Is Indonesia becoming a genocidal society?
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.