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After riots, stillness pervades Ambon

Calm appeared to have returned to Ambon, Maluku, on Tuesday following two days of widespread rioting in which seven people were killed, but police and military patrols throughout the city dispelled any sense of normalcy

The Jakarta Post
Ambon
Wed, September 14, 2011

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After riots, stillness pervades Ambon

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alm appeared to have returned to Ambon, Maluku, on Tuesday following two days of widespread rioting in which seven people were killed, but police and military patrols throughout the city dispelled any sense of normalcy.

Businesses in a number of usually bustling locations, including Ambon Mall, Jl. Diponegoro and Jl. A.M. Sangaji, remained closed, as did schools and offices. A number of major thoroughfares in Ambon appeared deserted.

Security personnel were still guarding a number of locations where riots had broken out two days before, according to kompas.com. One hundred soldiers from Pattimura Regional Military Command’s 733 Raider Battalion were on guard at the Trikora Monument, where a riot had raged on Sunday.

A number of road blocks previously set up by residents were dismantled, but cars were a rare sight on the streets, as most residents preferred the safety of their own homes.

The riots in Ambon, in which seven people died and 65 others were injured, were sparked by rumors surrounding the death of an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver, Darwin Saiman, a resident of Waihong, who was found dead in Gunung Nona, Nusaniwe district. A text message sent from an unknown person claimed that Darwin had been tortured to death by Christians.

Police said that Darwin had died in a road accident, and that irresponsible persons had distorted the facts and ignited emotions, which had eventually led to a riot, Antara news agency reported.

A civil war engulfed Ambon in 1999 and quickly spread to adjacent areas. The war was also triggered by a street brawl that began with an argument between a bus driver and his passengers.

By the time the inter-religious clashes ended in February 2002, at least 6,000 people had been killed and 700,000 others displaced.

Due to Sunday’s rioting, at least 3,965 residents took refuge in Ambon. “The refugees are being housed in a number of locations,” Maluku Social Services Agency head Rosmawati Arsyad said in Ambon on Tuesday, as reported by Antara.

She added that the number of refugees was expected to rise because field officers were still taking names.

The figure, she said, excluded residents from the Christian communities who had taken refuge in a number of places and were still being counted by field officers.

“Hopefully, the data collection will be completed on Tuesday, so that it can be handed over to the government for immediate handling,” she said.

Rosmawati added that around 200 buildings had been burned down, severely damaged or slightly damaged in the rioting. She said her office would provide emergency food rations to the refugees until next week.

“In principle, we will provide maximum assistance for refugees in temporary shelters, especially food and other urgent needs, and coordinate with the health office in examining their condition,” she said.

Religious leaders in Maluku have called on the public, especially those in Ambon and surrounding areas, to not be easily provoked by rumors.

The appeal from the religious leaders was read out by Maluku Religious Agency head Mohammad Atamimi in Ambon on Tuesday.

The appeal was signed by the Indonesian Ulema Council’s (MUI) Maluku office head, Idrus Toekan, Maluku GPM synod head John Ruhulesin, Ambon Archdiocese Mgr. P.C. Mandagie, Maluku Walubi head J. Jauwerissa, Maluku PHDI secretary I Wayan Sutapa and Maluku Religious Harmony Community head Idris Latuconsina.

Residents were urged to not believe rumors spread by irresponsible people, and to immediately report any suspicious or inflammatory incidents to authorities and to not take the law into their own hands.

Religious, community and youth leaders have been urged to maintain the peace and watch over their respective members.

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