Maluku team limited to recommendations

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Maluku investigation team's mission is unlikely to fulfill people's sense of justice as their authority has been limited to providing recommendations to put an end to the conflict.

In its first public statement on Monday, the team's chairman I Wayan Karya said they would only provide "scientific recommendations".

"We are members of a probe team and the result of the investigation will be 'scientific' recommendations to be submitted to the government in order to put an end to the Maluku conflict," Wayan said.

He further said that the team does not have any deadline to complete their tasks, and will set up its work plan on June 24.

"We plan to go to Maluku within the next two or three weeks and start our observation of conditions in the province," said Wayan, a retired police officer.

Wayan's deputy Bambang W. Soeharto, as if to confirm public skepticism, said on Monday that his team was not authorized to determine the root cause of the violence that has already claimed over 6,000 lives since it started in 1999.

"The team will focus on reconciliation and peace efforts," Bambang said after a meeting with Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare Jusuf Kalla.

He emphasized that the team would not open the "people's wounds as it does not have the heart to see the prolonged suffering of the Ambonese people".

When pressed to clarify whether his statement meant that the team would not seek the real perpetrators of the violence there, Bambang said that his mission "does not have the authority to do so".

The government announced on Thursday the establishment of a 14-member independent team to probe violence in Maluku as stipulated in Article 6 of the Malino Peace Agreement signed by the two warring parties in February 2002.

Analysts have blamed poor law enforcement against perpetrators of violence there as one of the reasons why the religious conflict has worsened since the two parties signed a peace deal in Malino, South Sulawesi in February.

The people had expected that the team would unravel the truth behind the bloodshed that has destroyed long-standing peace and religious tolerance in Maluku.

Human rights activists earlier expressed concern that the Maluku team would meet a similar fate as nine other investigation teams formed by government since 1998 to look into human rights violation cases, which reported no significant findings.

During Monday's meeting with Susilo and Jusuf Kalla, team members received "directives" on how they should start their duties.

"But, the directives will not influence our independence as we will also look into the involvement of security officers in the prolonged conflict," Wayan said.