Govt urged to form special force for Maluku

Govt urged to form special force for Maluku

Jupriadi, The Jakarta Post, Malino

Chairmen of opposing delegations from Maluku asked the
government to form a joint special security force, comprising
both the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police, to
ensure that the Malino peace accord is complied with in the
strife-torn province.

The establishment of the special security force has been
called for because the people of Maluku widely regard the
security authorities to be biased.

Tonny Pariela, chairman of the Christian delegation, conceded
that the sectarian conflict had continued because both the
military and the police had failed to maintain their neutrality.
He cited a series of exchanges of fire between the Navy and the
police in Ambon between October and December, 2001.

"The conflict would not have lasted for three years if the
security authorities had been neutral and enforced the law
equally. The reality has shown that the security authorities have
failed to maintain their neutrality and that certain groups from
outside the province have taken political advantage of the
partiality of the security authorities to interfere in the
conflict," he said.

If the government could not form a joint security force, it
should consolidate both the local military and police in Maluku
to maintain their neutrality and assign only non-local security
personnel to enforce the law, he said.

According to him, to realize the agreement on the
establishment of a security and law enforcement commission, the
government should be proactive and deploy a special security
force selected from the military and the police to replace some
13,000 security personnel currently deployed in the province.

He did not agree with the proposed deployment of servicemen
from the Army's elite force (Kopassus) because they did not know
much about the law.

Tonny said his faction would also request the planned
commission on social and economic affairs pay serious attention
to local social problems and the rights of indigenous people,
both in the local bureaucracy and private sector, to uphold
social justice in the province.

"The conflict flared up so suddenly because indigenous people
were only given a small role in the administration and the
business sector, causing a wide gap between the indigenous people
and immigrants," he said.

Thamrin Ely, leader of the Muslim delegation, concurred and
said that members of the security and law enforcement commission
should come from the military, police, the Attorney General's
Office and the province's high court.

"Most importantly, they must be neutral, professional and
committed to upholding the rule of law. Without such conditions,
the peace accord will not be effective and will experience a
similar fate to previous peace deals," he said.

Both Tonny and Tonny were of the same point of view, that the
government, including the security authorities, has to take a
leading role in the enforcement of the peace accord.

Asked about their comments on law violations committed by
rival groups during the three-year conflict, the two were also of
the same opinion that all major violations should be dealt with
in accordance with the law.

"As Christians, we pardon all wrongdoings in line with the
peace accord, but law violations, especially ones that have
claimed human lives, should be dealt with according to legal
justice," said Tonny.

Thamrin said the government should assign more prosecutors and
judges to Maluku to deal with all law violations that took place
during the conflict.

"The tribunal in Ambon must be revived to try servicemen and
police who committed major violations during the conflict, while
law violations committed by civilians during the conflict have
not been processed because of the absence of prosecutors and
judges," he said.

Meanwhile, in Jakarta, Coordinating Minister for People's
Welfare Jusuf Kalla, said the Ministry of Justice and Human
Rights would send more judges to the district court and the high
court in the provincial capital of Ambon to try all law
violations during the conflict.

"In the coming month, many more judges will be sent to Ambon
and many others from other provinces will be moved to the city to
solve the shortage of judges in the province," he said, after
briefing President Megawati Soekarnoputri on the meeting in
Malino, South Sulawesi, at the State Palace here on Wednesday.

He said the government would ask the military and the police
to maintain their neutrality when enforcing the law in order to
help make the peace accord effective.