Get outside help

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) is not the first organization to appeal to the government to seek outside help in ending the bloody sectarian conflict in Maluku. Given its strong reputation in mediation efforts as well as its neutrality in the conflict, however, its appeal on Wednesday should be given serious consideration.

The appeal -- for the government to seek help from neighboring countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- came after thorough consideration. It was based on Komnas HAM's findings through its lengthy involvement in the search for a solution to the Maluku conflict, which erupted in January 1999.

The commission says that the police and military can no longer be expected to restore peace and order in Maluku by themselves. They are seen by the Muslim and Christian camps as being less then neutral. This accusation of partiality goes to the heart of the integrity of the police and the military.

Irrespective of whether the accusation is right or wrong, such a perception has made it next to impossible for the police and the military to carry out their tasks. The first rule in any mediation effort is to win the trust of the warring parties, and, by the looks of it, the police and the military have broken it.

Komnas HAM argues that it would be better for the government to ask for help from ASEAN countries before an international peacekeeping force is imposed upon the country. It proposed the sending of an ASEAN force because it would be more likely to be accepted by the people of Indonesia, including those in Maluku, than if they were from Western states, including Australia.

Since Komnas HAM's appeal is not laden with the inevitable emotion which has accompanied similar calls by church organizations in Maluku and Jakarta, the government or any other groups which oppose the idea of seeking outside help should look into it equally without emotion. That is the very least they should do before rejecting the commission's proposal out of hand.

Earlier appeals by local churches not unexpectedly found support from international church organizations, which duly conveyed them to the United Nations. Not surprisingly, the gesture provoked criticism from Muslim groups in Indonesia with accusations that the churches were trying to internationalize the conflict by seeking foreign intervention.

Swift rejections also came from the government, the police and the military, and most political parties. They all insisted that Indonesia could and must resolve the problem on its own. Citing national pride, they consider outside intervention to be a trampling of Indonesia's sovereignty. After the bitter experience with East Timor last year, many people in this country are not prepared to face another international humiliation over Maluku.

At this late stage of the conflict, when just about every effort has been made, we must look at the situation in Maluku more objectively than we have in the past, and honestly ask ourselves: Can we really solve the problem without outside help?

The war in Maluku has gone on for too long with no clear sign of when it will end, not even after the government declared a state of civil emergency in the area last month. Too many lives have been lost or shattered in this senseless conflict. How many more thousands of people must die and how many more hundreds of thousands of people must flee before the nation takes a decisive step to end the violence there?

As controversial as Komnas HAM's proposal may sound, it has given the nation some food for thought in its search for a speedy resolution to the conflict in Maluku. It is time that we all look at the Maluku problem less emotionally and more passionately.

It is also time that we reassess our sense of national pride, because there is nothing left to be proud of if we, as a nation, fail to act to protect the lives and property of our fellow countrymen and countrywomen. If seeking outside help means saving their lives, then we should not hesitate to do so.