Is Indonesia becoming a genocidal society?
By Siswo Pramono
CANBERRA (JP): Genocide is a term deriving from the Greek word genos, which means tribe or race, and the Latin cide, analogous to 'homicide' or 'patricide'.
Genocide is an act committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. In many cases, the crime of genocide is committed by states. However, there are ample examples that societies themselves can be genocidal.
A genocidal society is a self-destructive society.
Plural societies are vulnerable to genocide because mass identity, ethnicity, and ethno-religious tensions are ready vehicles for the commission of genocide.
If one observes the Holocaust, and genocide in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Burundi, the main symptom (albeit not the only symptom) of a genocidal society is seen to be rampaging mass hatred and prejudice deeply rooted in the question of mass identity.
In Germany, anti-Semitism had flourished in the heart of society well before the Nazis came to power. Back in the nineteenth century, German anti-Semitism had already crystallized into violence and focused on elimination of the Jews from the European continent.
Goldhagen, in his best-seller Hitler's Willing Executioners (1996), maintained that Nazism provided the structure to enable "ordinary" Germans to channel their long history of anti- Semitism. Without the active participation of the German society, the millions of "ordinary" Germans, it would have been impossible for the Nazis to exterminate 6 millions Jews.
Thus, it was a collective national pathology. In Germany, a genocidal society was working with state bureaucracy to roll out the massive program of the Holocaust.
In the former Yugoslavia, ethno-religious identity becomes a vehicle of social engineering in the struggle for power, and hence genocidal conflicts. Anti-Muslim attitudes had flourished in Serbia before the establishment of Yugoslavia.
The Mountain Wreath (Gorski Vijenac), an outstanding piece of Serbian literature of the late nineteenth century, provides justification for Serbian genocide against the Bosnian Muslims. The Bosnian Muslims have been considered the "evil" power of the invading Ottoman, who defeated the Serbs at the battle of Kosovo centuries ago.
Thus, it was another collective national pathology: Ethno- religious identity has been manipulated to help unleash genocide against particular groups in the society.
In Rwanda and Burundi, ethnic politics was imposed by the then colonial powers, Germany and Belgium. This colonial policy has misled the people to the politics of tribalism.
The policy of "divide and rule" between Tutsis and Hutus was absorbed into daily life so that antagonism between the two groups reached a high level of intolerance and violence.
Thus, the post-independent Burundi and Rwanda were marked by cycles of genocide. The Burundian Tutsis killed 50,000 Hutus in 1972 and 25,000 Hutus in 1988. The Rwandan Hutus massacred about 500,000 Tutsis in 1994.
Indonesia is a plural society, even more complex than those of Germany, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Burundi. The pathology of a genocidal society is always unique in every society. However there will always be a pattern of particularities worth noting.
With Indonesia, some of these particularities, rampaging mass hate and prejudice deeply rooted in the question of mass identity, are quite apparent.
In Indonesia, ethnic (and ethno-religious) politics has been present since the colonial period right up until now. The elites have from time to time manipulated mass identity for immediate political gain in the struggle for power.
At the core, one can easily see the fragile multi-party politics exploiting religious sentiments, while at the periphery there has been resistance resorting to ethno-nationalism that lies outside common religious identity. The politics of tribalism have complicated an already strained environment.
Ethno-nationalism has been flourishing in Aceh, Riau and Papua. There have been reports about migrant workers and settlers (of different ethnicity) being targeted by the secessionists in Aceh and Papua.
Religious conflicts have been endemic in Maluku and East Nusa Tenggara. Communal violence between Batak and Flores migrants has been widespread on Batam Island. Anti-migrant strife has broken out in South Sulawesi. The killing of the suspected dukun santet (shaman) horrified the people of Banyuwangi, East Java.
Vigilantism has rampaged in Ciamis, West Java. Revolts among Malays, Dayaks and Muslim migrants have got out of hand in West Kalimantan. And the Chinese minority has been victimized from time to time in many parts of Indonesia.
In the last two years, thousands of people have been killed in various violent conflicts from locations farthest West to those farthest East in the Indonesian archipelago. The conflict in Maluku itself has cost about four thousand lives. About half a million Indonesians have been internally displaced and become refugees in their own country.
Pogroms, ethnic strife, and communal violence of any kind do not necessarily transform a society into a genocidal society. But if the violence is sustained and the groups constantly pursue acts of annihilation towards each other, a genocidal society is likely to be in the making. Once a genocidal engagement is established, it will be hard to break the cycle.
Nothing is new about this hideous cycle: this is the well- known security dilemma. If an identity-based group feels threatened and worried about its survival, it might circle the wagons and prepare for the worst. Other identity-based groups might then respond in the same way. A hostile environment will soon develop.
Thus, the Acehnese and Papuans circle their ethnic wagons against the Javanese and other perceived "invaders". The Muslims and the Christians do the same thing in Maluku. If this kind of engagement is sustained for a long period, it can degrade into genocidal relations.
The genocidal relationship is then considered as "fixed" and passes through generations as "given". When this happens, a genocidal society is inevitable.
Indonesia should learn from what happened in Hitler's Germany, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Burundi. Indonesian society is facing great danger of transforming itself into a self- destructive, genocidal society. Thus the symptoms must be cured and the cycle must be stopped immediately before it is too late.
Promotion of democracy and development of civil society are of primary importance in mitigating the symptoms of genocidal society. The Indonesian elites must abandon their myopic ethno- religious politics and instead promote all-inclusive politics capable of accommodating differences.
At the same time, political education of the masses should be directed toward the development and appreciation of civic culture, replacing the language of violence to which the society has been exposed for decades.
The cycle of a genocidal society, which is already apparent in Maluku and other regions, must be broken by effective law enforcement measures. For this purpose, the criminal justice system must be dedicated to serving the perpetrator's need for atonement, the victim's need for retribution, and the interests of both the victim and the perpetrator for reconciliation.
All perpetrators -- not only the elite perpetrators, the organizers, or "the ones responsible" -- must be brought before the court. The penal justice system must have the capacity to try hundreds or even thousands of defendants in every single case of genocidal conflict.
Failure to do so will induce a sense of impunity, which in turn encourages prospective perpetrators to commit similar crimes in the future.
Last but not least, reconciliation is a top priority. Since genocidal conflicts cause social crises leading to the breakdown of every aspect of an individual's life, reconciliation is not only an important step in restoring fully that individual's life but also the whole society.
The author is a post-graduate student at the Department of Political Science, Australian National University, Canberra.