Civil emergency fails to promote peace in Maluku

Civil emergency fails to promote peace in Maluku

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The imposition of civil emergency in restive Maluku and North
Maluku has failed to promote peace and reconciliation between
warring groups in the two provinces, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) said on Saturday, urging the government to
immediately lift the policy.

"Data show that a three-year sectarian conflicts in Maluku and
North Maluku have claimed the lives of around 8,000 innocent
people, and forced another 227,000 to live in refugees camps
without any hope that their life would return to normal,"
coordinator of National Commission for Missing Person and Victims
of Violence (Kontras) Ori Rachman said in a press conference on
Saturday.

Aside from Kontras, the Institute for Studies on Free Flow of
Information (ISAI) and three NGOs coming from Maluku and North
Maluku provinces -- Tapak Ambon, Parigi, and Setapak Community.

According to the NGOs, the imposition of civil emergency in
the provinces since April 2000 was merely aimed at justifying the
presence of thousands of troops, who have come under strong
criticism for allegedly taking sides with one of the warring
parties.

Maluku has been plagued by a religious conflict which has
killed more than 5,000 people since it broke out in January 1999.

Ori said many children failed to obtain education as school
facilities have been burned down in the past three years.

"The province's annual income has plummeted from Rp 5.7
billion in 1998 to its current level of Rp 254 million due to the
conflict," said Ori, urging the government to formulate a clear
policy on how to rehabilitate the living condition of local
people there rather than "defending the imposition of civil
emergency in the region."

He further questioned the government, the Indonesian Military
(TNI) chief and the National Police chief for not imposing stern
sanctions to security personnel who have failed to stay
impartial, further worsening the situation in the provinces.

Earlier, a group of lawyers from the two provinces -- 15
Christians and 15 Muslims -- urged the government and military
leadership to withdraw immediately troops sent there as
reinforcement forces.

Following the imposition of civil emergency in the provinces
in 1999, the TNI headquarters has deployed between 9,000 and
11,000 troops there.

Sources at the Coordinating Minister for Political and
Security Affairs' office told The Jakarta Post recently that the
situation in Maluku has worsened due to the presence of
separatist movement called as Maluku Independence Front (FKM),
forcing the central government to maintain the civil emergency
status in the provinces.

But Dino Umahuk, an activist of the Parigi, denied the
allegation of separatist movement, saying that "such of reaction
(separatist) is due to the lack of concern on the part of central
government to immediately settle the prolonged conflict with
clear policies."

"The military has only used the separatist issue to defend
their presence there. We, however, do not see FKM and the
Republic of South Maluku (RMS) independence movements as a threat
to the people there," Dino said.

The NGOs also called on the military to bring to justice
personnel found to have committed gross human rights violation in
the provinces.

"The National Commission on Human Rights has once recommended
an incident at Kebon Cengkih village last year as gross human
rights violation, and therefore military authorities must send
the perpetrators to a military tribunal. But to date, there are
no response from the military over the recommendation," Ori
complained.

He was referring to clashes between military personnel and
Laskar Jihad militias in Galunggung and Kebon Cengkih villages
on June 14, 2001, which claimed 20 lives, including one soldier,
wounded 30 others. The troops arrested 20 armed militia members.

"We are also disappointed because the troops there failed to
disarm militias as hundreds of homemade weapons and bombs are
still around, as well as TNI and police's organic weapons," Ori
said.