NGOs concerned about Timor riots
NGOs concerned about Timor riots
JAKARTA (JP): Eleven non-governmental organizations expressed
their joint concern yesterday with last month's episodes of
religious and ethnic violence in the troubled East Timor.
They are demanding that legal action be taken against the
rioters for vandalizing properties and harassing migrants.
The NGOs are Bina Desa, the Communion of Churches in
Indonesia, the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy, the
Institute for Economic and Social Research, The Indonesian
Environmental Forum, The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, the
Social Development and Research Institute of the Indonesian
Bishops Conference, the Association of Islamic Boarding Schools
and Social Development, the International NGO Forum on Indonesian
Development, the Indonesian Front for the Defense of Human
Rights, and the NGO Network for Forest Conservation in Indonesia.
"Violent acts committed by the group of East Timorese on other
groups of different ethnic and religious beliefs are criminal in
nature and represent violations of human rights," the statement
said.
Their statement came only days after the chief of the
Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals Association, B.J. Habibie, said
he was "astonished" that local NGOs had little to say about the
incidents in the predominantly Roman Catholic territory.
According to Habibie, who is also the State Minister of
Research and Technology, NGOs were prompt in reacting when
churches were attacked by Moslems in a flare-up of religious
violence in Java several years ago.
The NGOs called on the government yesterday to investigate the
Dili incidents and punish those involved.
They also urged the government to give the public wider access
to information on the problems appearing in East Timor and
elsewhere.
Several marketplaces, mosques and Protestant churches were
burned down, migrant houses attacked, vehicles set ablaze and
more than a dozen people were arrested in the spate of incidents
that occurred between Sept. 2 and 14.
The rioting was triggered by a Moslem prison official's
statement that local Catholics found offensive.
Forum
Meanwhile Catholic, Protestant and Moslem leaders met in Dili
on Wednesday to discuss preparations for the establishment of a
religious communication forum. The forum is expected to help
religious harmony in East Timor.
The meeting, led by East Timor's deputy governor, J. Haribowo,
agreed to establish the communication forum in the near future.
"Each religious leader (in the meeting) agreed that such a
forum is needed and should be established in the near future,"
Haribowo was quoted by Antara as saying.
The meeting, closed to the press, was attended by, among
others, chairman of the East Timor office of the Indonesian
Ulemas Council Abdullah Sagran, Catholic preacher Mgr. Jose
Antonio da Costa, and a local NGO activist Florentino Sarmento.
(imn)