Death blow to peace?

The grim episode of violence that took place in the early hours of Sunday morning in the troubled eastern province of Maluku has shocked the nation into realizing just how fragile is the peace that has come in the wake of the Malino accord signed last February.

As may be recalled, the Malino accord, although brokered by the government in Jakarta, sought to restore peace and harmony in the province by involving the entire Maluku community in the peace process.

And there can be no doubt of the desire for peace in Maluku after more than three years of deadly sectarian violence that left thousands of people dead. The euphoria over the Malino accord, which brought with it peace and harmony, moved thousands of people to parade through the streets of Ambon, proof that the desire for peace does indeed burn strongly in the community.

Despite these feelings, Sunday's incident at Soya serves as a terrible reminder that even after Malino, peace cannot be taken for granted, but continues to require serious efforts.

According to press reports in Jakarta on Sunday, a gang of armed and masked men attacked the Christian village of Soya, in the Sirimau district of Ambon, in the predawn hours of Sunday, killing at least 12 villagers and seriously wounding 12 others. About 30 houses and a church dating back to 1876 were burned down. The old Soya church, it may be noted, is regarded as a symbol of Christianity in Maluku. This, in a nutshell, is what took place in Soya, but no words can describe the pain the attack has caused the residents of the village.

This is by far the most serious and bloodiest incident to have occurred in Maluku since the conclusion of the Malino peace accord last February. The bombing, and subsequent burning of the governor's office, that took place in Ambon not so long ago pales in comparison to this latest incident of violence.

And while Indonesians who live in the relative safety of areas far removed from the scene of Sunday's violence can perhaps shrug off the incident as yet another attempt to destroy what was achieved in Malino, to those living in Maluku it raises the specter of a rekindling of sectarian violence that plagued the province for more than three years.

The masked men responsible for the attack on Soya were trying to kill more than the 12 villagers who died in the incident. Their obvious aim was to kill the Malino accord, in defiance of the general yearning for peace that exists in Maluku, as attested to by the outpouring of euphoria that had people of all different religious and social backgrounds parading through Ambon.

The burning question in the wake of all this is, what must or can be done to bring back peace and harmony to the people of Maluku? At the risk of repetition, we once again must emphasize the vital importance of rebuilding the machinery of law enforcement in the province. This must involve not only restoring the judiciary, but also remaking the police and other law enforcement agencies into professional institutions whose officers do not take sides in conflicts. Obviously, this also goes for the military, on whom the local administration must rely for preventing conflicts.

It is extremely regrettable, to say the least, that little action seemed to have been taken after the recent shopping center bombing and burning of the governor's office in Ambon, giving the impression of laxness on the part of the authorities. Similarly, it is surprising that mass gatherings are still allowed to take place in Ambon despite the state of civil emergency that is in effect.

As for Sunday's vicious attack on Soya, it is of the utmost importance that our intelligence agencies identify the attackers, arrest them and bring them to justice, and do so without delay. At the same time, punitive measures must also be taken against activists of the South Maluku Republic (RMS) separatist movement, who, by their actions, have not only broken the law but have provoked their opponents into taking counteractions.

Hopefully, this latest tragedy in Soya has convinced the authorities, both in Maluku and in Jakarta, that serious steps must be taken to buttress the Malino peace accord and to uphold the law. Only in this way can there be any hope that peace eventually will return to these once idyllic islands.