Probing of Maluku snipers urgent: ICG

Probing of Maluku snipers urgent: ICG

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The immediate identification and prosecution of the snipers
who caused terror in Ambon last month is crucial if further
conflict is to be prevented, a noted research center said.

"Even if the police arrest every member of the FKM (Maluku
Sovereignty Front) ... the question of who was responsible for
the killings will remain unanswered," said a new report issued by
the Brussels-based International Crisis Group on Monday said.

"It is the snipers, more than a short-sighted police force or
a small group of rowdy but unarmed separatists, who have mostly
undermined peace in Ambon," the report said.

On April 25 the FKM held a much publicized annual flag-raising
event to mark the anniversary of the founding of the Republic of
South Maluku (RMS), which it is officially claimed led to renewed
violence, the deaths of 39 people and the torching of buildings
at a time when residents were still trying to get over the
communal conflict that lasted from 1999 to 2002, in which
thousands were killed, and for which few have been brought to
justice.

The ICG noted the absence of official autopsies on the victims
of the violence, which lasted for about a week. Many of the
victims were shot in the neck, eyes or chest, revealing high
levels of marksmanship, especially in light of the testimony by
witnesses that the fatal shots were fired from afar.

The ICG, which in Indonesia is headed by former rights
activist Sidney Jones, argued that the facts so far do not
support theories blaming the FKM, Christian or Islamic radicals,
or parties supporting particular presidential candidates,
including those with military backgrounds, who might be seeking
to benefit from renewed turmoil ahead of the July 5 presidential
poll.

The report pointed instead to "bad decisions", such as the
transfer on April 8 of the experienced Lt. Col. Yudi Zanibar, who
headed the city's district military command, and has been
promoted to a new posting in Ternate, North Maluku.

This was one sign that the authorities did not perceive the
FKM as a serious security threat, the ICG said.

Apart from a much criticized decision by the police to escort
the FKM's secretary-general Moses Tuanakotta to the local police
station on foot from FKM headquarters, drawing a large crowd of
his supporters in the process, the ICG noted how Governor Karel
Albert Ralahalu failed to exert his authority to enforce
cooperation between the police and military.

Th ICG quashed hopes that Ambon had seen the last of communal
violence, pointing to the "diametrically opposed versions" of
what had happened. The report cites how Muslim organizations and
officials blame "separatists", while Christian leaders say such a
view "legitimizes violence by the side seen as defending the
country's unity".