Racing between peace and war in Maluku

The "Malino II" agreement that was signed in February between Maluku's conflicting groups was supposed to have ended the communal violence which has killed thousands of people there since January 1999. But challenges to peace attempts have constantly dogged Maluku, incluing a blast days after the agreement. The latest challenge occured on Wednesday when an explosion killed four and wounded 58 people. The Jakarta Post's Ati Nurbaiti talked to Ihsan Malik, a facilitator of conflict resolution, who was involved in the Baku Bae people's movement based in Ambon, which started in 2000.

Question: How did you react to Wednesday's blast?

Answer: I was shocked at the extent of the destruction and the apparent sophistication of the bomb; it's no longer possible to just blame "radical" groups. It's more frightening now that small groups can work so effectively. The intention was clearly terror.

Resistance was, however, predictable because of the manner in which Malino II was imposed. Official statements have made it look like it's the law, that anyone who disagrees will have to face up to authorities. The agreement was signed after only a few days of talks between the conflicting groups.

Disagreement started to brew up in the days after the agreement was signed. There's less of a problem in the general population except for a few groups who felt unrepresented.

But there were victims among the Muslims who opposed Malino (Muslims had earlier wanted a Christian apology), and talks in the churches had a low turnout among Christians.

Q: Hasn't the problem so far been that crucial points of the agreement, such as reinstating the judiciary as a means of law enforcement, have lacked follow-up measures?

A: More importantly, the civilian emergency government has no autonomy and is dependent on Jakarta. Coordination is greatly lacking between the governor, the police and the military.

There is still arrogance on the part of the military. They don't feel they're leading in security matters, as this has become the police's responsibility. Besides, the TNI (Indonesian Military) and police still have problems at the national level.

(Following the promise of Minister of Justice Yusril Ihza Mahendra regarding the judiciary) after Malino the president of the district court has returned and an instruction has been issued, but little else has happened.

Q: What do people really want?

A: People still want the main actors of the violence to be brought to trial. Christian and Muslim lawyers have stated that people are still demanding that the state be held accountable for this violence through a human rights tribunal. This is so as to counter the opinions voiced by officials that the violence is the result of intracommunity problems.

But to try the perpetrators of so many incidents, we could need up to 2,000 judges, and the process could take years.

At the local level it would be more realistic to try to adopt a South African-style confession and forgiveness mechanism based on available customs.

Q: Religious leaders, including those from the largest Muslim organizations Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, are planning to come to Maluku. Will they be able to help the situation?

A: We've also been trying to bring the conflicting groups together. First, trust must be built and any perception that religion is a source of conflict must be discussed. If the meetings between the two camps break up because they can't reach an agreement, that's fine. Try again. You can't have talks with one group after the other. All attempts at bringing the parties together will help.

Q: What would be the most urgent step towards achieving peace?

A: All people's initiatives must come together. Baku Bae is also complementary to Malino. Because of Malino we have changed our schedule. For instance, next month we're starting investigations (through the appointment of a special team) into a number of incidents, the results of which will be handed over to the law enforcers.

Investigations (as part of the efforts at law enforcement) were earlier planned to take place at a much later stage, about 2004 (after the campaign to stop violence and efforts to reinstate basic services).

We must negotiate together to reach a new agreement. It is impossible to achieve full representation of all the people. However, Baku Bae has tried in the past few years to weave together the threads between the victims of both sides.

Q: What can unite people?

A: Access to basic requirements has proved to be the main promoter of solidarity. The neutral zone in Ambon, which is becoming larger and larger, is the place where people can conduct trade; people still need better education and health services. Fortunately, now the Ambon mayor Yoppie Papilaya is doing a lot.

Q: What has Malino helped to do despite shortcomings?

A: It has given a feeling of authority to law enforcers though disarmament is still going slowly. The police are now more active and the earlier partisanship among security officers (defending either Muslims or Christians) has declined.

But you just can't have an agreement signed after a few days and disburse billions and leave. We first spent 20 days trying to bring six Muslim and six Christian warlords to sit down together for a civil discussion.

Q: What else can be done?

A: The local council must draw up two regulations: One on conflict resolution so the authorities don't get confused again if further conflicts happen. In such an event, the local council would have to immediately meet those involved and the governor would be authorized to settle the unrest; Jakarta would only support the process, not like in the past.

Another regulation should be issued on the rehabilitation of victims and relocation. What's important is how to manifest state responsibility for some 360,000 displaced people, not to mention problems where Muslims have taken over Christian homes and the other way round.

It's all about a race between those who advocate war and those who cry for peace.

There's still high unemployment and a lack of functioning schools. Strangely, from initially four newspapers there are now 13. From a little over 100 speedboats, there are now some 600. And security services are continuing ...