Experts back Poso plan, doubt TNI capacity

Experts back Poso plan, doubt TNI capacity

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Military analysts threw their weight on Thursday behind the
government's plan to impose a state of emergency to end the
sectarian fighting in Poso, Central Sulawesi, but cast doubt on
the military's professionalism.

The conflict is spinning out of control and a state of
emergency is the likely choice of action but the analysts suggest
that the military should learn from neighboring Maluku where the
civil state of emergency in force there has been far from
effective.

The government is expected to impose a state of emergency in
Central Sulawesi, be it civil or military, in the next few days.
Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono and new Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar were in
Poso Thursday to assess the situation.

The observers stressed the need for the government to explore
options on how to minimize the excesses of the security approach,
highlighted by events in Aceh and Irian Jaya.

Ikrar Nusa Bakti of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences
(LIPI) said the government should not hesitate to impose a state
of civilian emergency.

"As long as it is implemented properly and the operation is
under good control of the governor," Ikrar told The Jakarta Post.

But in the latest developments, Central Sulawesi Governor
Aminuddin Panulele rejected calls for a state of emergency in
Poso. He said that the escalating conflict over the past two
weeks was not strong enough grounds to take the measure.

Back in 2000, the Aceh governor begged the central government
to impose a civil state of emergency but the local legislative
council rejected it.

Ikrar said one reason why the state of emergency in Maluku was
ineffective was that the governor was not in command.

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of houses,
mosques and churches have been burned down in a wave of violence
that has swept through Central Sulawesi over the last two weeks.

On Wednesday, six residents of Toyado village who went missing
over the weekend were found dead in the Poso River. The six went
missing and were believed to have been kidnapped by security
personnel who, along with militiamen, attacked the predominantly
Christian village.

Sectarian violence between Muslims and Christians erupted in
1998, triggered by fierce competition during regency elections.
The current cycle of violence broke out following the arrival of
armed civilian forces from Central Java and East Java, which
coincided with the withdrawal of security personnel after the
situation in the regency was deemed to have returned to normal.

Kusnanto Anggoro of the Center for Strategic and International
Studies (CSIS) stressed the need to carefully consider how to
minimize military and police excesses.

The lack of professionalism among the military and police
raises concern over rampant abuses of human rights, he warned.

"Soldiers are trained to go to war where they will have to
kill or be killed. The problem is that they will go on an
operation where they face civilians," said Kusnanto.

Emotional ties, resulting from religious or ethnic sentiments,
were a major factor feared to affect soldiers partiality. In
Maluku, this is a major problem. Muslim soldiers take sides with
the Muslim camp and the Christians with Christian camp.

Hermawan Sulistyo, another LIPI military commentator, proposed
that soldiers on duty should come from other provinces and be
rotated on a regular basis.

"Anybody can't stay neutral if they see their families or
friends killed during the conflict, therefore for the time being
they may be assigned to other regions and be replaced by security
forces from elsewhere," he told the Post.

The first thing the security forces in Poso should do was to
disarm the groups as there were still many weapons and explosives
there, Hermawan added. The next step would be to cut the weapons
supply to the region.

When regions in state of emergency
* East Timor, Sept. 7 to Sept. 27, 1999, (military)
* Maluku, Since June, 2000, (civil)
* North Maluku, Since June, 2000, (civil)