Loose cannons in Maluku

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.