http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/FE06Ae01.html
May 6, 2004
Indonesian leadership silent on religious violence
By Gary LaMoshi
DENPASAR, Bali - Religious-inspired violence is old news in Indonesia.
Muslim extremists were behind the Bali bombings of October 2002 and,
allegedly, the Marriott Hotel blast last August. The secessionist movement
in resource-rich Aceh cloaks itself in strict Islamic clothing. In the
Maluku Islands and in Central Sulawesi, communal violence between Christians
and Muslims erupted shortly after the fall of Suharto in 1998 and has
simmered, occasionally boiling over, ever since.
Few human rights are more basic than the right to live in safety and
security, and religious-inspired violence - whether fostered by the Koran,
the Bible, foreigners, rogue military elements, Zionists or the US Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA), as various groups allege - is the greatest threat
to safety and security in Indonesia. That's why the silence of Indonesia's
political leadership following renewed clashes in Ambon and the rearrest of
radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, sparking bloody conflicts around
the archipelago, is not only deafening, but shameful.
Politicians are busy this week in the world's largest predominantly Muslim
nation, though, wrangling to arrange their tickets for the July 5
presidential election, with incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri, challenger
Wiranto and others seeking running mates, and minor parties holding out for
the best deal. In the campaign to date, radical Islam is the 800-pound
gorilla in the room that no one dares mention. Their fiddling, while Ambon
burns and violence in the name of Islam smolders, illustrates the Indonesian
political elite's disconnect from the real problems of this vast nation.
Back to future in Ambon
In Ambon, the capital of Maluku, fighting erupted on April 25 after two
years of relative calm. Members of the predominantly Christian separatist
organization marched to commemorate the 54th anniversary of their
declaration of an independent Republic of South Maluku. That's the kind of
communal display that police are supposed to prevent; instead, some officers
joined the parade to provide protection. The marchers clashed with
predominantly Muslim opponents, and the battle resumed. So far, at least 38
are dead, many at the hands of snipers, and hundreds have been injured.
Local leaders of both the Christian and Muslim communities blame outsiders
for this outbreak. Indeed, hundreds of Muslim fighters recruited from other
areas of the archipelago and internationally fueled the previous three-year
fight that left at least 9,000 dead, until a military ship mysteriously
appeared and removed them after the October 2002 Bali bombings. Armed-forces
supporters of Suharto are believed to be behind these dark forces, such as
the thugs who conducted massacres in East Timor. Retired General Wiranto,
Suharto's last military chief and presidential nominee of Suharto's ruling
party Golkar despite his international indictment for the East Timor
killings, might benefit from an unstable domestic situation that demands a
strong, experienced former military commander (see Looking for Mister Golkar
, April 22).
Wiranto has made no public statement about the outbreak in Ambon, but he's
not alone. The closest that President Megawati has come to speaking out was
sending one of her daughters there last week to promise medical supplies to
victims. Gee, thanks.
Big, bad Ba'asyir
The silence over Ambon pales in comparison with the case of Abu Bakar
Ba'asyir, the reputed spiritual leader of the terrorist group Jemaah
Islamiya, because of the larger issue of violent, radical Islam.
Jailed for his radicalism under Suharto and an exile in Malaysia until the
Suharto regime fell, Ba'asyir was taken into custody after the Bali bombings
and tried on terrorism charges last year. He claims the CIA was behind the
Bali bombs and, like many Indonesians - without contradiction from their
leadership - that Jemaah Islamiya is a figment of Western imagination. Much
of the evidence against Ba'asyir allegedly came from terrorism suspects in
US custody, fueling Ba'asyir's claims that he was a victim of the West's
plot to destroy Islam.
Observers say prosecutors presented an extraordinarily weak case, and
Ba'asyir was acquitted of the terror charges last year, but sentenced to
four years for immigration violations connected to his exile. Western
officials howled about the split-the-difference verdict, privately and
publicly, bolstering Ba'asyir's claims as a conspiracy victim. A higher
court later cut the sentence to 18 months.
Ba'asyir was due for release last Friday from his relatively comfortable
confinement that included an unlocked room with private bath, use of a
mobile phone in contravention of prison rules, and frequent visits from
Islamic politicians and religious leaders. But police claimed they had new
evidence and wanted to question him further. Ba'asyir refused to cooperate,
and his lawyers claimed the new allegations were further evidence of US
influence. He was released and immediately rearrested on terrorism charges.
The incident sparked a riot outside the Jakarta prison between an estimated
700 Ba'asyir supporters and police that left more than 100 people injured.
Indonesia's leadership sheltered comfortably under their cone of silence,
and the populace paid for it.
The next day, students at the Indonesian Muslim University in Makassar on
the island of Sulawesi protesting Ba'asyir's release turned violent,
reportedly yanking an off-duty police officer from a vehicle and taking him
hostage. Police stormed the campus and, by all accounts, beat everyone in
sight. The 61 injured included four students who were shot.
Would a presidential statement, even one delivered by a cabinet officer -
since Ibu Mega rarely speaks for herself - saying that Ba'asyir was being
detained because police say he is a threat to our nation and that their
evidence will be aired openly in a court of law that will determine justice
for him and for Indonesia, have prevented the violence in Makassar? We'll
never know. In fact, at this point, we don't even know if Megawati has heard
about Ba'asyir's confinement or the accompanying violence.
The silence fits a long-standing pattern. Since the Bali bombing,
Indonesia's political leaders have offered blanket condemnations of terror
violence, but categorically refused to condemn its perpetrators or link it
to radical Islam. Paradoxically, though, they often offer excuses for
Islamic anger, such as the invasion of Iraq and US support of Israel, and
those US policies undoubtedly make it more difficult for them to join hands
with the US on the terror issue (see Unhappy anniversary for US-Indonesia
ties , September 11, 2003). They claim that the majority of Indonesia's
estimated 200 million Muslims are moderates, yet will not condemn radical
fringe elements.
Police officials get no political cover to fight terror. It's a trick from
the authoritarian days - gee, what can we do about those nasty security
forces? - that continues to serve politicians well. National Police Chief
General D'ai Bachtiar deserves praise for carrying out his job despite the
absence of public support from the political leadership; he promptly fired
the police officials in charge in both Makassar and Ambon this week (see
Indonesian police earn 'A,' Megawati gets 'F' , November 29, 2002).
Not all politicians are silent, though. Hamdan Zulva, head of the House of
Representatives' Commission for Legal and Human Rights, plans to call
Bachtiar on the carpet this week to demand Ba'asyir's release. Zulva is a
member of the Muslim Crescent Star Party, a strict grouping that demands
imposing Islamic law in Indonesia. In last month's legislative elections,
the Crescent Star Party received 2.57 percent of the vote. Who among
Indonesia's political elite dares speak out for the other 97.43 percent?
(Copyright 2004 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
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May 6, 2004
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