Independence Day passes peacefully across the country

Independence Day passes peacefully across the country

JAKARTA (JP): People across the country, including those in
troubled areas, marked the 55th Independence Day on Thursday with
solemn ceremonies and traditional games.

No reports of violence were recorded. Groups of students
rallied in Jakarta and Makassar, calling for further reforms and
demanding that the political elite focus on ways to improve the
country's economy and avoid national disintegration.

Several people in Aceh and Jakarta were detained by police for
lowering national flags from poles.

In Maluku, some 3,000 Christian and Muslim locals cast aside
their differences to salute Independence Day in the historical
Merdeka field under tight security, calling for peace, following
an overnight peaceful meeting between Maluku civil emergency
administrators and seven representatives of Laskar Jihad Ahlus
Sunnah Wal Jammaah (Jihad Force) led by Haris Mustafa at the
governor's office on Wednesday morning.

The Indonesian Navy in North Maluku also tried to reconcile
two warring groups in Galela and Tobelo districts on board the
KRI Singa battleship on Wednesday, but failed when an explosion
occurred at a house of a Jihad Force leader in Galela, an
official Navy statement said.

"We will continue trying to facilitate the peace effort,"
Eastern Fleet security chief Commodore Djoko Sumaryono said.

During the ceremony in Ambon, at least nine armored vehicles
guarded the 15,000-meter-square Merdeka field.

Authorities as well as local residents shed tears upon hearing
the prayers of two 10-year-old children, a boy and a girl, who
implored God for an end to the bloody conflicts.

"We want to ask God where lies our future, where are our
families and friends ... we want our peace back.

"Why are the political elite playing with our lives? Please
God, stop this. Why this is happening to our land?" the children
prayed.

After the prays, Maluku Governor Saleh Latuconsina said the
children's prayer was the wish of the Maluku people.

"This Independence Day is the starting point of the
reconciliation effort for all of us. This message is meant
especially to the warring camps. Don't be stubborn. Listen to
your hearts," Latuconsina said.

Cries and tears broke out as residents from both warring camps
embraced each other when the Sampe Jua song was played at the end
of the ceremony.

A minor incident, however, took place shortly after the event
ended at about 11:30 a.m. local time when hundreds of students
from Jl. Soa Bali and Jl. Baru between Pohon Pule and Trikora
areas pelted stones at passing vehicles, leaving a man named
Herman Latuni severely injured.

The students were quickly dispersed by security troops.

Governor Latuconsina, Pattimurra Military commander Brig. Gen.
I Made Yasa and Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Firman Gani went
straight to Haruku island in Central Maluku regency on board the
KM Mayang to mark Independence Day on the islands.

In Aceh, most activities were suspended on Thursday following
widespread rumors of a possible clash between security
authorities and rebels.

In the morning, some 6,000 people attended a flag-hoisting
ceremony led by acting governor Ramli Ridwan at Blang Padang
field in Banda Aceh capital.

Most of the streets were deserted.

"It's hard to find food as all shops are closed too," a local
reporter said.

Public transportation owners from the neighboring North
Sumatra capital of Medan reportedly have stopped operations until
Friday.

A mosque in the Kandang area of Lhokseumawe was raided at
about 1 p.m. by the police, North Aceh Police chief Supt. Abadan
Bangko said.

"A total of 400 GLM bullets and a launcher along with 100
pairs of Malaysian-made boots and four sacks filled with combat
fatigues were found on the roof of the mosque," Abadan said,
adding that the police suspected the equipment belonged to Free
Aceh Movement (GAM) troops.

Several people were arrested for pulling down flags in North
Aceh and Bireun.

The quiet day was in contrast with Wednesday, when Aceh Besar
Police seized hundreds of United Nations (UN) and Referendum
flags hoisted in a protest held by some 5,000 students and
civilians who gathered at Darussalam University campus, about
seven kilometers northeast of the capital, in support of self-
determination for the province.

Teuku Umar Military Commander Col. Syarifuddin Tippe, however,
signaled on Thursday that it was possible that a state of civil
emergency would to be imposed in Aceh if there was no extension
of the humanitarian pause in the restive province.

"It is a fact that most of the administration activities in
Aceh have been paralyzed following threats from GAM. There is
also rampant disregard of the law and high crime rates."

Provincial council speaker Muhammad Yus, however, quickly
disregarded Tippe's remark. "We don't want to talk about a
civil emergency as it would only worsen conditions in Aceh. I'd
go for the humanitarian pause to be expanded," he said.

In Irian Jaya, separatist leaders attended independence
celebrations but residents defied the government and flew the
secessionist flag across the territory, an activist was quoted by
AFP as saying.

"In the towns of Wamena, Sorong and Serui residents only flew
the Morning Star (separatist) flag at their homes," Timothius
Tanem of the Institute of Human Rights said from the capital,
Jayapura.

But a Wamena resident said that locals were indeed flying both
the separatist and Indonesian flags.

In Yogyakarta, Independence Day was celebrated in a modest
ceremony in the front yard of the Gedung Agung presidential
palace led by Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.

Similar celebrations were also held at government offices and
schools.

The day was celebrated in various ways in villages, such as
the staging of performances or bazaars.

On Wednesday night, most villages witnessed traditional
tirakatan performances, or villagers stayed up late recalling
what happened back in 1945 when Indonesia announced its
independence.

A similar performance was also held at the governor's office
compound in Kepatihan.

In Jakarta, dozens of tourists and expatriates added to the
color of Aug. 17 when they gathered in front of Memories Cafe in
the popular backpackers haven of Jl. Jaksa in Central Jakarta to
take part in a series of games held by locals.

"This event is even better than politics," said one of the
foreigners.

In South Jakarta, six protesting students were apprehended for
insulting the red-and-white flag while protesting at the Attorney
General's Office.

"The six students lowered the national flag to half-staff and
were found to have drawn some other small flags with their
group's names, acts which violate Article 154 of the Criminal
Code," South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Supt. Edward Aritonang
said.

The article carries a four-year prison sentence.

One of the students argued that their action was simply to
prove that there was not yet any freedom in the country.

"Democratization has failed to meet optimum results as the
military is still present in the legislature," he said.

As part of the annual tradition to mark Independence Day, the
government granted sentence reductions to 23,680 prisoners in
jails across the country, roughly 72 percent of Indonesia's
32,580 prisoners.

Last year, only 17,361 prisoners received sentence reductions.

"The reductions are given to lessen frustration among
prisoners, which will also diminish security problems in
prisons," Minister of Law and Legislation Yusril Ihza Mahendra
said in a ceremony at Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta.

In line with the sentence reductions, 2,739 prisoners will
soon be released.

President Abdurrahman Wahid granted special sentence
reductions to 69 prisoners who had been sentenced to life
imprisonment, Yusril announced.

Based on the special reductions, the prisoners, most of whom
have spent at least five years in jail, will now have to spend 20
years in jail. (39/49/50/51/41/edt/swa/lup/asa)