suspicion of CIA involvement in providing lists of names of suspected PKI members. The children of suspected communists have spoken out, urging Indonesia to come to terms with this brutal episode.

Many people suppose that victims need to be prepared to forget about what happened to them. Yet what is needed is something to be done about it, whether justice, or compensation, or simply someone listening and taking seriously what they have to say.

Without this, a society cannot move on; the violence and trauma is never fully expunged, and it carries the dread possibility that people could resort to the same thing.

o Transforming the cycle of violence:

These brief examples indicate the potency of non-violence. If applied systematically, robustly and with adequate funding, they illustrate how the cycle of violence can be transformed.

While efficient measures of evaluating conflict resolution initiatives are being developed, if they are successful, it is hard to measure their effects in terms of what did not happen.

Effective conflict prevention will avoid bloodshed, possibly even a full-scale civil war.

Further, interventions to break the cycle of violence are inadequately funded -- a particular concern in Indonesia after the Bali bomb. The international community has been a major source of support for many of the initiatives mentioned here, providing access to knowledge which has empowered peace actors.

Jamaluddin, an ulema from Palu, Central Sulawesi and self proclaimed hardliner, said after a training of "Communicating for humanity": "I didn't realize I gave bad influence to many people. I think that was because I had a lack of knowledge; I didn't have enough understanding towards other people who are different from me".

But there have been signs that the international community may be in the process of disengaging, with western embassies sending their nationals home. Indonesia must not be isolated at this time, and strong early signals of a continuing commitment by overseas governments and NGOs will be welcome as an investment in a safer future for all of us.

The writers recently led a training program in peace journalism for the British Council in Jakarta.