Survey sheds light on violence

Survey sheds light on violence

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In the last 13 years, the country has seen an astonishing number
of social conflicts involving different ethnic and economic
groups in which scores of people were killed, a survey found.

There have been numerous explanations for the violence that
has erupted around the country, especially following the
resignation of strongman Soeharto, but a trigger for many of the
incidents was youth brawls, the survey, sponsored by the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP), found.

"Even without knowing the underlying causes of the violence,
we can certainly try to put out the trigger (youth brawls) and
reduce the level of violence," chief researcher Ashutosh Varshney
said on Tuesday.

"Police and local administrations have to be sensitive to
triggering factors and try to reduce them," he said.

Of the total number of violent conflicts, 681 cases, or 19
percent, were triggered by youth brawls or drunkenness, the
survey, titled Database on Social Conflict in Indonesia, found.

UNDP resident representative Bo Asplund said the survey's
attempt to gain a better understanding of factors contributing to
conflict was in line with the call of UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan for a shift from a "culture of reaction" to a "culture of
prevention" in resolving conflicts.

The report revealed that between 1990 and 2003, 4,270 violent
incidents ranging from ethno-communal clashes and interreligious
conflicts to rivalry over economic resources occurred and claimed
the lives of 11,160 people.

The study delved into episodes of violence perpetrated by
groups on other groups, groups on individuals, individuals on
groups, state institutions on groups as well as groups on state
institutions.

"In 1999, the study recorded 523 cases of collective violence
that claimed 3,546 lives," the report said. The 1999 figure was
an increase from 432 cases the year before, but less than the 722
cases recorded the following year. The death tolls in 1998 and
2000 were 1,442 and 2,585, respectively.

The numerous incidents of violence across the country has
shocked locals and foreigners, leading to the perception of
uncontrolled violence and bloodshed spreading across the
archipelago.

However, the survey found that violence during the period
studied was locally concentrated.

"Cases of violence which accounted for 85 percent of the total
deaths took place only in 15 regencies or municipalities," it
said.

Varshney said the government should closely watch these 15
regencies and municipalities -- including several in the Maluku
islands and all five mayoralties in Jakarta -- and draw up
policies to empower the youth there.

The other regencies include Kotawaringin Timur in Central
Kalimantan, Poso in Central Sulawesi and Landak, Sambas,
Pontianak, Sanggau and Bengkayang, all in West Kalimantan.