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New civil war haunts Ambon

For President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the memory of the three-year civil war in Maluku that killed thousands of victims and displaced hundreds of thousands of people is still a very vivid nightmare

Adianto P. Simamora (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, September 13, 2011

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New civil war haunts Ambon

F

or President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the memory of the three-year civil war in Maluku that killed thousands of victims and displaced hundreds of thousands of people is still a very vivid nightmare.

Sectarian violence last broke out in Ambon in 1999, and quickly spread to adjacent areas. Thousands of people in the surrounding area either perished or fled to neighboring islands.

His experience in handling the conflict as a minister clearly helped the President in directing government measures to prevent any potential spread of Sunday’s riot, which claimed at least five lives.

His order to Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Marshall (ret) Djoko Suyanto and to National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo was very clear: Deploy a sufficient number of riot police troops and intensively reach out to leaders and people at the grassroots level.

Yudhoyono ordered Djoko and Timur to inform the public about the real facts of the incident to prevent distrust among the residents in Ambon.

“The most important thing for the President is the effort to separate those involved in the clash in order to end the riot,” Djoko told reporters at Merdeka Palace compound on Monday.

“The President also ordered all officials working in Ambon not to be careless, to prevent more conflicts in the area.”

Rioting erupted in Ambon on Sunday following rumors that a Muslim ojek (motor taxi) driver, Darmis Saiman, was tortured and killed by a group of Christians. Autopsy results, however, showed his death was caused by a street accident. Five people were subsequently killed and tens of houses were destroyed, some of them burned down.

The civil war in Maluku in January 1999 was also triggered by a street brawl between a bus driver and his passengers. The inter-religious clashes ended in February 2002, when the warring parties signed the Malino Accord. No less than 6,000 people were killed and 700,000 residents became refugees at that time.

Antara news agency reported that the riots broke out on Sunday and spread to the Batumerah area in Sirimau, Ambon City, on Monday, although a number of police officers had stood guard.

Gen. Timur said that it had sent some 400 personnel to calm the situation on Monday following rumors that a motorcycle taxi driver, Darmis Saiman, had been tortured to death.

“We are preparing to deploy more officers if there are unexpected circumstances [in Ambon],” he said, adding that control over dealing with riots in Ambon was under the jurisdiction of the Maluku Police.

Djoko said that conditions in Ambon had gradually returned to normal on Monday.

“I have asked the Maluku governor to gather community and religious leaders in Ambon, as well as activists, to help calm the residents,” he said.

Djoko said that the government had not named any suspects in the fatal Sunday clash.

“In the future, we need to reinforce the people’s resilience so that they are not so easily incited, including through SMS or twitters instigating anarchy. People should be able to filter information,” he said.

A group of activists called on the government, the police, military and media to not exacerbate the situation and continue using proper and proportional procedures.

“We hope the government will not use excessive force in resolving the conflict in Ambon,” Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) coordinator Haris Azhar said during a joint press conference on Monday at Kontras office.

Separately, human rights group Imparsial program director Al Araf has asked people not to be easily provoked and to refrain from violence in addressing conflicts because the process of preserving the peace in Ambon is still very delicate.

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