Loose cannons in Maluku

Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono has finally come out in public to blame Army personnel for the continued violence in Maluku. What is most startling about his revelation, made during an interview with this newspaper on Friday, however, was not so much about the role that Army personnel play in the conflict. Many people on both sides of the sectarian conflict have also testified to that effect. What we find most disturbing about the whole situation is the inaction on the part of the Indonesian Military (TNI) leadership, in spite of this knowledge.

Juwono's disclosure, which was also made during a hearing with the House of Representatives on Friday, was simply a vindication of what has been repeatedly claimed by many people in Maluku.

His assertion that the Army turned a blind eye to the arrival of shipments of firearms entering Maluku was nothing new. One may recall that the warring parties used crude weapons, including daggers, swords and homemade firearms, when the conflict first erupted in January 1999. Six months later, however, both parties were using modern firearms, including standard military rifles.

His revelation that Army personnel were taking sides in the conflict, instead of quelling the warring parties, did not come as a surprise either. Both the Christian and Muslim camps have accused soldiers of taking part in some of the clashes, at times they were even the ones who initiated the fighting.

Minister Juwono should be praised for his candid admission about the problem. It could at least point the way to a real solution. The involvement of Army personnel in the conflict may not be the only thing that has caused Christians and Muslims to fight one another in Maluku, but it is one of the major problems hampering peace efforts.

Whatever the TNI leadership may claim to have done in Maluku, obviously it is not enough. The TNI has changed the Army command structure and appointed a Hindu Balinese as commander there. The Army has also replaced troops in the area, but the fighting continues. As implied by Juwono, the problem lies with troops in the lower level of command, and they are the ones in the field.

Yet, in spite of the accusations by people in Maluku, and Juwono's admission, we have not heard of cases of Army personnel being prosecuted in connection with the Maluku conflict.

Where is the leadership of TNI or the Army in all of this? Surely, they are not thinking of covering up their role and hoping to resolve the problem internally the way they used to do in the past. Have they not learned anything from the blunder of their seniors, that trying to cover up mistakes will eventually disgrace the entire corps? Is that not the very reason why the credibility of TNI, particularly the Army, is at such a low ebb?

Having declared a state of civil emergency, the government should pursue the peace drive in Maluku with much more vigor. The stakes would simply be too high if the government were to fail.

Not only is there growing international pressure on Indonesia, the domestic pressure is no less intense. The international and domestic credibility of President Abdurrahman Wahid and his administration is on the line. With his political opponents vying to unseat him, the Maluku problem provides them with a powerful weapon to attack him when he presents his progress report to the People's Consultative Assembly in August. When compared with other failures on the President's score card, Maluku may be decisive on whether or not he survives a possible impeachment attempt against him.

The way things stand at the moment, the ball is very much in the courts of TNI Commander Adm. Widodo A.S. and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Tyasno Sudarto. President Abdurrahman, who is also TNI supreme commander, should also use his influence.

Many of the solutions to the problem in Maluku could actually be put into effect here in Jakarta. One of them is to bring Army personnel under control. It seems completely pointless to give all those extra powers to TNI to act under the state of civil emergency as long as there are loose cannons roaming free in Maluku.