Local conflicts 'need legal help'

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 09/21/2007 3:05 PM

Desy Nurhayati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia needs to legislate on conflict management to improve the way it deals with local conflicts, a seminar heard Thursday.

Although the country has managed to settle a number of local conflicts in the last few years, it is still prone to separatist and communal strife, said Ichsan Malik from the Peaceful Community Network.

""Our country's efforts to handle conflicts have always been reactive and incomplete, despite the fact that many people have suffered from conflicts,"" Ichsan said while addressing a discussion in Jakarta to commemorate International Peace Day, which falls on Friday.

""Therefore, we need to have a specific law on conflict management so we can comprehensively resolve conflicts.""

September 21 has been commemorated as International Peace Day since being declared in a United Nations resolution in 2001.

In a written speech read to the seminar, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie said the commemoration of International Peace Day would provide good momentum for the country to reflect on the suffering of conflict victims.

""At present, the international community still considers Indonesia to be a country prone to violent conflicts. A number of provinces that have managed to come out of their large-scale conflicts, such as Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Maluku and West Kalimantan, are moving forward to keep their areas peaceful,"" Aburizal said in his speech, which was read out by his Deputy for Social Conflicts Management Asep Karsidi.

Last year saw 240 incidents of violent conflict in the country, according to data from the Titian Perdamaian Institute.

The country has seen the successful settlement of conflicts in several provinces, including the peace treaty between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Helsinki, Finland, on Aug. 15, 2005.

In Poso, Central Sulawesi, conflicts between Muslims and Christians were temporarily halted with the signing of the Malino I treaty in 2002. But conflicts have flared up again since, spreading to other parts of the province.

The year 2002 also saw an end to sectarian violence between Muslims and Christians in Ambon, Maluku, following the signing of the Malino II treaty. The people of Maluku have established the Baku Bae Movement to pursue continued peace in the province.

Imam B. Prasodjo, the director of the Center for Research on Intergroup Relations and Conflict Resolution at the University of Indonesia, said Indonesia was still struggling with the forces of conflict and integration.

He said the country continued to move toward becoming a modern nation, despite the existence of a large number of strongly defined cultural and religious communities.

There are more than 700 ethnic groups across the archipelago, with Javanese comprising around 40 percent of the population. The majority of Indonesians profess Islam as their religion.

""To become a modern nation, we need to have a visionary leader. Unfortunately, the quality of leadership has declined since the era of our founding fathers Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta,"" Imam said.

""It's impossible for a leader to struggle by himself in this huge country. Therefore, we need to strengthen the system of collective leadership by empowering local administrations.

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