Maluku students demand Made Yasa trial
Maluku students demand Made Yasa trial
MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi (JP): A student rally in Makassar
welcomed the latest Indonesian Military (TNI) reshuffle on
Tuesday, with some 100 Maluku students studying in the South
Sulawesi capital demanding that outgoing Pattimura Military
Commander, Brig. Gen. I Made Yasa, be tried for human rights
violations.
At one point the students, grouped in the Maluku Muslim
Students Alliance (AMMM), attempted to block access to the Sultan
Hasanuddin airport but police pacified the group and allowed them
to protest near the airport's entrance.
The two-hour rally only caused minor congestion along the
airport route.
AMMM spokesman Rafiq Arifuddin said the replacement of Yasa
was not nearly enough considering the human rights violations he
had committed during his term in the troubled Malukus.
"If necessary he has to be dismissed from the military," Rafiq
said in his speech.
Another protest related to Yasa was also conducted in
Yogyakarta, where some 100 Maluku students studying in the
sultanate accused the military commander of treating Muslims
unfairly and doing nothing to combat the separatist movement
fighting to establish a South Maluku republic.
"Twenty-two civilians and one soldier were killed in a raid by
the TNI Joint Battalion on Thursday. It is just a small example
of Made Yasa's unfair policies as the military commander in
Maluku," Syamsuddin Swasamu, representing the Yogyakarta Maluku
Muslim Students Association (HIPMAMMAYO), told local councillors
on Monday.
Yasa was among 111 military officers involved in a major
reshuffle of the Indonesian Military (TNI) announced on Tuesday.
Yasa is expected to fill an educational post at the Bandung-based
cadet school, leaving his post to Brig. Gen. Mustopo, the current
chief of staff at Wirabuana Military Command overseeing Sulawesi.
The TNI headquarters announced on Tuesday the retirement of 30
high-ranking officers, including Air Force Deputy Chief Vice
Marshal Mudjiono Said, chief of the Siliwangi Military Command
overseeing West Java Maj. Gen. Zainuri Hasyim and Military
Academy Governor Maj. Gen. M. Noor Aman.
Several officers will also be promoted as a result of the
reshuffle, including Col. Noer Muis. Muis is a former East Timor
military commander who has been named as a suspect in human
rights violations occurring after a UN-sanctioned popular
consultation in the former Indonesian province in August 1999.
Muis will be promoted to brigadier general following his
appointment as the Military Academy Deputy Governor. (02/23/27)