Serpong blast linked to X-mas bombings: Forum
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Forum for Peace (FID) revealed on Wednesday that the bombing of a railroad track in Serpong, about 30 kilometers from the city on Monday, was likely linked to the Christmas Eve blasts that rocked Jakarta and other regions in the country.
"There are similarities in all the incidents: all bombs contained trinitrotoluene (TNT), there was no specific target of the blast and no group or individual claimed responsibility for the incident," Asmara Nababan, who heads the FID's fact-finding team on the bombings, said.
"However, this pattern will bring us to the perpetrators," he added.
TNT is an explosive commonly used by the Indonesian Military (TNI) and mining companies.
On Monday a bomb exploded on a railway track which crosses the Cisadane river in Serpong, Banten province, shortly after a freight train passed. No casualties were reported.
The team concluded that the bombings were aimed at creating unrest so that the public may surmise that conditions under Soeharto's regime were preferable to the present. People would then wish for a return to the past government, according to human rights activist Munir, a member of the team.
"We're afraid that the acts of terrorism are aimed at developing a new conservatism in society in support of the old repressive government, as fear stemming from these acts never occurred previously," Munir told journalists on Tuesday.
Nababan said they will look into which group stands to benefit most from a return to the old power.
"When the results of our inquiry are completed next month, we'll reveal more," he added.
The forum, however, failed to identify the perpetrators behind the bombing incident as team members had limited access to military and police institutions to find further information or confirm their findings.
"We have no legitimate authority for our work. We gather data, information and testimonies but we cannot confirm them with the state's intelligence body or the military.
"Consequently, all we can do now is to analyze all the information we've got, but we cannot point the finger at particular persons involved in the bombings," he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday at his office.
He said authorities had failed to investigate the bombings and to prevent other incidents because of a conflict of interest among themselves.
"How can they succeed in the investigation if there is still a conflict of interest? On one hand the police are eager to solve the case, but, on the other hand, some of them have tried to protect the suspects," Nababan added.
The forum is a voluntary council set up by activists soon after the Dec. 24 bombings to help the government find the perpetrators. Nineteen people were killed when bombs exploded in Jakarta and several other places in the country.
In the beginning of its work, the forum members were very optimistic. They believed they would be able to reveal the masterminds and they claimed they had sufficient information to do so. But they later withdrew their statements.
The government had once proposed the establishment of a joint team, which would include the police, military, intelligence body, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and the forum, to probe the Christmas bombings.
The joint team would be empowered with wider authority as it was to be endorsed by a presidential decree. The idea proposed in January has yet to materialize.
Komnas HAM's secretary-general Nababan, said the forum had lost hope in the government, which had failed to demonstrate a strong will to solve the recent bombings. (bby)