'Provocation is new form of terror in post-conflict Poso'

Sporadic, unsolved and seemingly unprovoked crimes continue in post-conflict areas, where residents have yet to recover from their trauma. Last week in the Central Sulawesi town of Poso, a headless body was found just as social psychologist Ichsan Malik was in the area. Renowned for his contributions to a grassroots peace movement in Maluku, the director of the Jakarta-based Path to Peace Institute (Titian Perdamian) spoke with The Jakarta Post correspondent Ruslan Sangadji on post-conflict terror and current security trends in Poso.

Question: How do you view the beheading of Carminalis Ndele, the Christian village chief of Pinedapa in Poso? Answer: The incident is a new form of terror in Poso. Its aim is to provoke a group of people in Poso to retaliate. And if this happens, riots like those of 2000 will recur.

What do you mean by a new form of terror?

As far as I know of the killings in Poso, there were those who were killed during direct confrontations and those who were abducted, then killed. Based on the police statement, though, Ndele was picked up at his house by the perpetrators, who approached him politely. They were served drinks, then they left on motorcycles with the victim. And he was found decapitated.

But headless victims were also found in 2000, some in even more shocking conditions.

At that time, the killers also dropped provoking notes inside a plastic bag along with the head, reading, "There are still 1,000 more Obet heads that will turn up like this."

Obet (referring to a Christian) is only known in the context of Ambon (the Maluku capital where the bloodshed began in 1999 and Muslims are referred to as Acan).

In Poso, the only term people know for Muslims is Kongkoli.

Would this mean the perpetrators are connected to Ambon?

I believe this is an effort to focus people's mind in that direction. It was done systematically, so that people would think the perpetrators were connected to Ambon, or were once on duty among the security personnel there.

Would you say the provocation worked, considering the latest incident?

We should commend the people of Poso. They were not easily provoked. I see that the people of Poso have a high sense of urgency to resolve the earlier ethnic conflict and to end the vengeance among them. And they have started to develop a spirit of sintuwu maroso (a local phrase meaning "united and together, we will be strong").

In the past year, Christians and Muslims have been engaged in kampong-level dialog in the six districts affected by the conflict in Poso. The result is that people are less susceptible to provocation from either Muslims or Christians now.

They understand now that they are being victimized.

What has been the role of the police and military in Poso?

That, we must criticize. The security forces in Poso have no early warning system. If the system was functioning, there would not have been any more such incidents after the Malino Accord (government-sponsored peace deal) -- which means that the role of the intelligence in Poso is very weak. This must be improved.

And the perpetrators of various incidents have never been identified or revealed.

What are other indications of weakness in the intelligence?

Just imagine, the shooting at one of the churches in Poso took place only about 50 meters from the local police station and military command. Then in Palu, those responsible for shooting prosecutor Ferry Silalahi and Reverend Susianty Tinulele are still at large.

These show that our intelligence is impotent in carrying out its duties.

The police claim that the motive of the beheading was terror. What is your opinion?

I do not understand it yet. But from the information I gathered from people in Poso, the case is connected to the Farmers' Credit (KUT) funds that had not been disbursed by the victim, the Pinedapa village chief, to recipients.