Kurniawan Hari and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta
Post, Jakarta
Law enforcement, the Achilles heel in the painstaking efforts
to restore peace in Maluku, looks set to receive a further boost
after the Attorney General's Office revealed a plan to send more
prosecutors to the restive province.
The office's spokesman, Barman Zahir, said on Wednesday that
Attorney General M.A. Rachman instructed on May 19 a dispatch of
20 prosecutors from various regions in the country to enable
prosecution in Maluku, which has been racked by violence since
January 1999.
Barman, however, failed to reveal when the reinforcement of
prosecutors could start working in Maluku. Normally it takes a
judge or prosecutor some three months to prepare themselves for
new assignments.
The Supreme Court had previously assigned 22 senior judges to
serve district courts and the high court of the troubled province.
Barman said the prosecutors would soon be flown to Maluku and
would serve at the prosecutor's office, moving from their original
posts in East Java, Jakarta, Aceh, South Sulawesi, Central Java,
Riau, Lampung and South Sumatra.
Currently, there are only 15 prosecutors left in Maluku, far
below the ideal number of 43 prosecutors and 47 administrative
staff.
The lack of prosecutors, in addition to security problems, was
the reason why the Maluku prosecutor's office shifted its
prosecution of the leaders of the Maluku Sovereign Front (FKM),
which includes Alex Manuputty, and the commander of Laskar Jihad,
Ja'far Umar Thalib, to Jakarta.
The sending of judges and prosecutors is stipulated in the
Malino II peace deal between the warring groups in Maluku and is a
necessity to strengthen the civil emergency administration.
The government has also strengthened security forces there by
establishing the Security Restoration Operations Command led by
Maj. Gen. Djoko Santoso, who is also entrusted to head Pattimura
Military Command, replacing Brig. Gen. Moestopo.
Many have raised their eyebrows in response to the decision to
launch a military-led operation, saying that teamwork between the
civilian administration and the security forces is the key to
restoring peace in the province.
Chairman of the largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU),
Hasyim Muzadi, said the replacement of military or police chiefs
in Maluku was not the answer to the prolonged sectarian conflict
in the province.
"The key word is coordination between the military and the
police," he told reporters, after visiting his predecessor
Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, who is currently in
hospital being treated for a blood vessel problem.
Hasyim, who led a mission of religious leaders to Maluku
recently, said the people of Maluku were sick and tired of
fighting each other and were aware that they must stick together.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI)
pointed out that the establishment of the operations command
proves that the concept of territorial command had failed to
restore security in the country, as the Maluku military command
has been considered ineffective in overcoming the sectarian
conflict.
YLBHI's civil and political division head, Munarman, told a
media briefing that the promotion of Djoko Santoso to head both
the operations command and the military command in Maluku signaled
the military's attempt to achieve political power as well as to
provide key posts for their two-star generals.
"The government should dissolve territorial command while
the People's Consultative Assembly should ask the President to
account for the running of the civil emergency state in Maluku
before the government endorses other measures there,"
Munarman said.
However, People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien
Rais supported the new security operation, saying the nation had
been longing to see security and order restored in Maluku for
years.
"If it is for the sake of security and conflict
resolution, I agree. I hope the military will not use weapons and
kill people who stage demonstrations," he told the press here
on Wednesday.
"I think it is worth a try. Let's give them a
chance."