Human rights body faces tough job in Kalimantan

Human rights body faces tough job in Kalimantan

JAKARTA (JP): The ethnic conflict in West Kalimantan is likely
to tread a long and winding road before reaching settlement,
National Commission on Human Rights Secretary-General Baharuddin
Lopa said in Pontianak.

Lopa embarked Wednesday on an information-gathering trip with
fellow commission member Bambang W. Suharto to the West
Kalimantan capital and its surrounding area, which has been hit
by ethnic and sectarian clashes for the past few weeks.

He quickly noticed the uphill challenges facing the
commission.

"(Determining) the roots of the problem is not that simple
because the unrest has involved some very basic principles of the
two conflicting ethnic groups. The clashes here are very
different from those that occurred in Java," Lopa told Antara
after a meeting with West Kalimantan Governor Aspar Aswin
Wednesday evening.

Later in the day, both Lopa and Bambang also met with
Tanjungpura Military Commander Maj. Gen. Namoeri Anoem. The
command oversees all four provinces in Kalimantan.

The rights body representatives ended their visit yesterday,
hailing the military for its handling of the riots which broke
out between native Dayaks and migrant Madurese from East Java in
late December.

"The Armed Forces is in fact carrying out a humanitarian
operation to (help people) cope with the ethnic rift here," Lopa
said. During their two-day, fact-finding mission, Lopa and
Bambang visited military barracks to which thousands of refugees
had fled.

Lopa admitted that he had yet to see any ray of hope although
efforts to settle the dispute began when the clashes first
erupted.

"Informal leaders of the conflicting parties have already
tried to settle differences between them, but their efforts no
longer receive recognition from the people."

He said the peace agreement reached by the two groups a few
years ago has been broken. "It's obvious that youths from the two
ethnic groups swallow any information without checking its
validity.

"They are vulnerable to clashes sparked by rumors," he added.

Lopa also blamed spokesmen of both ethnic groups for failing
to explain the situation properly or help people in remote areas
understand each other better.

Lopa declined to confirm the number of casualties, but he
called for an immediate end to the unrest in the jungle. He also
called for a universal effort to promote the peace pact that the
Dayaks and the Madurese agreed on several years ago and a second
one reached more recently.

Meanwhile, Malaysia reopened its frontier Wednesday afternoon.
The border between its Sarawak state and West Kalimantan had been
closed for more than a week because of the unrest.

Lopa said he feared the border closure had held up food
distribution to remote areas in the province.

Head of the provincial logistics board Meirizal Salim admitted
that his office's efforts to improve the supply of goods to
markets, known as "market operation", might have reached only
regency capitals.

"I doubt the market operation has reached people in remote
districts," Meirizal said.

He added that a special operation to distribute rice to the
public for free would be launched in remote areas because "people
there no longer have sufficient buying power."

However, the special operation will be carried out only on the
request of the governor who has to formally ask the chairman of
the Logistics Board in Jakarta.

Hendro Sunoyo Sudagung, a Pontianak-based Madurese cultural
expert, said yesterday Pontianak had calmed following the
involvement of informal leaders in encouraging the conflicting
groups to seek peace. They were briefed by the Tanjungpura
military commander on how to anticipate further unrest.

Hendro said the 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew remained but residents
could be easily seen walking freely.

The deployment of a mobile brigade, strategic reserve command
(Kostrad) units from Jambi, Riau and East Kalimantan had helped
maintain order. Many of them are in security posts previously
held by Dayaks and Madurese, according to Hendro.

The security posts stand along the roads leading to Sanggau
and Singkawang districts. Residents are regularly checked at the
posts. (01/amd)

Dialog -- Page 2