Maluku probe
team told to listen to the people
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A non-governmental group working to find a comprehensive solution
to religious conflicts in Ambon urged the government-sanctioned
investigative team to listen to people's aspirations if it wanted
to succeed.
"We all have the same aim, that is to end the Maluku
conflict. The team should open itself to inputs from other groups
that have been involved in finding ways to resolve the
problems," coordinator of grassroots peace movement Baku Bae
Maluku Ichsan Malik said here on Wednesday.
Ichsan said the national team should be put under the people's
control to ensure the reliability of its results as it will affect
Jakarta's next policy on Maluku, which has mostly employed
military approaches since the conflict started in 1999.
Baku Bae submitted to the government in August 2000 its analysis
of the root cause of the conflict, which highlighted the
exploitation of religious issues by both civilian politicians and
military personnel.
"As of now, the government has not given any response to the
analysis. Instead, it set up an investigative team charged with
dubious tasks," he added.
According to Ichsan, the situation in Ambon had worsened because
of the tendency of Maluku people to rebel against Jakarta.
"And worse still, there is distortion of information on the
facts of the conflict," he said.
The government announced earlier this month the establishment of
an investigative team to probe human rights violations in the
conflicts that had claimed more than 5,000 innocent lives.
The team, most of whose 14 members are civil servants, is
particularly tasked with unraveling the first incident that
sparked the conflict, several issues on separatism movements, and
the existence of organized Muslim and Christian fighters, as well
as other cases of violation and crimes against humanity.
Amiruddin al Rahab from the Institute for Policy Research and
Advocacy (Elsam) said the rationale for appointing a Balinese
Hindu as the team leader was misleading because it indicated the
problem would again be blamed on religion.
"Locals put faith in the team to help them end the tiring
conflicts.
But, please, don't expect too much. I assume this team
is nothing more than advisers to the coordinating minister's
office specializing in Maluku issues, as it has not been given
access to information from any institution and will only report to
the coordinating minister office," he noted.
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