NGOs demand independent probe into Mahdi case

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) urged the National Commission of Human Rights to set up an independent team to investigate possible human rights violations that may have occurred during the recent deadly clash between police and the people of Selena village in Palu, Central Sulawesi.

The Indigenous People's Alliance (AMAN), the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) and the Commission for Victims of Violence and Missing Persons (Kontras) made the call during the weekend.

They said the reporting of the clash illustrated police and the public's misconceptions about the legitimate and traditional beliefs of the Selena people.

"The police have been the only source (of information) about what happened in the village. No one really knows why the police raided the village in the first place and why the violence occurred? Therefore, we urge the commission to conduct a thorough and objective investigation in this case," AMAN executive secretary Emilianus Ola Kleden told The Jakarta Post

Selena, a mountainous region located about 11 kilometers west of Palu, Central Sulawesi, made headlines last week after five people died in a clash between police and members of the local Mahdi sect, which blends Islam with local traditions.

The police have said they initially only intended to summon the Mahdi leader for questioning after the sect was reported to them by people in the area.

Since then high-ranking police officers and a government minister have declared the sect "deviant".

Emil said state officials were mistaken in their view of the group as a dangerous cult.

"The (original Mahdi) group was just an ordinary martial arts group that existed years ago. It just so happens that its leader has the power to cure people. Such similar groups can be easily found elsewhere in Java because they are part of traditional teachings, not 'deviant' ones," Emil said.

The Palu-based Yayasan Tanah Merdeka executive director Arianto Sangaji said the authorities had failed properly identify the Mahdi group.

"The teachings were not more than rituals carried out by traditional farmers, who are also known as the To Lare (mountain people). The rituals consist of shamanistic rites, the prevention of disease and martial arts rituals," Arianto wrote in Kompas.

Emil said calling the group a "deviant" cult showed that the government could only see things from the viewpoint of mainstream religions -- Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.

"That shows that the government can't appreciate and protect traditional knowledge, which actually is required in the (country's) laws," he said.

The 1945 Constitution also guarantees the right of people to freely practice their religion.

Emil said the state should appreciate traditional forms of knowledge because Indonesia had ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

"These laws stipulate that traditional knowledge must be preserved and be protected," he said.

Ridho Saleh of Walhi, who made a study of the Mahdi group six years ago, urged the government to improve the situation in the local villages so that people who had fled the area could return to their normal lives.

"The government should do its utmost to prevent more violence from taking place," he said.